EDiPHY was a research project housed within the Physical Education Teacher Education program in the Department of Kinesiology. It was made possible through a generous donation by the Virgina Horne Henry Fund. Although the project ended in 2025, it remains a valuable resource for K-12 physical education teachers.
Physical Education (PE) can teach lots more than just how to throw a ball. As you probably already know, there is a lot of social interaction in the typical PE class, and that offers a perfect opportunity for kids to grow in their ability to develop positive social skills. In addition, PE challenges kids to think differently; to make connections between what they have learned in the classroom and how it is applied in a real-life setting. For example: learning about balance and measurement in science takes on a whole new meaning when you are trying to create a perfectly balanced pyramid in your PE class.
EdiPHY Archive
| ACTIVITY | CATEGORY | DESCRIPTION | GRADE LEVELS |
|---|---|---|---|
| “W” Floor Hockey Pattern | Striking, Fielding | “W” Floor Hockey Pattern Poly spots are set up in a W formation. Students are stationed at each of the poly spots and work together to pass to the next student. After passing, they will follow their pass to the next spot. Once they reach the final spot, they get to attempt a shot on the goal. G – Student Goals Practice passing, receiving, and shooting on a goal O – Opportunities All students get the opportunity to pass, receive the puck, and shoot on a goal without the difficulty of having to shoot pass a goalkeeper or defender. A – Appropriate This game is appropriate for a 1st through 3rd grade class and keeps them focused on the skills using the hockey stick instead of trying to play against defenders L – Learning Domains The activity allows good opportunities for teamwork since the students must pass the puck to the next student in the W formation. Also encourages the last student in the formation to make a good shot and score. S – Slanty Creek Different W formations can be set up with different distances between poly spots for harder and easier passes. Also, groups can change from slower moving objects like pucks to whiffle balls to make the passing and receiving more difficult. | K-2 |
| 100 Catches | Catching | Set hoops out on the gym or outdoor area about 5-15 yards apart. The hoops should be set in rows with 2 hoops across from each other. Place a different type of ball in each pair of hoops. One student goes into each hoop, and on the signal, students throw and catch with the person across from them counting the total number of catches. Every 15 seconds the whistle is blown, and everyone moves in line to a new hoop. | 3-5 |
| 25 Catches | Overhand throw, Catching | Students must catch a total of 25 passes thrown to them by classmates Students are not allowed to pass to the same person twice in a row Note: Once students have completed their 25 catches, they can continue to pass to classmates who need more catches. | 3-5 |
| All-Ball Kickball | Kicking, Dribbling, Trapping | Two teams. One kicking, one outfield Every player on the kicking team has a ball and all kick their balls into the outfield at the same time. Once they all kick the ball, they run back and forth between cones to score runs (can be different locomotor skills besides running as well). The whole team has to stay together to score points. Players in the outfield, as quickly as they can, try and dribble all the balls into a goal/area that is set up somewhere in the outfield to stop the other team from scoring runs. Everyone’s ball has to be in the goal/area to stop the other team from running. Each team will get 3 kicks and then switch sides Teams keep track of their score and play for a certain time period | K-2,3-5 |
| Alpha Balance | Balance | Use a washable marker to make a small mark on the right hand of each student. Create small teams of players and give each a Twister game (on which you have drawn letters). Arrange students in order, (or have students arrange themselves) and have the first player in the order serve as the spinner. All of the other players take turns placing the appropriate hand or foot on the color which is called by the spinner. If a player falls, they become the spinner. After three spins, the group changes to the next spinner. | K-2 |
| Alphabet Dribble | Dribbling | Demonstrate good one-handed and two handed dribbling. Discuss cues for good performance such as dribbling with fingers, and keeping the ball at about waist height. Give students some practice time in their personal spaces. Place alphabet cards on the walls surrounding the playing area. Have students try to dribble to each card in alphabetical order. Have students begin at the letter of their first initial in order to prevent congestion. | K-2,3-5 |
| Animal Roundup | Dribbling, Trapping | A red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple hoop will be spread out across the gym, one of each color. Next to each hoop is the corresponding color cone. Each cone has a photo of an animal taped to it that is the same color as the hoop and cone (for example, red panda for the red cone, tiger for orange, giraffe for yellow, alligator for green, blue whale for blue, and snake for purple). As many balls as possible will be spread out across the gym floor as well, only the colors red, orange, yellow, blue, and purple. The goal is for the students to dribble the balls into the correct color hoops, so all the red balls end up in the red hoops, all the orange balls in the orange hoops, etc. Introduce the activity by asking if they know what a zookeeper is - we are going to be zookeepers today! Explain that all of the animals (balls) escaped from their homes and we must help them find their way back. It is also fun to give a few animal facts about each of the animals at the zoo. Allow the kids to spread out, find an animal to save, and start when the music starts. The round ends when all of the animals are back in their homes. | K-2 |
| Backboard bombers | Overhand throw | The class will be split into two teams. Teams will throw their balls at the backboards of the hoops. If their ball hits the backboard they get a point. ADD ON: If the other team catches it off the backboard, the point does not count | 3-5 |
| Balance River | Balance | Place mats in a winding form in the playing area, and place balance beams or posts on top of them. Lay food cards all around the beams and mats. Players take turns crossing the Nutrition River, and trying to collect one card each time they cross. If they fall off, they must return the card. If they make it successfully across, they may bring the card back for the class. | K-2 |
| Ball Bounce Challenge | Dribbling | Two teams of players face each other on the floor with each set of partners having a ball. Players take turns creating a rhythm by bouncing the ball, and their partner tries to copy it. Players change jobs each time someone successfully recreates a rhythm. | 3-5 |
| Ball Tag | Catching | Choose 4-5 players to be the taggers. Give each tagger a yarn ball. On the teacher's signal, players try to avoid being tagged by a ball thrown by one of the taggers. If a player is tagged, they must go out of the game and throw and catch a yarn ball to themselves 10 times before re-entering. Change taggers and play again. | 3-5,6-8 |
| Baller Bucks | Dribbling | Students are working together to collect a decided amount of money and bring the cash (monopoly or fake money) to the class bank. They earn cash by dribbling with control the amount the bill prescribes (i.e. 5 dollars equals 5 dribbles.) Students bring cash to the banks after they've dribbled for it. Stations with cash are spread out throughout the gym. | K-2 |
| Band Aid tag | Chasing | Discuss how the skin serves as protection against germs entering the body. When the skin is broken, band-aids can cover the skin to protect it until the skin heals. Choose 4-5 players to be germs and have them each choose a pinnie. On Go! players try to avoid being tagged by the germs. Each time the are tagged, they must put a band-aid (one of their hands) on the spot of the tag. If they have used up all of their hands and are tagged again, they must sit down where they were tagged, and wait for a teammate to unfreeze them by giving them an injection of medicine. Change germs and play again. | K-2 |
| Basketball Frenzy | Dribbling | Scatter the basketballs on the gym floor and have the students stand next to a basketball. On the go signal, each student will pick up a basketball and dribble it two times, leave it, move to another ball and dribble it two times. The object is to keep all of the basketballs moving until the stop signal. To add a challenge, the teacher can point to a stationary basketball and start counting out loud. If he/she counts to three before a student dribbles the ball, the teacher gets a point. If the teacher scores three points by the end of the time period, the teacher wins that round. When they have become comfortable with dribbling, add the following: Dribble three times and move to another ball. Dribble with the non-dominant hand. Do cross-over dribbles. Do patterns: one dribble, two dribbles, three dribbles then back to one dribble, then two, then three, etc. | 3-5,6-8 |
| Basketball Treasure Hunt | Dribbling | Students will be dribbling a ball with them and moving around the gym to find treasure, which are in baskets located all around the gym. Once they find that treasure they can bring that treasure back to their area and can move on to the next treasure basket to find more. The ball must be dribbled at all times. | 3-5 |
| BasketVolley | Volleying | Teams of four work to volley a ball down floor to volley into basketball hoop. All Basketball rules apply, including dropped ball goes to opposing team. | 6-8 |
| Batter’s Bonanza | Kicking | Batter’s Bonanza Have 6 students on each field. There should be four fields set up in a clover format. Have gates made with cones positioned throughout the field. Position the gates to simulate where open space would be in a game situation. Have one student kick three kickballs and aim to get them through the gates. The other 5 students will be in the outfield fielding the balls. Make sure to tell students to let the balls go through the gates before they field them. Once the student at bat has kicked all three kickballs, have the students rotate. The team’s goal is to collectively get as many kickballs through the gates as possible. | 6-8 |
| Batting Board Game | Long handled striking | Have batting zones taped on the wall and a tee at each station. Let students choose bat and ball size. Create a circular board game made of hula hoops in the middle of the gym. Lay the cues in six of the hoops and assign each group a game piece. The group has to land exactly on the cue to collect it, if they move too many spaces by getting too many points, they have to go all the way back around the board to get that cue. | 3-5 |
| Battle field | Overhand throw | Class is divided into two teams. Similar to castle ball. Each team is trying to knock down the walls the other team has set up. There are players hiding behind the walls. If a wall get's knocked down, the player behind the wall has to come out a complete a task before they can come back in. | 3-5 |
| Battle for the Bases | Long handled striking | Set up small sized fields. Place an object on each base. The batter hits the ball off the tee and runs directly to any of the bases and tries to steal the object of the base, if the outfield throws it to that base before they get there the outfield gets an out (3 outs needed), if the batter steals the object before getting out they keep it. the batter bats until 3 outs or after they have stolen all three objects.Strikes a ball with a long-handled implement (e.g., hockey stick, bat, golf club), sending it forward, while using proper grip for the implement. Note: Use batting tee or ball tossed by teacher for batting. (S1.E25.3) | 3-5 |
| Battleship | Underhand throw, Overhand throw | Trifold mats are setup on the gym floor to divide the gym into two sides. Students setup a number of ships on their side. Ideally students are not able to see over the standing mats to the other side of the gym. Students nominate a captian to stand by the mats in the center and peek across to see where the opponent's battleships are located. The captain can only communicate with their team to direct their throws. Teams are throwing foam balls over the wall to try to knock down the battleships on the other side. Throwers rely on their captain to know if they threw a ball near an opponent's ship. The goal is to knock down (sink) all the other side's battleships. | K-2,3-5 |
| Bean Bag Freeze Tag | Locomotor, Underhand throw | The taggers have bean bags and try to hit the other kids in the feet, when a kid gets hit in the foot, they freeze. To unfreeze them the other players must give them a high five. Each round will consist of a different locomotor skill that all students must perform. | K-2,3-5 |
| Bean Bag Paddle Game | Short handled striking | Set up 3-4 rows of hoops on the playing area. Create small teams of players, and arrange them in relay formation. Give the first person in the group a paddle and a bean bag. Set out three hoops per team and on Go! the first person in each group tries to balance the bean bag on their paddles as they move to the first hoop. There they drop their bean bag, and return the paddle to the second person. This continues until all of the hoops have been filled. | K-2 |
