Suggested by Students, Loved by Students: Top 3 Games for PE

Sometimes kids have the best ideas! I'm glad I had a minute to listen to some of my students the past few years; their game suggestions have become regular activities in my lesson plans.

1. Clean the House

This idea actually came from my daughter, who was in first grade and attending a different school than where I worked at the time. One night I casually asked her, "What's your favorite game in PE?" She went on to describe Clean the House. This game is great for 5-6 year old children. It keeps kids busy and happy and a little math lesson can be incorporated into it too!

Object: To end the game with less balls on your team's side. (The cleaner house)

Equipment Needed: 12-16 cones, 40 yarn balls, 2 buckets (5 gallon works well)

Set-up: Make two lines of cones, about 4 feet from each side of the center line. Put half of the yarn balls on one side, half on the other. Divide the students into two teams.

Rules: Each team starts on opposite walls, just like in dodge ball. On the start signal, they may run to get the balls and start throwing them to the other side. Unlike dodge ball, they are not trying to peg anybody, the goal is simply to keep throwing the balls to the other side to get rid of them. The students may not go past the cones on their side. (I always tell them the area in between the cones is "hot lava.") On the stop signal, the students stop throwing balls and bring any balls that are on their side to their team's bucket. The balls are counted and the team that has less balls, wins.

Math Lesson: At the end of each round, I like to have the students count the balls with me. Sometimes we count by twos. The students can work on their math skills by figuring out which team has less than or greater than the other team. One time I drew the less than/greater than symbol on a large piece of paper and student helpers put it the right way, based on the amount of balls in each bucket.

2. Ships and Sailors

This suggestion came from two fourth grade girls that were twin sisters. They were new to the school, but they definitely were not shy. Every time I saw them, they would ask me if they could tell me about a fun game they did at their old school. Finally after a week or two, I pulled them into my office at the end of their PE class. I scribbled down the rules, and it has been a crowd pleaser ever since! I use this game for 2nd-5th grade classes. It is a great game to emphasize teamwork.

Object: To be the final person left in the game and become the new Captain.

Equipment Needed: 4 pinnies

Set-up: Choose 4 students to wear the pinnies who are the sharks.

Rules: This game is similar to Simon Says; the students must do the commands correctly or they are out (or as I like to say, "dismissed"). The rounds go fairly quickly, so the students don't have to be out of the action for very long.

I usually start as the Captain to get the game started. Here are the commands:

Captain's Coming! (Everyone stands at attention and salutes.)

At Ease. (The only way they can stop saluting.)

Man Overboard! (Two people, one kneeling, one standing with hand on partner's shoulder, both pretending to look for the man overboard.)

Three Men Rowing! (Three people sit in a line, pretend to row a boat, and sing "Row Row Row Your Boat.")

Crow's Nest! (Three people stand back to back, arms interlocked.)

Mess Call! (4 people sit in a circle and pretend to eat.)

Walk the Plank! (5 people stand in a line with their hands on the shoulders in front of them.)

To the ship! (Everyone runs to a designated wall. Last one there is out.)

To the shore! (Everyone runs to a designated wall. Last one there is out.)

Hit the deck! (Everyone drops to their stomachs.)

Shark Attack! (The students in pinnies try to tag the other players to get them out. To be safe from getting tagged, students become a starfish on any wall.)

There are many versions of this game out there on Google; it can be modified for any group or occasion. Last year we did a Christmas version, which was pretty fun.

3. Pac Man

I was already familiar with this game before a 3rd grade boy asked me, well, begged me every time he came to PE to play Pac Man. I had used this game for a high school youth group activity, and I got to play it in a college class one time. (It was a Coaching Basketball class and we dribbled a ball while playing - it was so much fun.) I don't know why I hadn't tried it in PE before, maybe I thought younger kids couldn't understand it, but his persistence payed off. Now it is a hit! I use it for Kindergarten - 5th grade classes. It is a great twist on the classic tag game and is good for teaching students about boundaries in games.

Object: To avoid being tagged by the ghosts.

Equipment Needed: 4 pinnies

Set-up: The students choose where they will start. They can stand anywhere in the gym as long as they are on a line. The ghosts wear the pinnies; everyone else is a pac man.

Rules: On the start signal, the ghosts try to tag the pac men. Everyone must travel along the lines on the floor. (The basketball court lines, the volleyball court lines, etc.) If tagged, the student must sit down where they got tagged. They become a block: Other pac men cannot go around them; they must turn around and go a different way. Only the ghosts may go around a block, but they must quickly get back on the line. I try to stop the game when four pac men are left, who become the new ghosts for the next round.

Do you use any games or activities that came from a student idea? I'd love to hear about it. Also, I'd love to hear if you try any of my student suggested games. Thanks!

Creative Solutions with Large PE Classes

At my elementary school we average about 80 students per class period. Our gym is small, so I have to be very creative to manage such a large number of kids. Currently there are two certified teachers and two instructional aides in PE, so we are able to split into various groupings.

I have developed a running/walking program called the 50 Mile Club that has been a lifesaver. The students can choose to run or walk laps at the track during PE class with the goal of completing 50 miles by the end of the school year. Anywhere from 20-40 students usually choose to participate in the 50 Mile Club each class, which leaves a much more manageable amount of kids in the gym for the activity or game.

