Embedded Files
Team Baseball
Make a baseball field in your gym using a tumbling mat at each base. Lineup a team at home plate in a single file line and put the other team spread out around the outfield. One student from the batting team will step up to home plate and hit (tennis racket, bat, arm) a ball anywhere in the gym. As soon as the ball is hit the team that is up to bat runs around the bases in a single file line. As they run the fielding team gets the batted ball and begins passing the ball around to each of the outfielders. As they pass the ball to another outfielder they sit down. When the hitting team all makes it home we look at the fielding team and count the numbers of players left standing. That number is the score that the batting team gets for their hit. I use three hits and then switch positions. The fielding team could also get in a single file line and pass the hit ball over the head and then through the legs to the back of the line if you want to mix it up a little bit.
Mat Fold
Create groups of students of 6-10. Give each group a large unfolded mat. Ask the students to fold the mat up the correct way without anyone in the group touching the ground. Add more members to make it tougher.
Bench Ball
Split your class into two equal teams and put a team on each side of the gym. Place an unfolded mat near the back wall of each court. Pick one student from each team to start the game as the teams catcher. The catcher starts on the opposite side of the gym. Dump out a good number of gator balls across the gym. Students job is to try to get the entire team onto their teams mat (on the opposite side of the gym) Students are to throw a ball from their side of the gym to their catcher. If their catcher catches their pass they get to join the catcher on the mat and become a catcher themselves. Students may play defense, but may not touch the other teams mat at any time. The first team to get everyone on the mat would be the winner. If at any time a catcher on the mat falls or steps off the mat they are sent back to their side of the gym to complete another pass.
Human Knot
Create groups of students of 4 to 5. Have students stand in a circle and connect hands with other members of the circle. Make sure students do not connect with the same person with both hands. After connecting, have students move their connections from the hands to the wrists (allows students to twist without injury). Ask students to move their bodies to allow the group to untangle the groups knot/knots. Students may find that they create multiple circles and/or bring facing different directions. Create larger groups to up the level of difficulty.
Boogie Board Slide
Create groups of 5ish students. Find boogie boards or surfboards or sometime that can be used like a boogie board and a bunch of tennis balls. Have students place one rider on top of the boogie board. Have the other students place tennis balls in front of the board to allow the rider to move the board across the gym. To make this task tougher you can give the rider a paddle of some sort which is the only method to power the board across the tennis balls. Switch riders to ensure everyone gets an opportunity.
Pipe Race/Noodle Race
Cut Large PVC piping in half to create half pipes. Give teams of students three or four half pipes to use to move a ball from one side of the gym to the other. Students may not touch the ball or move their feet while the ball is in their pipe. Students need to move the ball from one pipe to another to get it across the gym. Use different types of balls (racquet, marbles, golf balls, tennis balls) to make it more difficult. Tie strings onto the pipes and require students to use the strings to make it even more difficult. Try a marble in a noodle for a challenge.
Team Juggling
Put students in team of more than 4 (can be as big as you want) and have them stand in a circle. Students start with a soft ball that is easy to catch. One students throws the ball to another student in their group. That student then throws it to another student and so on until everyone has thrown the ball to someone. Nobody should get the ball twice in one sequence. The last person to catch the ball would toss it to the person who started it. Sometimes it is best for students to call out names before making throws. Each student will now throw and catch to the same person. Run through the sequence a few times to ensure everyone knows who they will throw to and catch from. Add a second ball into the action. Students continue to throw in the same order. Continue adding balls as the groups continues being successful or make the group larger and start a new sequence.
Parachute Pass
Using two large 20ft parachutes, have students practice lifting and lowering the parachute together simultaneously. Put a ball in the middle of the parachute to practice flinging the ball high into the air. Have students practice trying to fling it in different directions. Ask students to fling their ball from their parachute to another parachute held by another group.
Word Challenges
Have students try to work together to uncover the word mixes and their meanings. Make it active by asking students to perform activities when they successfully answer challenges or when they incorrectly answer.
WORD PLAYS.docShoe Challenge
Ask each students to untie one shoe and kick it somewhere in the gym being careful not to hit anyone else. Put students in groups of 5 or 6 and have them create a circle holding onto each others shoulders. Students must them move around the gym finding each others shoes and helping one another get their shoe back on. Students may not use hands at any time.
Stepping Stones/Cross the River
Use buckets or poly dots to create stepping stones that students must use to cross a certain distance. Tell students that they must keep a body part touching each stepping stone or they will lose it (it sinks into the water or lava). Students must find a way to get everyone in their group from one side to the other while not touching the ground. For youngers give them one more polydot than the number of kids in the group. A dot for each person and a log for a challenge.