| Bowling Baseball | Long handled striking | Set up pins like bowling or spread out pins out on one side of the floor. Partner on the other side take turns striking a ball off a tee to knock down the pins. The whole class wins when the pins are all down. | 3-5 |
| Bowling Champs | Underhand throw | Create two bowling lanes in opposite directions and assign a team to each lane. On your signal have students attempt to knock down all the pins of the other team's lane. The team that is successful first wins. Play rounds to 10. | 3-5 |
| Box Ball | Catching | Class will be divided into two teams. Two boxes will be created using mats. Students will throw yarn balls or dodgeballs using proper overhand technique. If they miss the other team gets the opportunity to throw that ball. OPTIONS: Can see how many they can get in a certain amount of time, as a class see how long it takes to get all the balls in a box, | K-2,3-5 |
| Bridges | Balance | The class is divided in halves and each group takes turns building a bridge challenge for the others to cross. Students may use whatever equipment that you give them. As students get better at the game, they should be given enough equipment so that there will be gaps in the bridge that must be navigated by the other team. | 3-5 |
| Bridges and Stones | Balance | Divide the class into two groups. Designate one group to find a good self space in the playing area. Have them make their body into a bridge. On the teachers signal the remaining portion of the class tries to go under (or through) as many of these body bridges as possible in the time limit (or length of a song) designated by the teacher. Challenge the children to change the levels and shapes of their bridges. Have the traveling children perform different locomotor movements. Reverse roles as often as you want. | K-2,3-5 |
| Bubbles | Balance | Bubbles: Students stand at one color on the parachute. The group makes a mountain with the cute and teacher calls out a color. Students at that color crawls to the top of the mountain that has been created in front of them and back to their spot as fast as they can. | K-2 |
| Bunny Levels | Locomotor | Helpers hold noodles at various heights. Teach different levels (low, medium, and high), and pre-instruct for appropriate levels to go over and under. The bunnies (students) go around the gym going over and under logs and branches deciding whether they should go over or under. Noodles will be spread out all over the gym, students can travel wherever they want to go. If multiple people come to a noodle at one time, students should wait their turn before going over or under. For a class challenge, have students see how many logs and branches they can travel by and then after 2 minutes see how many they got. Have them try again and see if they can beat their record. | K-2 |
| Castle Ball | Invasion, Underhand throw, Overhand throw | Castle Ball is like building a house of cards out of 4 to 6 hula hoops. This structure will stand on its own but will fall when a ball strikes any part of it. To build the castle teams place one hoop on the floor, four hoops form the sides, and one the top. Depending on the space available have many games going on at the same time. It works best when teams are 3-on-3 and no more than 4-on-4. The object of the activity is to try to work with classmates to knock down the castle of the other team, while protecting your own. One point is awarded each time a castle is knocked down, even if a player bumps into hisher own castle. Castles that are knocked down should be set up as quickly as possible so players can continue playing. The game area is separated by a center line, which players cannot cross to retrieve a ball (this center line is optional--you decide). It is also best to have a throwing line inside each teams area to make sure all balls are thrown from the same distance. Teams are not to throw at castles inside of that line. Players should be encouraged to try different throwing strategies, i.e; different angles, speeds, trajectories, bounced off the wall or the ceiling etc. They should also be encouraged (and even recognized with scoring rewards) to pass the ball to teammates to surprise the defenders or to make sure everyone gets to throw the ball. In defending the castle, players should be alert, on the balls of their feet, and cooperate with their teammates to form strategies that will best defend their castles. | 6-8,9-12 |
| Catch and Move | Catching | Give each student a soft ball, and review the cues for catching. On the teacher's signal, students begin throwing and catching the ball in their space. After each successful catch, the student moves to the largest open area they can find within the playing area, and tries to throw and catch again. | K-2 |
| Catch It? | Locomotor, Underhand throw, Balance, Overhand throw, Catching | There are two equal groups. Each team is equidistant from a midline that has a box of a variety of balls. Each team has all their participants holding a parachute, except for one person who is the thrower. Each thrower stands on the midline next to the box of balls and then tries to throw a ball on to the parachute. After their turn, the next player from the team takes a turn. Once all players have had a turn the team adds up the number of balls on the chute. The students holding the parachute are trying to get the balls to stay on the parachute, and then they have to work together as a team to get all the balls of the parachute into a basket without touching the balls with their hands. The team with the most balls in their basket at the end of the time limit is the winner. | 3-5 |
| Centipede Chicken Dragon | Chasing | It is like fox and rabbits with a twist of rock paper scissors. Students will be split into two groups. In each group, the students will either be a centipede, chicken, or dragon. Dragon beats Chicken, Chicken Beats Centipede, Centipede beats Dragon The objective of this game is to get everybody into one team. The way to do this is by tagging someone from the other team. Once they are tagged then they have to switch to the other team. Once everybody is on the same team then the game is over. Example: If a centipede manages to tag a dragon from the other team, then that dragon has to switch teams. However, the centipede cannot tag a chicken since a centipede cannot beat a chicken. | 3-5,6-8 |
| Clear the Yard | Kicking, Underhand throw, Long handled striking, Overhand throw | Class will be divided into two equal groups · Object of the game is to throw the spherical objects from your side of the yard onto the opposing teams yard · After the set amount of time, teams will count up how many pieces of “trash” are on their side of the yard | K-2,3-5,6-8 |
| Color Clean | Long handled striking | Students have to work together to help clean the floor in the gym! Objects of different colors are spread out around the gym floor and hula hoops that match the colors are spread out in the corners of the gym. Students use a bat or long handled implement of their choice to push those objects toward the hoop that matches that object's color. Objectives: Familiarity with long handled implements. Learning how to hold a bat. | K-2 |
| Color Clean Up | Dribbling | Objects (yarn balls, bean bags, dodge balls etc.) of different colors are spread out all around the floor. Students work together to clean the floor by dribbling and picking up one item at a time and returning it to their starting point. | K-2,3-5 |
| Color Freeze tag | Chasing | Players begin scattered around the room in their personal, spaces. On Go! all players try to keep moving without touching any others. The teacher will call out Freeze! followed by a color. All students wearing that color must freeze, and only the players from their team may unfreeze them (with a high five). Wait until all students are unfrozen again, and call Freeze! with another color. | 3-5 |
| Cone Crown | Overhand throw | Class is divided into two teams and gym is divided by a line of cones. Each cone has a wiffle ball on top of each cone. Each team stands behind a designated line and knocks the balls off the cones. If you knocked a ball off you grab it and put it in your basket. | 3-5 |
| Conveyor Belt | Short handled striking | Conveyor Belt (use numbered poly spots or teachers to designate where the lines are) Split into 6 groups by off 1-6. Have all groups start on one side of the court. Game Rules: (1 or 2 rounds based on time) Each student will have a tennis racquet. Students will break into teams of four. Teams will line up in single file lines behind the designated starting line. The back person in line for each team will balance a tennis ball on their racquet. On teacher command (“Go!”), move the ball from racquet to racquet up the line to the front. Immediately after passing ball to person in front of you, run to the front of the line. Team wins when the entire team crosses the finish line. Hands can touch racquet only. No hands on tennis ball. If ball hits the ground, team starts over. | 6-8 |
| Cooperative Kick | Kicking | Students are paired off and given a ball for each pair. On Go! players must take turns kicking the ball down the field (or playing area) and back. Repeat the same activity, but put players into groups of three. Have players talk about which was easiest and hardest and why. | 3-5 |
| Cooperative Throw and Catch | Underhand throw, Overhand throw, Catching | Partners face each other and throw back and forth. Each miss means that they must take a step closer to each other, while each catch moves them farther apart. Also, unkind words or actions move them back to the beginning. | K-2,3-5 |
| Cooperope | Balance | Place the tug of war rope in the middle of the playing area. Along the sides of each rope, (where the players will be standing) place food cards. On Go! players try to pick up the rope, achieve a static balance position, and then pick up as many food cards as they without losing their static balance position. | 3-5,6-8 |
| Cover the court | Volleying | After an initial practice time using volleyball underhand serves, divide the class into two or three teams depending on the number of nets that are available. Each team will have “servers” and “ball shaggers” separated by the net. The “servers” will serve from behind a designated line. The “ball shaggers” stand on the other side of the net but off the court. Their job is to quickly roll the balls to the “servers” after they have landed. Hoops or yoga mats (the battleships) are arranged on the side of the net where the “Ball Shaggers” are located. A “portion of the court is covered” when a server is able to serve the ball over the net and have it land in the hoop or on the yoga mat. When the entire court is covered, the team wins! | 3-5,6-8 |
| Crazy Body Parts | Locomotor | Flash Cards - Body parts Set up - Have a fun song in the cd player, and when you start the music, the children must dance around the room, when you stop the music, put up a body flash card, or just yell out the vocabulary. Then the children must find a partner and touch the appropriate body part on the other child for example, * Hands - touch palms of hands together and sit down, * Feet/Toes - lay down on their backs and put the souls of their feet together, * Shoulders - get back to back with the partner and sit down * Knees - kneel down in front of each other knees touching, But there is a crazy catch, if you yell out Head, the kids must find a partner and do the head shoulders knees and toes song as fast as they can then sit down. | K-2 |
| Cross the pond | Short handled striking | In partners one person strikes and one person catches. If person catches, they can both take three steps backwards. Try to get to the other side as fast as possible. Use a foam ball instead of a real tennis ball. | 3-5 |
| Dribble Freeze | Dribbling | Players begin the game in their own space and with a ball. On Go! all players begin dribbling around the playing area. On Freeze! all players must be able to stop (within a count of 3) and control the ball. If they cannot, they must leave the game for one series of dribble and stop. | K-2,3-5 |
| Dribble Freeze | Dribbling | Dribble forward until the leader says “freeze”. If you are still dribbling after “freeze” you must take 10 steps back. The goal is to collect a ticket from the other side of the gym and bring it back to start | 3-5 |
| Dribble Noodle tag | Dribbling | Dribble around the gym without getting tagged by the tagger. If you get tagged hold your ball in the air and wait for a teammate to untag you by tapping their ball on yours | 3-5 |
| Dribble Tag | Kicking | Each player is given a soccer ball and told to find a personal space. On Go! all players dribble around the playing area while trying to tag other players. Players must keep control of their ball at all times. Tagged players must go to the sideline to do a set of self-dribbles before returning to the game. | 3-5 |
| Dribble Tip Over | Dribbling | Create teams of students and have them wear different colored pennies. Give every student a ball, and on the signal from the teacher, students try to knock over cones of the other teams while dribbling. In addition, students are continuing to dribble while they set the cones up for their own team as well. | 3-5 |