Now... this always works, but what about bad weather days???

The key is to keep an open mind and find a solution. I know so many colleagues that would prefer to shut PE down for the day and put a movie on for the kids to watch. Please, please avoid this trap. I have fallen into this trap in the past, and in my experience, it is more stressful to keep the kids quiet to watch a movie than it is to find a solution and let them be active. The kids need every minute of activity possible.

Scenario One

One day a couple of years ago, we were experiencing quite the cold snap in Southeast Texas. The lesson plan involved every child's favorite, the parachute, but I wasn't sure how to pull this off with so many children in a small gym, and they were already bouncing off the walls.

Creativity kicked into gear. There was a spare classroom not being used near the gym, so I pushed the desks to the side and got the parachute ready.

The main bulk of students stayed in the gym and played dodge ball (another favorite), and I called a group at a time out of the gym to travel to the classroom for the parachute activities. The kids had a fun filled PE class and got their energy out. Now, imagine if I had made them sit and watch a movie... everyone would have been miserable!

Scenario Two

Here is a more recent example; this happened just yesterday. It was a good ol' rainy day, which I wasn't going to let rain on PE's parade!

The kids were supposed to have "Free Day Friday" at the football field or in the gym, so some adjustments had to be made. I already had a volleyball net set up in half of the gym from activities earlier in the week, so I knew some of the kids would want to play volleyball. We decided to use the other half of the gym for a basketball game.

But I knew there was still quite a few students that would quickly become disengaged with both of these activities. So I had one of my aides grab some hula hoops, and I gave the students a third choice of practicing with the hula hoops in the hallway outside of our gym. (This happened to work because there is a hallway with no students in classrooms, just a few people's offices, but they are used to all the noise from the gym anyway.)

The kids had a blast! My aide was surprised that the kids that chose to hula hoop were so happy hula hooping the whole time. She said that one girl never stopped! Ha! I was also pleasantly surprised how much the kids were enjoying volleyball. The smiles and laughter said it all. And basketball was a hit as well. Once again, a movie would have been miserable.

Bottom line... don't fall for the trap of laziness. Get creative so kids can get active!

The Top 4 Ways to Inspire Students to Move

It is no secret that it is getting more and more challenging to get kids moving. With the rise of technology has come the fall of activity, but as a Physical Educator it is my duty to fight back. So here I will share the top 4 ways I have found to inspire my students to move:

1. Student Choice

When students are allowed to choose an activity, they magically take ownership of that choice. I have seen it happen over and over again. 

In my 2nd - 5th Grade PE classes, students always have the choice to participate in the "50 Mile Club" or to do the activity for the day. No matter what they choose, they are more motivated to move because they got to make the choice. It just works!

My Kindergarten and 1st Grade students are a bit too young to go run laps around the track, but they often have choices too. Their favorite days are when we do stations in the gym. Multiple activities are set up and they get to freely choose where they are going to play. They love it!

2. Relationships

Students will do almost anything for you if you build a relationship with them. Take the time to get to know them. 

I have learned so much by listening to my students; they even give me great ideas for games sometimes! When you use a student's idea in PE, they will definitely be motivated to move!

3. Meaningful Incentives

A treasure box and a stash of stickers are great (and I use both), but these feed the desire for instant gratification in children.

Developing meaningful incentives will teach students about long-term goals and satisfaction, and will keep them moving in the process.

For instance, I award ribbons to students for every 10 miles they complete in the 50 Mile Club. Toward the end of the school year, the students that have finished 50 miles get to attend a celebration during the school day. They are awarded a large finisher ribbon, a t-shirt, and a certificate.

I also use incentives that a class can earn by getting "stars" for good behavior. In the past, classes have earned the right to vote for their favorite activity (using that student choice again), eat lunch with a coach, or go on the bleachers at our nearby football stadium. (They love running to the top! What may be considered a punishment for older athletes is a reward to my students.)

4. Circuit Warm-ups

This is something new I have tried this year, and after two active weeks, I can say that it works! 

I have spent years trudging through a dull, large group warm-up with standard stretches and exercises, but this past summer, the idea came to me to try a circuit style workout for the warm-up routine.

I select the exercises for the week, and designate an area for each exercise by taping a paper on the gym wall or on a cone. The paper has the name of the exercise and a picture to show how to do it. The students are divided into groups of about 8 kids each and are told where to start. I turn on some kid friendly upbeat music and the kids start moving! After one minute, I blow my whistle and the kids rotate to the next exercise in the circuit.

I recommend 8-10 different exercises, so that the kids are continuously moving for about 10 minutes. I make sure to have a good variety of movements, some to target the core muscles, the legs, the arms, and the cardiovascular system.

It did not take much effort to train my students the procedure on how to do the Circuit Warm-up. I do take the time at the beginning of the week to demonstrate the proper way to do each exercise. Each coach helps monitor and give feedback to the students as they are exercising. 

The students have learned more effective, lifetime exercises in two weeks than I ever could have taught to a large group in a whole school year!

I hope this gives you some ideas for your PE class. I'd love to hear how you have inspired your students to move!