Category: Small Group

Animals


Grade level: K-2
Equipment: None
Game Description: Such a simple warm-up game! Choose a theme – for example, the jungle. Then students can choose a jungle animal that they will pretend to be, perhaps a monkey or parrot, and spend a minute moving around like that animal, making the animal noises. After a minute, change the theme. For example, the arctic. Students will then choose an arctic animal like a penguin or seal and do the same thing.

Fitness Ball Run


Grade level: 2-8
Equipment: Any type of ball
Game Description: Fitness Ball Run is a fitness warm-up type activity that’s simple to set-up and simple to do! Players start by forming a line. That line will jog throughout the playing area. While they jog, they pass a ball back from person to person, and when it gets to the last person in line, that person sprints up to the front with the ball, and becomes the new leader. The game continues like that for a certain amount of time.

Gaga Ball


Grade level: 3-8
Equipment: Soft bouncy ball, playing area
Game Description: Gaga Ball gets players inside a mini-arena and has them strike the ball at eachother below the knee, trying to eliminate each other from the ring. Once eliminated, players jump to the outside of the ring and wait there until the teacher yells out jailbreak or until a new round begins. Works on dodging, striking, and agility.

Volleyball Hoops


Grade level: 4-8
Equipment: Volleyballs
Game Description: A fun game to practice bumping and setting skills in volleyball. A passer tosses the ball to his teammate who then tries to bump or set the ball into the basketball hoop. Players rotate, and have many chances to score points for every successful hoop. A great way to practice passing accuracy. Definitely a must-play physical education game as a part of a volleyball unit or bumping or volleying progression.

Red-Light Green-Light Dribbling


Grade level: 4-8
Equipment: Basketballs
Game Description: This P.E. game has students practice basic start and stop signals, as well as the dribbling skill in basketball. It’s the typical red means stop, green means go game but with the added difficulty of dribbling the basketball (but no double dribble)!

Bump


Grade level: 5-8
Equipment: 2 basketballs
Game Description: What a fun shooting game! Players can get really sweaty; a good sign of healthy exercise. This continuous shooting game gives lots of reps of practice for the shooting skill. Even when players get knocked out of the game, they can either cheer on their friends who are left in the game or go shooting around on another hoop. This is a definite must-play physical education game, especially as a part of a basketball unit.

Obstacle Courses


Grade level: K-8
Equipment: Huge variety
Game Description: Time to be creative! Dig out a bunch of equipment, ask the students to help out, and spend some time building the most creative obstacle course you can think of. Then it’s time to have some fun and travel through the course. Incorporate a variety of movement and transport skills!