| Dribble Transfer | Dribbling | Have students get a ball to dribble, a hoop, and a beanbag. Tell them to find a good self space in the playing area and then put their beanbags in the middle of their hoop which will be on the floor in front of them. On the teachers signal, the students, while dribbling their ball, go throughout the room picking up one beanbag from hoops and then they are to take them and drop them in the center of hoops that are unoccupied. Each student can only transfer one beanbag at a time. Students cannot dribble the ball inside the hoops or throw the beanbags. The goal of the activity is to have the most bean bags in your hoop as possible when time ends. | 3-5 |
| Dribbling pathways | Dribbling | Make your own pathway with toilet paper and practice dribbling on top of it. Have a friend make a pathway and try dribbling on theirs! | K-2 |
| Dribbling Sharks | Dribbling | Students will line up on the baseline of the basketball court with a basketball. Two students will be chosen to be taggesr, and will try to tag the students while everyone is dribbling a basketball. Instead of getting knocked out, students who get tagged have to go on the side of the court, and dribble ten times with one hand to get back into the game | K-2,3-5 |
| Ducks pond | Volleying | The teacher tosses a ball to the students in line on the other side of the net. The students have to pass the ball over the net into the pond. They go to where they their ball lands. The ball has to land inside the court (pond). The student stands there and tries to catch any ball that comes their way. The object is to be the last person standing on the other side. The students have to try to hit the ball where no people are so that they do not catch their ball. The teacher can make the activity more challenging by throwing the ball so that they have to move or hitting the ball at them. | 3-5 |
| Ethan's game | Catching | There is one tagger in the middle of the gym. The rest of the class starts on the end of the gym. There are two designated throwers, one on each end of the gym. The class runs across the gym trying not to get tagged. If you get tagged you go to the jail hula hoops. If the throwers can throw the ball across the gym the game is over. | 3-5 |
| Everybody Catch (or Roll) | Underhand throw | Place a large number of balls all around the playing area. Instruct players that they are to try to successfully roll and catch a ball with every other person in the class. If the students are excelling at rolling, then the task can be made more difficult by having the the students throw the ball underhand towards each other. Have players sit down when they think they are done. Set a time limit and play again. | K-2,3-5 |
| FIre and Ice Freeze Tag | Underhand throw, Overhand throw, Catching, Chasing | Level one 3 ways to get frozen: Getting tagged by an icicle, falling down, going out of bounds If you are frozen you must do the fist pump dance moving side to side (just like Noodle Dance Tag) If you have a fireball you can not be frozen If you are frozen, someone can toss you a fireball and if you catch it you are unfrozen If the fireball is not caught when tossed, it must be re-tossed until it is caught successfully Level Two: If the fireball is dropped it is dead and can not be picked up Level 3 The fireball is no longer invincible and can be frozen by the ice. If frozen they can still be unfrozen by another fireball if they make a successful catch. They should then have 2 fireballs to toss to other players that are frozen. | K-2,3-5 |
| Flip The Hoop | Underhand throw | For this activity you will need a hula hoop and any object that you can throw. For example, a bean bag, yarn-ball, gator-ball, etc. For this activity students will start on the sideline of a basketball court. Their hula hoop will be in front of them and they will have to toss their object (whatever that object is) into the hoop by means of an underhand throw. Once they make it inside of the hoop they will then have to flip the hoop and then go back to the sideline and make it inside the hula hoop again and repeat the process. The students should do this until about halfway from the sideline to the other sideline. After they make it halfway, they can come back to the start and select a different throwing object and repeat the process. | K-2 |
| Floor Hockey Golf | Long handled striking | Assign two or three players to a course. For a larger group, assign two or three players to start at each hole. Design a golf course by placing a numbered bowling pin (1 thru 9) in a scattered formation around the gym or play area. Players establish a striking order. If needed, give each player a scorecard and pencil. The game begins with each player, in turn, striking the puck toward Hole #1, trying to knock the bowling pin over or make contact with it. The number of shots needed to make the “Hole” is recorded. When finished, the group moves to Hole #2, and each player continues to strike the bowling pin in as few attempts possible. The objective is to finish the course by having the lowest score (that is, the fewest shot attempts). GOALS: Goal: student goal - Passing for accuracy Opportunities: All students get a chance to practice long-handle striking for accuracy Appropriate: this game is appropriate for 1st through 3rd graders Learning domains: this activity allows students to practice long-handle striking and teamwork Slanted creek: the objective of this activity is attempting to break person record (to get the smallest number of attempts to), so all students can succeed in this activity. | K-2,3-5 |
| Follow the Leader Throw and Catch | Catching | Spread hoops out on the floor in the activity area (half as many as there are students) and place a ball (or other object that can be thrown--bean bag, koosh ball, yarn ball, etc.) inside each hoop. Students should be paired with a partner--each pair stands at a hoop. One student per pair begins as the leader. When the music starts, the leader moves around the gym to the music and their partner has to copy their movements. When the music stops, each pair goes to the closest hoop and practices their throwing and catching over the hoop. When the music starts, the other person in the pair becomes the new leader and the game begins again, with the original leader in the pair, copying the movements of their partner who is the new leader. | K-2 |
| Food Balance Relay | Balance | Arrange the mats in a circular formation in the middle of the floor. Place food cards all around the playing area, just out of reach of the mats. Have the players figure out a way to reach the food cards by arranging themselves in various balance positions. Once a team has enough food cards to make a healthy meal, they have been successful! | 3-5 |
| Food Balance Store | Balance | Discuss various body shapes, narrow, wide, twisted, round, pointed, flat, etc. Allow the students some time to practice the various positions. Then have students try to form the shapes of foods. Set up a food store where, buyers come in to a store and ask to buy certain foods. If the sellers can form the shape of the foods that the buyers want, they change positions. | K-2 |
| Food Basket | Rolling | Arrange students in small groups of 3-4, and give each group a mat. Arrange mats in a circle formation. Practice egg rolls, bread stick rolls (log rolls), and butter churns. After a practice session where feedback is given, have players each choose a different kind of food roll, and huddle at the center of the mat. Then the teacher calls out one kind of food, and all players who have chosen that food roll out from the middle. If the teacher calls out Food Basket Upset! all of the players roll out. | K-2,3-5 |
| Food Basket Ups | Rolling | Arrange students in small groups of 3-4, and give each group a mat. Arrange mats in a circle formation. Practice egg rolls, bread stick rolls (log rolls), and butter churns. After a practice session where feedback is given, have players each choose a different kind of food roll, and huddle at the center of the mat. Then the teacher calls out one kind of food, and all players who have chosen that food roll out from the middle. If the teacher calls out Food Basket Upset! all of the players roll out. | K-2 |
| Food Pyramid Twister | Balance | Create twister spinners that have representations for each of the parts of the food pyramid. Use poly spots to create a twister mat on top of the tumbling mats. Have students take turns being the spinner, and trying to maintain their balance while placing their hands and feet on the spots that represent the appropriate parts of the food pyramid. | 3-5 |
| Food roll-ups | Rolling | Have students find a partner or small group of players to work with. Have each group get a mat and arrange them in circle formation. Discuss healthy, and not-so-healthy foods, and have each group of students use index cards to create a set of food cards that include healthy and fatty (or not-so-healthy) foods. Have students exchange their set of cards with another team's set without looking at the cards. One player from each group applies tape to the back of about ten of the cards, and places them all around their mat. Students take turns practicing their rolls until all of the cards on the mat have become stuck to their clothing. Groups unattach all of the cards, and compare their foods to the other groups. The group with the healthiest overall hand (as determined by popular vote) wins a point. Exchange cards, and play again. Use a variety of rolling skills. | 3-5 |
| Force Be With You | Kicking | Force Be With You Kicking team lines up at home base. Fielding team spreads out to cover the space in the field. Pitcher (teacher) pitches the ball, first kicker kicks and runs toward first. Fielders attempt to field the ball and throw to first for a force out. If the runner turns at first base, s/he must continue and the fielders can then throw to second base for the force. Once a runner gets safely to second base, they have scored a run for their team and may return to the line of kickers at home plate. If the ball remains un-fielded by the time the first runner gets to second base, a second runner may run toward first. The fielders may then try to get a force out on that runner. Depending on the size of the teams, switch sides after everyone kicks or there are three outs. | 6-8 |
| Foursquare Volley | Volleying | Use tape to make the foursquare courts. The courts should consist of one large square (about 10x10 ft) that is then divided into four separate squares inside the large one. Each square will be designated a title: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Dessert. The object of the game is to progress from the breakfast square, to the lunch square, to the dinner square, and finally to the dessert square. Students should try to stay in the dessert square as long as possible by not getting “out”. Students will volley a ball to one another by bouncing it into another player’s square. That player must then volley the ball into another player’s square. If the player misses another player’s square, or if they allow the ball to bounce more than once in their square they are “out” and must move to the breakfast square. Each player would then rotate to the square one higher than them. If there is more than four players at a court, the remaining players will be the Chefs. The Chefs are responsible for making calls if there is a disagreement between players; they are the judge. They will rotate in at the breakfast square when someone gets “out”. The person at the Breakfast square is responsible for serving the ball by bouncing it once in their own square and then volleying it to another player’s square. | 6-8 |
| Freezamania throw and catch | Underhand throw, Catching, Chasing | After introducing/reviewing the cues for throwing and catching to be focused on during this lesson (for ex. throwing: follow through to your partner; twist your body; catching: give with your body; pull the ball in to your body), students are arranged in a scattered formation with one ball for every two children (allow them to choose object to throw). As a musical selection is played, the children proceed to throw and catch back and forth. When the music goes off, the person that is holding the ball must chase after the other until the music comes on again. When the music starts again, students begin to throw and catch again (you might allow--or require--students to quickly change the object they are using at this point). Observe students during the activity to see if they are using the cues introduced when throwing and catching; give feedback based upon their use of these cues. | 3-5 |
| Frisbee Collection | Invasion | Students are placed in groups of three, with one player becoming the thrower, one player the hoop holder, and one being the catcher. Throwers try to throw the Frisbee through the hoop, while the catcher catches it. Players may stand as close to each other as they wish, but if they miss they must begin again. The object is to get your team all the way across the field without missing. An extension of this task would be for the holder and the catcher to be moving while the thrower is throwing the frisbee, if space permits. This will increase the difficulty of the task so students will be excited about throwing the frisbee. | 6-8 |
