Category: Fun

The Spy

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Grade level: 3-8
Equipment: None
Game Description: The Spy is a classic game of mystery where one player is chosen as the spy who goes around and poisons the other players. They do this by sneakily winking at them (so if you get winked at, you’re poisoned)! A poisoned player must quietly drop to the ground and lay there, or in the case of PE class they can hold a plank instead to make it more challenging. It’s important in this game that players are all making eye-contact the entire time, no dodging glances. The spy will try to poison all players to win the round. BUT in order to do this, the spy must be very sneaky – because if a different player sees that a spy has winked at someone, that player can put up their hand and say “I found the spy!” – If that player is correct, the round is over. If they were mistaken, that player is OUT!

Pinball Soccer

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Grade level: 3-8
Equipment: Foam Balls, Skipping Ropes, Pins
Game Description: This is a simple game to work on attacking, defending, kicking, guarding, accuracy, and as always it’s lots of fun! Players in the middle area will each defend a pin in hopes that it doesn’t get knocked over. The attackers along the sides will be constantly kicking foam balls to try to knock over the pins. Each pin down is a point for the attackers. Play up to a certain score, or for a determined amount of time. This game can be used WITH or WITHOUT covid-19 measures in place, hope you enjoy!

Submarines & Mines

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Grade level: 2-8
Equipment: 3 hula hoops, 6 foam balls
Game Description: This game is similar to the British-bulldog type of game, except the tagger(s) in the middle area get foam balls. The main object of the game is that the runners will try to go from one end of the gym to the other end without being touched by the submarines’ torpedoes (soft balls) or the mines (participants who got tagged laying on the floor on their stomach).
– 3 hula hoops are placed in center of play area – middle of gym.
– 1 captain in each submarine (hula hoop) each with 2 balls.
– at the signal, runners must try to go across gym without being touched by ball (even if it touched the ground first); if they get touched, they become mines and lay on the floor on their stomach. The only way they can move is by pivoting on their stomach. They try to assist the submarines by touching the passing participants either with their feet or hands.
– the last 3 to survive become the submarines.
– the submarines’ captains must be in their submarine while throwing and can run to fetch their balls but must come back in subs to throw again.
– remember that with the ‘go’ signal, everyone is in play until they reach a safe zone at the other end of gym.
(Thanks to Bernard Boulerice)

Castle Pool

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Grade level: 4-8
Equipment: Foam balls, hula hoops, bowling pins
Game Description: CASTLE POOL (The teams castle is like the 8 ball in pool)…

– Class divided in two teams by the center line, just like a typical dodgeball game for example.
– Each team sets up a castle in the corner of the basketball court (down by the baseline).
– Each team will also set up 7 bowling pins on their side in the volleyball court.
– Each pin can have one guard only.
– The object of the game is for one team to knock down the other teams pins before they can attack their castle. If they knock their castle down before all there pins have been knocked down then they automatically lose the game. This being just like the game of pool where the 8 ball can’t be sunk until the end.

Great Game and Kids left begging to play again!
(Thanks to Erin Parsons)

Capture The Ball

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Grade level: 4-8
Equipment: Cones, balls, hula hoops
Game Description: Capture the Ball is a version of Capture the Flag for PE class that is definitely worth trying out!
-Split the class in half, each team has their own side of the gym.
-Objective of the game: is to take the ball off the other team’s cone without being tagged, the ball must cross the half court line to score 1 point. The ball may be thrown but if the ball is thrown over the line the player who catches it must take a step back over the half court line because the ball must be stepped across the line.
-Every round each team must rotate their “guard”.
-The “guard” guards the ball being at least arms length away from the ball.
-The “guard” is the only player allowed to be within the 3-point arc. All other players on the team must stay on the outside of their team’s 3- point arc to help make tags to protect their side or go to the other side to get the ball or save a teammate from the “jail”.
-Players are safe and not able to be tagged when they reach the other team’s hula hoops (these are the “safe zones”)
-If a player gets tagged when going across to the other team’s side to get the ball or save a teammate from jail they must go to jail.
-Only one person at a time can be saved from “jail” and once that tag is made the players can go wherever they want in the gym.
-Both feet must be out of the hula hoop when leaving the “safe zone” to grab the ball for themselves or knock the ball out for another person to catch and begin the process of bring the ball over to their side.
-The ball may not hit the ground at any time if it does the point will not count and the ball is to be reset.
-Any player caught not following the rules will be called out and will have to go to “jail”.
-Once a point is scored that round is over, the whistle is blown and teams are to go back to their side.
-Only one player in a hula hoop at a time.

(Thanks to Sean Maguire and Kevin Williams)

Endzone Trappers

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Grade level: 2-8
Equipment: Beanbags, Nerf Footballs, Poly spots
Game Description: This game can be a football lead-up game, or a stand-alone fun activity (can use different throwing skill besides football if you’d like to switch it up). Basically, 2 teams will face-off in an exciting sliding and throwing match, trying to put eachother into their jail (endzone) and escape from a jail by catching a ball thrown to them.
1. Split class into 2 teams – use pinnies to distinguish teams
2. Split court in half
3. Start game with bean bags and nerf footballs in the middle of the court and players on their respective walls
4. The goal is to try to get players from the other team in jail by sliding the bean bag on the floor to hit his/her foot (above the ankle does not count)
5. When hit in the foot with a bean bag, that player goes in the opposing team’s jail
6. To get out of jail, one of your teammates must throw the nerf football and it must be caught in the air in the end zone – when caught the player can return to their team’s side
7. Teams can have some defenders trying to intercept balls before the jailed players catch to keep them in jail
8. If players are in jail for awhile, call for a jailbreak

Key Points
-agility, throwing, sliding, catching, football vocabulary: Quarterback (throwers), receivers (catchers), defense (interceptions), complete vs. incomplete passes
(Thanks Brittany Dougher for this game idea)

Bump Tag

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Grade level: 2-7
Equipment: None
Game Description: Bump Tag is a simple, yet incredibly fun, tag game or start-up/warm-up activity. Start with all players sitting in pairs somewhere in the playing area or gym floor. Have one pair split up into a chaser and a flee’er. The chaser will try to tag the flee’er. Whenever a flee’er is tagged by the chaser, they switch roles. The flee’er is always trying to run towards any pair who are sitting on the floor and sit beside them. Once sitting, the opposite (far player in the pair) gets “bumped” and must stand up to become the new flee’er who will try to run from the chaser. This “bumping” of players happens over and over again every time the flee’er sits beside any pair. Eventually implement 2 chasers and 2 fleers, or 3 of each to increase the challenge and activity level. This is just another game that’s proven to get students running and having a great time!
(Thanks to Tim Herr for this game idea)

Steal The Ball

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Grade level: 2-8
Equipment: Type of Ball (Soccer, volleyball, basketball, etc. The more the better), hula-hoops
Game Description: Start by placing a whole bunch of balls in the center area, equally spaced between anywhere from 4-8 teams. At each team area, place a hula hoop for the balls to be placed after they are taken from the middle area. On the go signal, players from each team go one at a time to the middle, dribble the ball back to their hoop and tags the next person to go. The object is to take as many balls until all are gone from the middle. When all the balls are gone from the middle, then take one ball from any of the other teams. After a designated time limit count to see which team has the most!
For soccer, the balls are to be dribbled along the ground.
For volleyball, the balls are to be “set” or “volleyed” to self all the way back to the hoop.
For basketball, dribbling.
For football/baseball, the balls can be thrown from the middle back to partner at hoop.
AS ALWAYS, HAVE FUN (WHILE PRACTICING SKILLS)!