| Frisbee Feet | Balance, Overhand throw | Half of the class stand in the center circle, half of the class stands on the outside of the circle. The outside students slide a frisbee and try to hit other students' feet who are standing in the circle. If they hit feet, they go up and ask Do you want to switch with me? and then they keep playing. | K-2 |
| Frisbee Free Tag | Uncategorized, Catching, Chasing | 2-4 players as taggers with the remaining players divided up into 2 teams What you need: Pinnies for taggers 8-10 hula hoops 6-8 polyspots/cones 1 frisbee for each player on one team Activity: Place the polyspots/cones in the middle of the room as a free space where 1 team cannot be tagged for 10 seconds at a time Set up a large square with other cones on the outside, size of the the square depends on the age and team size, possibly 15x10 yards 1 team stands on the outside of the square and that team has the frisbees Scatter the hula hoops inside the playing zone The taggers and the remaining team are inside the playing zone and begin a game of tag, if a player gets tagged they must go stand in a hula hoop and await the outside team to throw a frisbee to them, if they catch the frisbee, they are back in If the taggers intercept the frisbee, the taggers may switch teams Switch positions every 2-3 minutes or as instructor sees fit | 6-8 |
| Frisbee Frenzy | Locomotor, Overhand throw | Equipment: -1 bowling pin per lane (1 per group) -10-12 cones to separate lanes -1 frisbee per student -Lines to designate starting line and throwing line Activity: -The object of this activity is to be the first group to knock down their bowling pin with a frisbee -All groups begin at the starting lane on either side of the gym in their lane. -Place the bowling pin in the middle of each lane behind the starting line; back from the pin. This distance could vary depending on the skill of the player -On the signal, all players in the lanes run to their throwing line on the opposite end of the gym, pick up a frisbee, turn and throw trying to knock down your pin. -If a pin is NOT knocked down, players will grab a frisbee near them and throw again. Having teams on both sides allow for few waiting time for frisbee retrieval. -The first group to knock down their pin gets a point and the game is reset to be played again. | 6-8 |
| Germ Squish | Dribbling | Divide the class in half, and have each group occupy a position on opposite sides of the playing area. Give each person a bouncy ball ( the ball represents soap), and have players give their ball a hug in order to keep it quiet during directions. Place poly spots all around the playing area, and tell students that the poly spots represent germs. The object of the game is for the class to collect all of the germs as quickly as they can. This is a timed activity in which teams try to beat their score. On the teacher's signal, the first players in each line move forward while dribbling the ball, and try to get the balls to land on the poly spots (germs). Each time the ball lands on a spot, the player picks it up, and brings it back to the starting line on the floor. | K-2 |
| Ghost Ghost | Chasing | One student is the ghost and the rest of the students follow the ghost around while asking the ghost question. Questions can be about anything. Example: Are you a home ghost? Are you going to chase us? etc... The ghost will choose to respond or not respond to the question. But once the ghost turns around, the ghost can start chasing everybody. The first person to get tagged by the ghost become the new ghost. The game will begin again. Chasers should be encouraged to chase someone with similar or higher skills than themselves. | 3-5 |
| Gold Stampede | Catching | Place poly spots all over the floor and identify them as gold nuggets. Create partners and give each pair one ball to throw. Variation 1: throwing emphasis. The miner in the pair is focusing on their parter's throwing form. The pair can only mine the gold if they step with their opposite foot. If the ball with thrown with opposition, the miner collects the gold and the thrower gets the ball. Variation 2: catching emphasis. The miner stands on the poly spot and if they catch the ball then the pair can collect the gold. | K-2,3-5 |
| Group Balance | Balance | Create small groups of students (2-3) and assign them to a mat. Give students a number of body parts that they must balance on, and have students work together to balance on the assigned number of parts. | K-2,3-5 |
| Hand Hurdle Relay | Balance | Place a series of hurdles all around the playing area. On one side of each hurdle place a pile of food cards. Create small groups of players, and have them line up in relay formation at one end of the playing area. On Go! the first player from each team moves forward, and transfers weight over the hurdle using the guidelines given by the teacher, ice.; 1 foot, 1 hand, 2 feet, 2 hands, etc. If they successfully transfer their weight, they may pick up a food card and return it to their team. | |
| Health Care Pickleball | Short handled striking | Create small teams of four or five players, and arrange teams so that two teams face each other across a pickleball net. Name each player on one of the sides as a health care professional; doctor, nurse, pharmacist, etc, and each player on the other side as a consumer with a health care concern; flu, toothache, new baby, etc. The game begins with any one of the health care professionals hitting the ball over the net. After that point, every ball hit by a health care professional must be returned by a consumer with a concern that can be helped by the professional. The object is for each team to have as many consecutive hits as they can. Change roles and play again. | 3-5 |
| Heart Hit | Overhand throw | Draw a general diagram of the heart and its four chambers on tagboard. Label each of the four quadrants. Attach the posters to the wall. Discuss the flow of blood into and out of the heart. Create small teams of players and have them each stand in a single file line behind one of the posters. Give each team a ball. On Go! players from each team take turns trying to hit the four quadrants of the heart in the same order that blood would flow. Give teams one point for each successful series of hits. Offer students a chance to earn shots at a basket as a reward for each point that they earn. | 3-5 |
| High Five Tag | Chasing, Fleeing, Dodging | Choose 3-4 players to be the taggers, and give each a pinnie. Have students find a self space in which they will begin the game. On the teacher's signal, the taggers try to tag the other players. tagged players freeze and raise one of their hands in the air. Any other player may unfreeze a frozen player by giving them a high five. Change taggers and play again. | K-2,3-5,6-8 |
| Hockey Highway | Long handled striking, Dribbling | After an instant activity, let students know they will be working on striking an object with a hockey stick. Demonstrate how they should use soft taps with both sides of the stick to dribble and control the ball, much like you use soft taps with the feet when dribbling a soccer ball. Then let them know they will be using these small taps to play a game called Hockey Highway. Let them know that once they have retrieved their equipment, they are to take them to a self space and begin to start their engines. This means they are to dribble the object back and forth (left to right)ten times without moving out of their self space. In other words they pass it back and forth to themselves but don't move. Once they have done this, they can begin to safely travel around the highway (the open general space), using different pathways (straight, curved, and zigzag) to avoid collisions. If students lose control of their ball, dribble out of bounds, or have a collision, their car is now stalled and they have to start their engine (soft tap the ball back and forth to themselves wile remaining stationary) again before they can begin to travel again! As students travel through the general space, remind them to use soft taps in order to keep the ball close to their stick, and to use both sides of the blade. | K-2 |
| Hockey in the middle | Long handled striking, Dribbling | This activity is a variation of Monkey in the Middle, and works best with groups of 6-8. For each group, tape a small X on the floor and scatter polyspots (one less than the number of people in the group) in a circle around each X (6-8 feet away seems to work best). The person on the X is the monkey and the people on the spots are the passers (all players must keep one foot on their spot or X during the activity). Passers must keep the puck away from the monkey by passing to other teammates. Passers MAY NOT pass to someone to their immediate left or right, nor the person who just passed to them. If the monkey is able to steal a pass, then they switch places with the person who made the pass. After two minutes, if the monkey hasn't stolen a pass, have them switch places with someone who hasn't been in the middle. Remind students of safety procedures for no highsticking. | 3-5 |
| Home run derby | Long handled striking | Zone Ball: Make different point zones on the wall so they can work on hitting straight ahead off of a tee. Make straight ahead the most points, left, right, up or down less points and create a bullseye that is the most points. Take turns batting. See how many points you can get in ten hits with our partner (s). Then try and beat that score the next time. Variation: Make a bullseye. When they hit the bullseye come get a cue from the teacher. Have to collect all five cues and then try to put them in order and the teacher will check to see if they are correct. | K-2,3-5 |
| Hoop Tag | Locomotor | Players begin the game in a scattered formation, each standing in a hoop. Choose a few players to be the taggers, and have each of them wear a pinnie. Players move around during the game by shuffling inside their hoops, while keeping them on the floor at all times. Tagged players must go out of the game and hula hoop 10 times before returning. Change taggers, and play again. | K-2 |
| Hoover Ball | Underhand throw, Catching, Trapping, Muscular strength | Students use a medicine ball and throw back and forth over a net(make sure it is a strong net, or use a slack line across a set of standards instead). There is one team on either side of the net. The goal is to catch the medicine ball after it is thrown over the net. Each time the ball is not caught, the team who threw it gains a point. Can play to 10/15/or 21. | 9-12 |
| Hopscotch Jump Rope | Jumping, Locomotor, Balance | Hopscotch Jump Rope Students turn a short rope while moving through a hopscotch pattern. If outside, students can draw their own hopscotch pattern G-Lots of fun combining two activities that students know O-Every child has a rope and a hopscotch pattern A- Performs intermediate jump rope skills tricks, (e.g., running in and out of long rope) for both long and short ropes. (S1.E27.3) L- S-Offer various lengths of hopscotch patterns | K-2 |
| Hula Ball | Underhand throw | Hula Ball Students use a bean bag to attempt to land in their teams colored hula hoop to score points, hoops are shuffled around after each round | K-2 |
| Hula Dribble | Dribbling | One partner will pull a hula hoop by a string, and the other partner will try and dribble the ball in the hula hoop while it is moving. Students will do it for 2 minutes, then change roles. | 3-5 |
| Hula Hoopla | Underhand throw | Students use a bean bag to attempt to land in their teams colored hula hoop to score points, hoops are shuffled around after each round | K-2 |
| Hygiene Wall Bounce | Catching | Students brainstorm clean habits, and then rank them in order of importance. In small groups, students find an area against a wall, and draw a symbol to represent each of the habits, with the least important closest to the wall and the most important farthest away from the wall. Players stand behind a line which is past the farthest habit symbol, and take turns throwing a pinky ball at the wall so that it bounces into the habits. Players must catch the ball for it to count as a keep. Players continue until they have collected all of the habits, then they may help their partners try to complete their turns. | 3-5 |
| Indoor Snowball Game | Overhand throw | Before class begins, set up the volleyball nets/ropes and place the basket of yarnballs in the middle under the net. Then place an empty basket at the far end, in the middle of each playing area. Review the cue(s) for the overhand throw you want students to focus on when playing the game. Explain to students that they are to throw the yarn balls across the net to the other side as well as catch any balls that are being tossed to them. If they catch the ball in the air, they should place it in the basket on their side. If it ball drops to the floor without being caught, it can be picked up and thrown back to the other side. Let students know they can catch balls off the walls. If they slide on the ground, however, or any part of their body besides their feet touches the ground when they are trying to catch, they then have to walk to the penalty box (an area set aside by a wall), count backwards from 30 then return to the game. Divide the students into small groups (the number depends on how many net areas you have set up. The more areas you can use, the more opportunities each student has to retrieve and throw balls). Send the groups to their area to begin. Stop the game periodically or when you notice a group is close to having all their yarn balls in a basket. Have students count the balls in their basket, then divide them back up equally and begin again. During one of these breaks, relate to students the strategy of trying to throw the ball to where the other team is NOT. You may wish to switch groups so they are throwing against different groups, as well. | 3-5 |
| Jolly Volley | Volleying | Have groups begin with balloons, and set a challenging goal for the number of times that they think they can volley it in succession. Teacher should teach good cues on volleying and what body parts they can use to volley. For example, students can use their hands to volley, or use their forearms, or even their feet. Let the students be creative with how they volley the ball. After they achieve their goal, they can choose another object to repeat the activity. Groups should choose objects in order of difficulty; easiest to hardest. | K-2 |
| Jump Around Warm Up | Jumping | Jump Around Warm Up Play the song “Jump Around” and have students follow what you’re doing. Do different jumping variations (frog jumps, hopping on left/right, squat jumps, jumping jacks, line jumps, etc). When the chorus of the song comes on, allow students to jump however they would like. | K-2,3-5,6-8 |
| Jump Tag | Jumping, Chasing | Have students start in a scattered formation, with everyone it. Players may tag each other at any time, and every time a player is tagged, they must jump into the air. Change the types of jumps and play again. | K-2 |
| Keep it up | Volleying | Have students form into groups of three/four. The groups then need to choose a ball they would like to volley between them. After they find a good safe playing space in the activity area they are to have one student start the activity either by volleying or tossing the ball to another group member. From then on their task is to try to keep the ball in the air. They must use either bumping or setting skills that they have previously practiced in class. Students can hit the ball twice in a row if they want. If the ball hits the floor they start again. | 3-5 |
| Kick 500 | Kicking | Kick to fielders-Like 500, players kick the ball so that players in the field can catch it. Every ball that they kick that is caught is 100 points and every ball that is still moving when it is gathered in is worth 50 points. | 3-5,6-8 |
| Kick across | Kicking | Two teams of players face each other across a wide area designated by lines or cones and approximately 20-30 yards across. On Go! players try to kick the balls across the other teams line. Players assume the roll of both goalie and forward as they kick and try to defend their goal lines. One point is given for each ball the crosses the line below the knees. | 3-5,6-8 |
| Kick Pin | Kicking, Trapping | Partners will kick a ball back and fourth trying to knock over a pin placed between them. If they knock the pin over they get a point and set the pin back up. If the ball misses the pin the other partner has to trap the ball before it rolls past them. The goal of the game is to see how many points you and your partner can get before time runs out. | K-2,3-5 |
| Kicking Cricket | Kicking, Locomotor | Two cones are set up (distance is discretion of players) If playing with one pair, one person is roller, one person is kicker; if playing two pairs one pair is roller and kicker the other pair is outfield When ball is kicked runner uses locomotor skill (not running) to go around cones Pitcher (1 pair) or outfield (2 pair) must get the ball and bring it back to touch a cone as fast as possible If playing in 2 pairs, both outfielders have to touch the ball before getting it back to the cone Runs are counted by how many cones the kicker (and pitcher if playing with 2 pairs) run around before the outfield gets it back to the cone | K-2,3-5 |
| Kicking Pin Guard | Kicking | Kicking Pin Guard: Pins are spread out arond each half of the gym. Class is split into two teams. Each team has two objectives, (1) guard their pins (2) knock over the other teams pins by kicking. | 3-5 |
| Kickwall | Kicking | Create two teams of players and assign one team to start as the kicking team while the other begins as the fielding team. During each inning, all players get one chance to kick. Kickers try to hit as many walls as possible with their kick. Players advance one base for every wall that is hit. No throw outs or force outs. Fielders try to keep the ball from hitting the wall. After the last kick, count the number of runs scored and switch sides. Any kick that hits the ceiling is an out. | 3-5,6-8 |
| Kindergarten Clean-up | Uncategorized | Students begin on the baseline each holding a gator ball. On the teacher signal, the students underhand serve their ball so that it goes straight ahead of them. The goal of the activity is for the entire class to hit the balls straight ahead of them without crossing over into another persons lane. Start by using a short distance and extend the task to include the entire gym floor. The class wins when the entire class can move across the floor in a straight pattern. | K-2 |
| Leap Frog Tag | Jumping | Everybody is it, and when tagged a person must freeze in a crouched down position as low as they can go. Players may unfreeze frozen players by leapfrogging over them. After saying thank you unfrozen players may return to the game. | 3-5 |
| Leaping sets | Jumping | Describe and demonstrate good hopping, jumping, and leaping form. Describe cues for good locomotor movement as well as safe landing. Talk about what elements can make up a set. Discuss how color, size, shape, etc. can all be ways to combine teams in sets. Place plastic figures of various types all over the floor. (Little plastic animals work well.) Create small teams of players and give each team a designated home area. On go, have one player from each team move forward and collect an item by hopping, jumping, or leaping over the top of it. Continue sending players forward until all of the items have been collected. Have students create as many sets as they can from the items they collected. | K-2 |
| Letter tag | Chasing | Partners face each other with a pile of cards in front of them. They both choose a card and turn it over at the same time. The player with the letter that comes earlier in the alphabet becomes it and tries to tag the other. After being tagged or a certain time limit, the game is repeated. | K-2 |
| Line Volley | Volleying | Students practice hitting a balloon forward while walking on a line. If they drop the balloon they can keep going. If they're successful, they can have a starting place and always have to go back and start over if it touches the ground. | K-2 |
| Locomotor bingo | Locomotor | Have students create a bingo sheet on their paper with a specified number of spaces. Have them fill in each of the spaces with the name of a locomotor movement. Choose players to demonstrate locomotor movements, and players cross out the boxes of the movements as they see them. | 3-5 |
| Locomotor City | Jumping, Locomotor, Balance | https://www.ssww.com/blog/locomotor-city-activity-for-physical-education/ Turn into Monopoly game, collect piece after finish station, take lap around city Domains- Psychomotor- Skills, Cognitive- Strategy, Affective- Relationships G- Different activities keep everyone engaged O-Bunch of Stations A-Bunch of Stations L- All 3 S- Differing Levels of stations | K-2 |
| Locomotor Hello | Locomotor | Hoops are scattered throughout the open playing area. Ask students to find a hoop and stand in it. When the music starts they need to move in the hoop any way they wish while staying in the hoop. When done, bring students together and quickly point out that they were in a self space when they were in the hoop -- that is, students aren't able to touch anyone or anything else when they were in their hoop. What is left over is called general space. Tell students when the music begins again, you'd like them to move in the general space avoiding the hoops on the floor. Ask them to skip, jog, walk, etc. Remind them that when they move in general space, they need to make sure they don't come close to anyone else's self space. When the music stops, they are to move safely to the closest open hoop. You can also challenge them to find a hoop by the time you count to 5 (or 3, etc.) after the music stops. Then, tell students you will call out a number when the music stops. This is the number of people who must now stand in a hoop together! For example, if you call out 6, 6 students must all go to a hoop and stand in it (or, get at least one foot in the hoop). Then, ask students to introduce themselves to those in their hoop, saying their name and shaking hands. | K-2 |
| Locomotor line tag | Jumping | All students are it, and students may move on any line that they like in the gym. Each color line represents a movement that must be performed on that color. For example, green lines represent gallop, yellow lines represent skipping, etc. Players can tag anyone from any team and tagged players simply move to the line color of the person that tagged them. | K-2 |
| Matmania | Underhand throw, Overhand throw, Catching | Equipment: four gym mats balls 3-4 hoopla hoop. Activity: Set the four mats anywhere around the gym and assign how much each mat is worth. Set the hoopla hoop on a basketball hoop or hang them around the wall There will be three people in a group The first person will decide which mat he/she will throw it to The second person will go in front of the mat the first person pick and catch the ball in order to gain a point for their team. If the second person does not catch the ball, then they do not get points After the first person finishes throwing the ball, the second person then will throw the ball to which hoopla hoop he/she picks. If he/she makes it into the hoopla hoop then the team get one more point The third person in the group will run and get the ball. If the third person is able to catch the ball off the wall then the team gets an extra point. Teams will keep track of their own points After everybody has done an action then everybody rotates position. Repeat switching position until the teachers tells everybody to stop Team with the most points at the end will be the winner | 3-5,6-8 |
| Matrix | Balance | Students have to navigate their way through a matrix of elastic bands by going over and under through the holes. | K-2,3-5,6-8,9-12 |
| Meal Deal Balance | Balance | Create small groups of students (2-3) and assign them to a mat. Give students a number of body parts that they must balance on, and have students work together to balance on the assigned number of parts. | K-2 |
| Miniature Golf | Long handled striking | Teacher older students create a miniature golf course. Students may use either golf clubs or hockey sticks for clubs. Coffee cans or plastic cups may be used for holes. Teach students how to score a miniature golf game. | 3-5 |
| Monster Kick | Kicking | Place beach balls or other large balls in the center of the playing area. Give each child a ball to kick and have them try to kick the monsters away from them. Use this activity as a time to assess kicking skills. | K-2 |
| Moon Ball | Volleying | Four teams with six players on each team. The games are played on two volleyball courts\~two teams on each court, Players number off from one to six. The first player on each team is holding the ball. The first player on each court starts the game by hitting the ball into the air and calling, 'One. The others, and in number order, attempt to keep the ball from touching the ground. Once a player hits the ball he or she may not hit it again until the next turn, in order. Any time a ball hits the ground, is touched by another player, or is caught, play stops and the score is given. This is the total to beat in the next game. | 6-8 |
| NITROBALL (Inverted Volleyball) | Volleying | Equipment: Volleyball or other bouncy ball. Court: Volleyball courts and nets work best. The net will hang at 3 feet off of the ground like tennis. Teams of 3 to 6 players work well. Scoring: Rally scoring. Games are played to 15 or 21 points, win by 2. Serving:. Underhand serving only. Use the same service rotation as volleyball. Volleys: Teams can have up to 3 hits per side. The ball must bounce before each hit can be made. Volleyball hits must be used: pass, set, spike, and dig. Physical Education Modifications: Try different size balls. Allow more or fewer hits. Adjust court size. Raise the net. Adjust players on each side. Start with an underhand toss over the net instead of a serve. Only make it bounce on the first contact. | 6-8,9-12 |
| Opposition Freeze tag | Overhand throw | We are playing a quick game to remind us of that important piece of overhand throwing, stepping forward on the foot opposite from your throwing hand. Put your throwing hand high, now take a step opposite (remember that opposite step.) A few taggers are selected and provided with noodles for tagging. On Go!, students run around trying to avoid being tagged. If tagged, players assume the position opposition. Any unfrozen player can give a high five to frozen players to get them back in the game. | K-2,3-5 |
| Ouch Tag | Chasing | Describe the qualities of a safe and friendly tag: gentle, on the upper back, not accompanied by Got you! Have students spread out around the gym. Select 3-4 players to be it, and have them put on pinnies. Have all students begin on a poly spot. On go! taggers try to tag others, who say ouch! when tagged. Players are not out when tagged, they simply continue on as this is a practice activity. | 3-5 |
| Pac Man Locomotion | Locomotor | Arrange the class in a scattered formation on the lines of the gym floor which will include the jump circle, foul lines, out of bounds, sidelines and possibly volleyball court lines. Use the lines like a Pac Man game. But they can't pass each other or touch each other and when they meet at the lines, one of them has to go the other way. Tell the class to do these locomotor skills: run, jog, skip, leap, jump, gallop, etc. Then later, you can have a few chasers that try to tag them with a soft object. When tagged that person steps off the line and to be set free another person must tap them on the shoulder to continue.... | K-2,3-5 |
| Paper or Plastic | Underhand throw, Overhand throw | One partner throws a plastic grocery bag up in the air, while the other partner throws a ball at the bag. Partners get one point for each time they hit the bag in the air. | 3-5 |
| Parachute Catch | Catching | Teachers use the parachute to launch lots of yarn balls into the air and the students try to catch as many as they can. Set a goal of catches and students win when they catch that many. | K-2,3-5 |
| Partner Add On | Jumping, Locomotor, Underhand throw, Catching | Students stand 10-15 feet away from a partner, depending on skill level, with a hula-hoop in the middle of them. Bean bags are placed about 10-15 feet behind each line of students, with poly spots scattered in between students and bean bags. On a signal, students will hop from poly spot to poly spot and grab a bean bag behind them. They then hop on the poly spots back to their starting position. Students will underhand throw the bean bag to their partner. If the partner catches it, they will place it in the hula-hoop. The other partner will now hop and grab a bean bag from behind them. They now must throw and catch the bean bag 2 times in a row before putting it in the hula-hoop. Partners alternate getting bean bags as they attempt to toss and catch 3, 4, 5, etc. times consecutively. If a miss occurs, partners must start over. | K-2,3-5 |
| Partner Hand Dribbling Assessment | Dribbling | Use the following sheet with students to see how they are doing with the cues for dribbling a ball with their hands. One student will watch the other and use the sheet to check off how they are doing. You can do this during the class being taught on dribbling or at any time at the end of a class. Basketball Dribbling Partner Assessment | 3-5 |
| Partner Path Plays | Catching | Have players use their knowledge of pathways to create football pass patterns. Challenge them to use as many pathway as they can in each pattern. Have players take turns running their own pattern and having their partner throw the ball to them at the end of the pattern. Exchange pass patterns and try again. | 3-5 |
| Partner Travel Challenges | Balance | Students perform the following stunts with/without partners after they problem-solve the methods. Each of the following stunts should be performed by moving from one end of the gym floor to the other. Examples: How would you move across the floor with 1 foot? 2 feet? 2 feet and 2 hands? 2 feet and 1 hand? Or with a partner: how would you move across the floor together with 2 feet total? 4 feet and 4 hands? etc. | K-2 |
| Pathway Striking | Long handled striking | Remind students about the various pathways; straight, curvy, zigzag, and circular. Have each student use streamers to create a pathway on the floor, and the other students try to recreate (by pushing an object with a stick or wand) the same pathway next to the one on the floor. | 3-5 |
| PE Running Man | Jumping, Chasing | Requirement: A large amount of space that can hide people and stuff (Mostly building on Gym night) People will be split into two groups. Each person will have their own nametag on their back. The main objective of this game is to eliminate everyone from the other team. A person can be eliminated if their nametag is ripped off by the other team and placed on the wall. However, there is more than one way to eliminate someone. There will also be a nametag of every participant hidden somewhere. If someone found the hidden nametag of someone from the other team and placed on the wall, then that person from the team will go to the Return zone. So it is a game of strengths and wits. The people who are eliminated are sent to the Return zone. While in the Return zone, they can participate in activities with objectives that can get them back in the game. If the objective in the zone is completed the player is back in the game. Activities can be designed to match the skill being taught in class that day. Activities objective Examples: Make 10 3 pointers in a row, dribble consecutively 30 times, use alternate hands to dribble for a minute, etc. If | 6-8,9-12 |
| Penny Jump | Jumping | Create small teams of four or five players. Give each team a handful of pennies. Have each player estimate the number of pennies laid end to end that s/he can jump. Have players lay out the pennies, and perform a standing broad jump alongside them. Give small prizes to the players who came closest to their estimate. | K-2 |
| Perfect Pass | Overhand throw | Lay hula hoops all over the gym. Have have half the students start in the hula hoops and half on the baseline. The baseline students throw a ball to someone in a hoop. If the student catches it in the hoop they pick up the hoop and take it to the baseline. The person who just threw goes into a hula hoop and the other student becomes a thrower. Have students say the name of the person they are throwing to. Can time it and see how quick the class can complete the task. | 3-5 |
| Pin 'Em Down | Locomotor, Underhand throw, Dribbling, Catching | There is one pin in the middle of the court and four cones in a square shape around. Each cone has a ball that is to be rolled at the pin. Players will be split up into four teams and each team should line up behind a cone. On the signal, the first person in each line tries to roll the ball and knock down the pin. If the pin is missed, the rest of the team in line trying to gather the closest ball to give to the second player to try and knock the pin down. Once the pin is knocked down, each team moves to their designated basketball hoop and begins shooting at the hoop from anywhere, keeping track of the baskets made. After one minute of shooting, each teams returns to their starting cone and the next person in line rolls the ball at the pin and the game resumes. | 3-5 |
| Pin un Guard | Overhand throw | Create two teams of players and have them start on opposite base lines. Give each player one pin to guard. At the start of the game, students try to knock down the pins from the opposing team. As opposed to regular knockdown, the goal of this game is to have students knock down as many pins as possible. Players guarding their pins simply tip them back up once they've been knocked down. The class keeps track of the score and tries to beat it in the next round. | 3-5,6-8 |
| Pin Drop | Underhand throw | Every student gets one bowling pin, a ball, and a poly spot. They set the ball up against the wall and put the poly spud about 8 feet away. Teach the cues for the underhand throw and allow students to try to knock their pin over. For every penny knock over, they put a penny in the penny jar. | K-2 |
| Pin Knock Down | Underhand throw, Overhand throw | Class will be divided into two equal groups and stand on opposite sides of the gymnasium sidelines 8 bowling pins will be put in the center of the gymnasium equal distance from both teams Goal is to collectively, as a class, knock down the pins by rolling balls at them. | K-2,3-5 |
| Pin Pileup | Underhand throw | Pins are set up all over the middle of the playing area. Players use gator balls and try to knock down all the pins as quickly as they can as a class by rolling from outside the playing area. Players can go anywhere to get a ball but must stay behind the lines before rolling the pins. | K-2,3-5 |
| Pirate Floor Hockey | Long handled striking | “Pirate Floor Hockey” Each student is given a foam hockey stick and a puck (their gold or treasure). Next have some students put away their treasure puck and be “pirates” and focus on trying to steal the treasure from the other students. Once a pirate steals a treasure puck, that student now becomes a pirate and attempts to steal the puck from other students. G – Student Goals o Practice stick handling and dribbling O – Opportunities o All students get the opportunity to start with and without treasure. They also are always moving and attempting to keep their puck away from the pirates or steal treasure from the other students. A – Appropriate o The lesson is appropriate for young students and keeps them safe with the foam hockey sticks L – Learning Domains o Strong affective presence. Students must interact with others and use good teamwork to try and out maneuver the pirates. S – Slanty Creek o Students can choose to use pucks as their treasure and work their way up to faster moving objects to increase the difficulty; they can move to a foam ball and then to a faster moving whiffle ball | 3-5 |
| Poison Ball | Overhand throw | Class is divided into two teams. Each team is trying to keep the poison ball off of their side. The poison ball is a large ball (ideally a yoga ball). They do so by throwing smaller dodge balls at the poison ball. After the ball crosses to one teams side the round is over. | K-2,3-5 |
| Poly spot clean-up | Catching | Students will be paired off. Poly spots will be all over half the gym. Each pair will have on a ball. Each person in the pair will stand on a poly spot. One student will throw the ball to their partner. If the partner catches it the thrower can pick up their poly spot. The other partner is now the thrower. OPTIONS: The pair can go to two new polyspots, the pair has to stay on that polyspot and go from there, cognitive challenge underneath the spot | K-2 |
| Poly spot stop | Kicking | Partners have a ball and have to roll for their peer to run and trap on top of spot. each successful trap is a point | K-2 |
| Pop Goes the Weasel | Locomotor | Discuss force, and the ways that they can create force with their bodies. Play Pop Goes the Weasel, and each time students hear the pop they must jump into the air using all the force they can. | K-2 |
| Popcorn | Short handled striking | Place ball on racquet and keep ball from falling off. Bounce the ball into the air and catch. Bounce and Catch. Repeat. Dribbling the ball on the ground. Start off stationary and progress into moving around the floor. Switch hands from time to time. Hit the ball into the air, let it bounce, hit ball into air, let it bounce, etc. Continuously hit the ball into the air. Hit ball into air, clap your hands and hit the ball again before it hits the ground. Hit the ball into the air, touch the ground, and hit the ball again | 3-5 |
| Pump the Blood | Chasing | Designate the middle circle of the gym as the heart. Students must jog around the perimeter of the gym. when the teacher calls Veins students must run back to the heart without being touched by the tagger. When the teacher calls arteries, students must run away from the heart to the outside boundary line without being touched by the tagger. | 3-5 |
| Rainbow Volley | Volleying | Students start at a color and volleying together to get to the other hoop of that color. They continue to do the same until they've collected a rainbow! | K-2 |
| Red Light Green Light Dribbling | Dribbling | This game is just like red light and green light. The teacher will hold up signs of either green or red. When the teacher is holding a green sign, students will move forward and dribble towards the teacher. When the teacher is holding a red sign, students will stop where they are, however, they will keep dribbling. Remember to remind the students that it is more important to control the dribble than focusing on speed. If you lose control of the ball you have to go back to the start line. As soon as any student passes the line they give themselves a point and return to the starting line to begin again. | 3-5,6-8 |
| Risk Tag | Invasion, Chasing | Two teams face each other across a line in the middle of the gym. Players may run across and try to get into the other team's end zone to earn a point for their team. If they are tagged, they belong to the other team. | 3-5 |
| Roll and Duck | Kicking | Arrange mats as a wall across the middle of the playing area. Create two teams of players, and give one team gator balls. At the teacher signal, the students with the balls roll them toward the other team and then hide behind the mats. The other students try to kick the balls as hard as they can. Students collect the balls and repeat. Switch teams and play again. | 3-5 |
| Roller Derby | Underhand throw | Create two playing areas one inside the other and assign half of the students to each. Allow students from the outside playing area to roll balls at the feet of those inside the area. If students foot is touched they simply switch places with the person who rolled the ball at them. | K-2,3-5 |
| Self/Partner Catching | Underhand throw, Catching | Describe the cues for throwing and catching. Give each student a ball, and have them practice safe catches in their personal space. Give students a challenge such as 10 catches in a row, and as they complete the challenge, assign them to a partner. Each set of partners then assume a new challenge, such as ten catches. | K-2 |
| Serving Up Baskets | Volleying | This activity is to help the students get height on an underhand serve, as well as, to develop accuracy when they are serving. Groups of 2 will be at the basketball goals with each group having a volleyball and 20 bean bags on the floor behind the foul line. I have 6 basketball goals and 2 groups at each goal. There can be more than one group at each hoop. The student with the volleyball will be at the foul line with the partner behind them. At the signal “go”, the person with the volleyball will serve the ball at the basketball goal. If they serve it and make a basket they will take 3 beanbags and place them in a small pile under the goal next to their teams cone. If the ball hits the hoop, but doesn't go in, they get to move 2 beanbags. If the ball hits the backboard only, they get 1 beanbag. The server retrieves the ball and gives it to their partner. Play for a specific time, until the music stops and add up the points. Have partners set a goal for number of points, play again and see if they can get more points. Have students switch partners, set a new goal, play again and see how many points they can get. | 3-5 |
| Seven-up | Catching | Students find a spot along the wall where they can work and complete the following tasks in order: Toss and catch Toss, clap 1x and catch Toss, clap 2x and catch Toss, clap 3x and catch Toss, clap 4x and catch Toss, clap 5x and catch Toss, clap 6x and catch Toss, clap 7x and catch Toss, spin and catch Toss, spin, clap 1X and catch Toss, spin, clap 2X and catch Toss, spin, clap 3X and catch Toss, spin, clap 4X and catch Toss, spin, clap 5X and catch Toss, spin, clap 6X and catch Toss, spin, clap 7X and catch Variations: Day One-all tasks completed after letting the ball bounce Day Two-all tasks completed without a bounce Dat Three-all tasks completed while sitting on a scooter | K-2,3-5 |
| Shake, Rattle, and Roll | Locomotor, Chasing | Equipment: 1 parachute, many tennis balls (at least 20 and numbered), small bucket for each team, music Activity: Group is split into two teams, even and odd. Then each person chooses a partner within their team. One partner is holding the parachute and is the shaker, other partner is behind them and is the chaser/retriever. Place tennis balls on the parachute. When music starts, shakers start shaking the parachute with the goal of shooting tennis balls off it. As tennis balls fly off, chasers try to retrieve the balls that correspond to their team (ball 17 would be odd team). When music stops, team with most tennis balls in bucket wins. Repeat activity with partners changing places. Activity can be done with a variety of locomotor skills to move around and retrieve the tennis balls. | 3-5 |
| Simon | Jumping | Create small teams of players and give each team 3-4 hula hoops of differing colors. The first player may jump, hop or leap into any hoop of his/her choice. They must then jump out. All players from the team follow in order. The first player then repeats his/her first movement, and adds a second. Again, all the rest follow in turn. The leader continues until s/he has had a set number of turns (as designated by the teacher,) then another player begins the sequences. | 3-5 |
| Skipping Musical Chairs | Locomotor, Balance | Student Responsibility: Sit quietly in a circle and listen to instruction and watch demonstrations Equipment: Polly spots and device to play music. The space that will be used a circle that is somewhere in the gym and an area around that for the students to skip around. The only equipment needed will be the poly spots that mark the circle. Instruction: Ok class, now here is where this step-up I was telling you about earlier comes into play. Today we will be learning skipping, and we will help us do this by playing Skipping Musical Chairs. Instead of chairs we will be using pollyspots that are set up in a circle, when the music starts we will move in a circle while skipping, when the music stops, everyone will try to get to a spot. After everyone but one person finds their spot, one more spot is taken out, and the person who didn’t find a spot will come to join the unable to playgroup. Like the last activity, the people who are unable to participate will be given a form going over the key parts needed for a mature skipping pattern, and will be analyzing is students are hitting these levels. Once a round of the game is completed, we will set up and play again. When performing a skip, it is important to remember it is a step forward followed by a hop on the same foot and at the same time arms are flexed and move in opposition to legs to produce force(Demonstrate skip). Please be safe and no pushing for a poly spot, if you got beat there you got beat there. Remember, a way to be a good friend during this activity is not bullying your way to a spot and respectfully accepting that you got out if that is the case. (Now start to begin the game) Cue words: Step then hop, arms flexed, opposition to help produce force. Making Groups: No groups Safety/Cheating: Make sure students know pushing other students off of the polly spots is not allowed. | K-2 |
| Sky Ball, My Ball | Catching | Discuss taking turns. In groups of three, one player throws the ball high in the air, and the other two call for the ball and catch. The player who is closest to the ball should be the only one to call and catch it. Stress the importance of taking turns. Which group can get to five catches first? | 3-5 |
| Slide across tag | Overhand throw, Catching | Start with this game, Then vary by allowing players through, but block passes. Round #2-allow players through, block passes, switch spots with blocked passers. | 3-5 |
| Space Hero Catching | Underhand throw, Catching | Players are each given a hoop as a planet, and must stay in in or fall prey to the lack of gravity. Players try to toss and catch to themselves. Assign a few players to be the space heroes. They are able to move freely through space, and can help pick up balls for those who drop them out of reach. Change space heroes and continue playing. | K-2 |
| Spaghetti and Meatballs | Kicking, Trapping | Half of the class will start with pool noodles Half of the class will be starting on the passing side Students with the balls must pass to each other and try to keep it away from students with noodles If the ball gets knocked away from them, the person who knocked it away is now on the passing side, the person who passed it picks up a noodle | K-2,3-5 |
| Stop Light | Short handled striking | Class will split into teams of three. Each team gets 3 hula hoops and 3 wiffle balls or tennis balls. Hula hoops will line up like a stop light. Closest hoop (the green light) will be worth one point, middle (yellow light) worth two, and the farthest hoop (red light) is worth 3 points. Closest hula hoops will start 10 feet apart. Adjustments can be made to accommodate skill level. Students will stand behind hula hoops. Each player gets one chance to land their ball in any hula hoop of the opposing team. Points will be kept by the individual teams. Underhand hitting style off the drop. Teams will alternate hitting toward the hula hoops. After 2.5 minutes, teams on one side will rotate one “court” to the left. | 3-5 |
| Stop N Sport-effort | Locomotor, Balance | After the students arrive have them spread out safely in the general space you have defined by the cones. On your signal, their task is to move throughout the general space using a locomotor movement of your choice. Change those patterns throughout this activity. On the stop signal (drum, clap, whistle, voice) students are to stop and using SLOW MOTION act out an activity that is a part of a sport of their choice. For example, if they chose baseball as their sport then they can choose to act out the batting movement. This must be in very slow motion as your task is to try to guess a few while you are moving around. | K-2,3-5 |
| Straight Race | Volleying | Students begin on the baseline each holding a gator ball. On the teacher signal, the students underhand serve their ball so that it goes straight ahead of them. The goal of the activity is for the entire class to hit the balls straight ahead of them without crossing over into another persons lane. Start by using a short distance and extend the task to include the entire gym floor. The class wins when the entire class can move across the floor in a straight pattern. | K-2,3-5 |
| Streamer Dance | Locomotor | Remind students about the various pathways; straight, curvy, and zig zag. Have one student from the group use the streamer to create a pathway on the floor, and the other students try to recreate (through movement) the same pathway next to the one on the floor. Switch student leaders, and repeat until all team members have practiced all of the pathways. | K-2 |
| Strike a Pose | Balance | Students gather together in the center of the gym floor in a big circle allowing about two feet of space between each other. One student stands in the center of the circle and is the leader who strikes a pose at the sound of the teacher's whistle. All other students copy the pose made by the leader. Ask students to maintain the pose as a group for three seconds to win a point for the class. Ten points wins! | K-2 |
| Strike Across | Long handled striking | Batters are trying to get their catchers to successfully catch 10 foam balls before the other team does. The batters have a basket of balls, and the catchers have an empty basket to put successfully caught balls in. | 3-5 |
| Strike Across Remake | Long handled striking | Divide the playing area in half with a middle dividing line. Create partners by colored shirts, shoes, etc. Create two equal teams of partner groups. Each partner team has a tee and a bat. Students show they are ready by standing with their partner against the back wall. On the teacher's signal, one partner places a ball on the tee for their teammate to hit to the other side. After hitting, the other partner collects a ball and sets it up for the other person to hit. When the teacher yells freeze, teams count the balls on their side, and the team with the fewest wins. | 3-5 |
| Tag team Singles in Tennis | Short handled striking | Divide players into two groups with each group forming a line behind the middle of each baseline. One player is up on each side. The first player from side A drop-hits the ball over the net and moves to the back of the line. The first player on side B returns the ball and goes to the back of their line. From there, each subsequent player hits one ball and moves to the back of the line, keeping the point going until one side misses. This can be cooperative with both teams attempting to get 10 consecutive rallies. | 3-5 |
| Team Outfield Scramble | Underhand throw, Overhand throw | Divide the class into a team with at least four players in each group. Two members from each team are selected to hold the two person parachute and be the “catchers”. Their job is to work together to catch a thrown object with the parachute (the object may not bounce or be rolled). Catchers may move side to side but cannot move closer to the thrower. If an object is caught in the parachute, the “catchers” must work together to transfer it into the team hoop/basket without using their hands. Each caught pop–fly is counted as a run/score. One player is selected as the “thrower” and they must perform an underhand or overhand throw from a designated area (cone) using the parachute as the target. The last member of the team is the “Retriever. They must pick up one object that is scattered in the outfield and run it to the “thrower”. They must hand it (do not roll or throw) to their team thrower and then go back to the outfield for another object. After all the objects have been collected from the outfield, count up your team “runs”, return objects to outfield and switch jobs so that everyone gets a chance to work the parachute, throw, or retrieve. | 3-5 |
| Team punting | Kicking | Divide students into teams of two -Two students from each team are the first designated “punters”; these students will have a large supply of balls to punt out to their teammates -Teammates out in the field will try to successfully trap balls out of the air or on a bounce; once ball is trapped, students will place them in a designated safe area -Team who traps the most balls in 60 seconds wins the round -Rotate the punters out every minute | 3-5 |
| Tee Derby | Long handled striking | In this game, students will be given a partner, a ball, and a tee and bat. Each group will also have a square taped on the wall in front of them which contains smaller squares that have different point values. Students will try to aim their hits to hit the higher point value squares to get the highest score they can. If this activity is too easy, they can back up to make it more challenging. Students will switch turns every hit and try to get as many points as they can in the time limit. | K-2,3-5 |
| Tennis Baseball | Short handled striking | Create small teams of 4-6 players and give them each a small area that is divided by some sort of a net. One team on each side. The teacher tosses to the first player on the hitters) team and the first hitter in line tries to strike the ball so that it lands on a part of the “fielders” side where a fielder can’t touch it. A double is a ball that lands between the service line and the net and a home run is a ball that lands between the service and baselines. All hitters take a turn and then teams switch. | 3-5 |
| The Shepherd | Volleying | Once your K-2 students can volley and strike their balloon with some control, try applying that skill to a little game called The Shepherd. In this game, 3-5 students are designated as “sheep dogs” that stand in the center of the area. The other players line up on an end line, each with a balloon. They are the shepherds and their balloons are the sheep. The object is to volley their sheep continuously as they walk through the “pasture” without allowing a sheepdog to tap their sheep away. | K-2 |
| Throw (Don't Mow) the Yard | Overhand throw | Start the lesson off with an instant activity that involves throwing and catching (for example, get a ball and a partner and begin to throw and catch to each other). When done, let students know that they will be working on a throwing game today. Remind them that the purpose of the game isn't to see who wins, but rather, for them to show how well they can throw using one of the throwing cues. Let them know you will be looking for them to use this cue today all through the lesson, and you'd rather see them making a few good throws versus lots of bad throws. Divide the area, and students in the class, into four (or more) equal-sized yards (use cones if needed) and teams, respectively (hint: place students on teams so that each team has students with differing throwing abilities--for example, don't put all the good throwers on the same team). Place the same number of crates, large and small boxes, and large garbage cans (clean!) in similar places in each of the yards. Give each team the same number of objects to use for throwing (e.g., yarn balls, gator balls, bouncy foam balls, etc.). On the go signal, students try to throw balls from their area into the containers in the others' yards. Students may pick up balls from the ground or take them out of containers to throw. On the teachers stop signal have students divide the balls up so each team once again has an equal number of balls, and begin the game again. As the game progresses, observe students on one team at a time. Record whether they are throwing using the cue you are looking for most or all of the time; some of the time; almost none of the time. Try to observe each student for at least five throws. As you stop each round, give students feedback on their use of the throwing cue. Teaching Suggestions: The competition factor among teams should not be stressed. If a team challenge is desired, have students see if their team can get above a certain number of points in each round (announce the number at the beginning of each round). A point can be scored if a throw goes into a container in someone else's yard. Have each team give a cheer at the end of the round if they got more than the number of points you called out. You may want to start out with a small number of points (for example, 3 or 5) and increase it slightly each time. Doing this puts less emphasis on beating other teams and more emphasis on making good throws. | 3-5 |
| Tia Tac Throw | Underhand throw | Students are paired off. Each group goes to a station/target on the wall. Working on overhand throwing and our T-Bend-Step-Throw, throw a bean at the target on the wall. If you hit the target you get to play on your tic tac toe board. If you miss the target you do not get to play. The first person to get three in a row wins. | K-2,3-5 |
| Toe to Toe | Locomotor, Balance | Youngsters perform a locomotor movement around the area. On signal, each child finds the nearest partner and stands toe to toe (one foot only) with that person. It is important to emphasize that students must take the nearest person without searching for a friend. Youngsters who can’t find a partner within two giant steps run quickly to the center of the area (use a marking spot or cone) to find a partner. The goal is to find a nearby partner as quickly as possible and avoid being the last pair formed. If the number of youngsters playing is uneven, make that student your partner and subtly assign them to another twosome. Use a variety of movements to mix the students each time. | K-2 |
| Toilet Paper Pathways | Long handled striking | Each student is given a roll of toilet paper and create a pathway on the floor. They will then push a ball along their pathway. After they complete theirs, they can visit other friends pathways! | K-2 |
| Tunnel tag | Locomotor | Identify 1-3 taggers, and when tagged a player must stand with their hand in the air, and legs spread apart. Any player may unfreeze a frozen player by going underneath their legs. After saying thank you an unfrozen player may return to the game. | K-2 |
| Two pass | Catching | Spread many balls of different sizes around the gym or outdoor area. Each student has a partner, and the object is to pick up any ball, complete 2 passes with the partner, set the ball down, and move to another ball. To make this more challenging set a number for them to try to reach or you could set a time limit. | K-2 |
| Volley a lot | Volleying | Create target on the walls and other areas around the playing area. Create score cards that match the targets. Students are each given a balloon or beach ball to use at the targets, On the teacher's signal students move to a target and try to get as many correct volleys (or serves) as they can in a time period designated by the teacher. St the end of the time period, students record their scores and go to the next target. | K-2,3-5 |
| Volley battle | Volleying | Place hula hoops randomly inside the volleyball court in the gym. Place beach balls, balloons, or volleyballs around the outside of the playing area. On the teacher signal, students try to knock all of the hoops out of the game by underhand serving a ball so that it lands in the hoop. | K-2,3-5 |
| Volley Spell | Short handled striking | Brainstorm polite phrases and actions, and write each on a sheet of paper. Have students select partner, and give each team a balloon, pencil, and piece of paper. Have one person from each team come to the center and select one of the sheets created during the brainstorming. Teams then work together to volley back and forth as they say the letters from the phrase or action that they selected. Players say one letter for each successful volley. After spell-volleying each one, they write it on their score sheet, and select another from the center of the playing area. Continue until teams have had a chance to spell a number of the phrases. | 3-5 |
| Volley Spud | Volleying | Form small groups of students, and have each team form a circle. Each group has a ball, and each player is given a number. Teams must have each player volley the ball in the order of their numbers: i.e..; 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. For every successfully completed round the team gets a point. | 3-5,6-8 |
| Volleyball Battleships | Volleying | After an initial practice time using volleyball underhand serves, divide the class into two or three teams depending on the number of nets that are available. Each team will have servers and ball shaggers separated by the net. The servers will serve from behind a designated line. The ball shaggers stand on the other side of the net but off the court. Their job is to quickly roll the balls to the servers after they have landed. Hoops or yoga mats (the battleships) are arranged on the side of the net where the Ball Shaggers are located. A battleship is sunk when a server is able to serve the ball over the net and have it land in the hoop or on the yoga mat. If a battleship is sunk(hit), the ball shaggers remove it from the floor. The sides remain in position until all the battleships are hit(removed). Then change sides and start again. | 3-5 |
| Wall Ball | Catching, Chasing | The basic activity of the game is throwing the ball up against the wall, letting it bounce on the ground if you want, then catching it. You can throw it against the wall and catch it yourself, or let another team member catch it, or whatever. The fun starts when one of two things happen: 1) if a person throws the ball and it touches the ground before hitting the wall or 2) a person fumbles or drops the ball in any way. When either of these things happen, the fumbler/bad thrower must run to the wall. Meanwhile another player is trying to throw the ball so that it hits the wall before the fumbler can touch the wall. | 3-5 |
| Wall blockade | Catching | Class is separated, can be groups or pairs. One student throws the object at the wall, and another has to get in front of the object to catch or stop it. Level 1: Student stops the object on a roll. Level 2: Student catches the object with a bounce. Level 3: Student catches the object right off the wall. Variation: Catch no bounce one hand 200 pts, catch no bounce two hands 100 pts, catch off the bounce 50 pts, catch while it's moving 25 pts | K-2,3-5 |
| Wall Golf | Long handled striking | The game is simple and very similar to golf. Tape hula hoops around the area of play on the walls varying in different locations. You can have as many as you want depending on space. Have both a hula hoop and a poly spot with a number 1 on them so the children know that poly spot 1 corresponds with hula hoop 1 and etc. The student must stand on the poly spot for the first hit and then where ever the shuttle cock lands is where they take the next hit. The object is to hit it in the hula hoop in as few times as possible. Have the students keep up with their own score. Ex) If it takes you two times to hit hole 1, your score is two. Then it takes you three times to hit hole 2, your score is now five. The holes can vary in distances. Anywhere from 3 ft. away to the whole size of area. Divide the class into as many groups as you have holes. | 3-5 |
| Wall target grid | Underhand throw, Overhand throw | Mark out a grid with tape on the wall. Assign point values for each space in the grid. Students will throw objects at the grid and see how many points they can earn. | 3-5 |
| Wall target grid | Overhand throw | Mark out a grid with tape on the wall. Assign point values for each space in the grid. Students will throw objects at the grid and see how many points they can earn. | 3-5 |
| Wall Whack | Kicking | Each student has a ball and a spot on the wall. Place a poly spot on the ground and put the ball on top of it, and place another poly spot in a position that the non-dominant foot would step just before kicking the ball. Allow students to start by standing and practice kicking the ball by placing their non-dominant foot on the associated poly spot and kicking the ball against the wall. The goal of the activity is to have students keep the ball in front of them, so help them to plan their distance from the wall. Vary the task by allowing students to run up to the spa the spot before kicking the ball. If a ball goes behind the students, the teacher collective and students have to come tell them a joke in order to get their ball back. | 3-5 |
| Whacky Baseball | Striking/Fielding | The full version of whacky baseball involves 8 bases instead of the usual 4. There are 8 fielding bases and 8 runner bases. An all-time pitcher will pitch the ball to the batter and then once the batter hits the ball, the fielders must get the ball to one of the three designated stop spots. Once the ball is at a stop spot, the runner must stop at the last base they touched, and the ball is returned to the pitcher. The innings switch after each runner gets a chance to bat. Each time a runner returns to home base, the team gets a point. | 6-8 |
| Whistle Mixer | Locomotor | Children are scattered throughout the area. To begin, they jog around in any direction they wish. Blow a whistle (or similar signal) a number of times in succession with short, sharp blasts. Children then form groups with the number in each group equal to the number of whistle blasts. If there are four blasts, children form groups of four—no more, no less. When players have the correct number, they sit down immediately to signal that no one may leave or enter their group. Youngsters who can’t find a partner within two giant steps run quickly to the center of the area (use a marking spot or cone) to find a partner. After the circles are formed, the teacher calls “jog,” and the game continues. Use a variety of locomotor movements. | K-2 |
| Wormball | Locomotor, Dribbling | Each student has a ball and moves around the room dribbling or bouncing the ball on the lines. Anytime they come face-to-face with another student they throw the ball up into the sky. Once they gather the ball again, they can begin moving around again. Each time they come close to a basket, they can try to make a shot. At any point during the game the teacher can shout throw up, Students must move to find a new color ball. | K-2 |
| Wormball | Dribbling | Each student has a ball and moves around the room dribbling or bouncing the ball on the lines. Anytime they come face-to-face with another student they throw the ball up into the sky. Once they gather the ball again, they can begin moving around again. Each time they come close to a basket, they can try to make a shot. At any point during the game the teacher can shout throw up, Students must move to find a new color ball. | K-2 |
| ACTIVITY | CATEGORY | DESCRIPTION | GRADE LEVELS |