Climbing Challenge
Students try to climb across as many panels of the climbing wall as possible. When they have crossed the panels they report to me the number of panels that they completed. I add up the number of panels and multiple them by 4' to get a total number of feet the class has climbed. Classes try to climb higher that local building or mountains (Columbia Tower 937 feet or Mt. Rainier at 14, 411 ft.) Classes can also try to compete against one another to see who can climb the highest.
Counting Challenge
Put together teams of 9 or 10. Ask students to try to count as a group to the number of students on each team. Only one person may say one number at a time, students may not use any signals, students may not create a routine to follow. The saying of numbers must be random. If two people say a number at the same time or if one person says two numbers or if a signal or routine is used the group must start over.
Pot of Gold
Put students into teams of 4 or 5. Give each team a pot (bucket or hula hoop). Place a load of gold (bean bags/tennis balls) in the middle of the gym. Place students in single file lines. Remind students to high five one another when they return from their turn (to ensure only one person goes at a time). On each students turn, students get to take one piece of gold from the middle, from their own, or from another teams pile. Students may only take one piece of gold during a turn. Different rounds may be played. Teams can try to get the most pieces of gold or the least amount of gold.
Team Tag
Put your class into groups or squads. Give each member in one squad a tagging ball or item. That squad will try to tag everyone down as fast as they can. When everyone is down tell them their time and give the next squad a chance to do it. Stress the importance of using one another to trap the quicker runners to get them down.
Rope Challenge
Get 4 or 5 long (50 ft.) ropes. Tie 8 knots in the rope and put about 8 kids on each rope. Students grab onto the rope (not at the knot) with one hand. That hand has to stay attached to the rope at all times. It cannot slide or let go of the rope at any time. Using their other hand and their classmates they are to try to untie all of the knots on the rope. If they succeed, see if they can do the same thing backwards to put a few knots back in the middle of the rope.
Pass the Things/Moving Day
In squad rows, place a hoop on one line and put 6-8 objects in the hoop. Students must pass the items using their feet or legs only! If the object hits the ground, it goes back to the front and start over with that object. (Frisbee, tennis ball, dot, bowling pin, cone, balls etc.). Woods way = When a player has the item in their posession they can not move their feet. They must hand off to another teammate and then move down the line to continue handing from classmates to classmate till they get to the other side. First time across is with hands. Second time across with feet only.
Titanic
Groups of 6, using 2 hoops students must get to the other side and can't touch the ground unless you are in the hoop. Hoops can't be pushed forward with your feet. Only picked up and placed down.
Common Commotion
1st day with the older kids. All kids get a dot and make a circle with one person in the middle. Person in the middle says what they did over the summer. I went swimming! Anyone who went swimming has to find a new dot and you can't go to the one next to you. Last person who doesn't find a dot is in the middle and takes a turn. You can have someone say I am in 5th grade and then all students have to move.
Scooter Races
Make groups of 5 or 6. Each group gets 2 scooters. Each team member will get at least one chance to ride the scooter around the course. One person on each rider needs to connect to one another. The other team members are the motor of the scooter. They will push and pull the scooter around the course. Allow students to practice and try different things before running the race. Everyone on the team must be with the scooter at all times.
Knight of the Round Table
Setup 10 pins on each side of the gym. Place mats in the middle of the gym. The goal of each team is to knock down all 10 pins on the other teams side. Each team has three jobs that they will rotate through. Catapults lay on the mats and launch balls towards the other teams' castles (pins). Pages are on their feet and retrieve balls and give them to the catapults. Pages are not allowed to guard castles or throw at castles. Knights are the final job and they ride on scooter boards and are in charge of guarding the castles. They can't throw at castles. Rotate every couple of minutes.
Receiver Rescue
Split the class into two teams. Each team selects two players who will start out as the quarterbacks. Everyone else will go to a selected spot on the other side of the gym that is called the receiver zone (I called it the jail). When the game starts the quarterbacks throw the balls to their receivers. If a catch is made, then the receiver gets to join the quarterback on their side. The goal is to be the first team to have all of the receivers on their side of the playing field. When a receiver catches a ball and goes back to their side, they can turn into a quarterback of defensive back who is knocking down the passes from the other team. If a quarterbacks pass is ever caught by the opposite team, the quarterback is sent to jail. If the defensive back ever goes into the receiver's area, they are sent back to jail.
Cooperative Knockout
Split the class into two teams. Each team has three people standing on polydots on their side of the gym. Everyone else sets up a bowling pin in a certain area (I did it on the black dots on my floor). The difference between this game and regular pindown is that students can only roll or throw from the front line. We call this the throwing zone. In doing so, they will have to leave their pins to make throws or rolls and will want teammates to help guard it. I ask throwers to look back after each throw to make sure that their pin is still standing. When a pin is knocked down, they take their pin to the line of kids on polydots and give it to the first person in line.
Find a Partner
When the music starts have the kids moving around the gym using whatever locomotor skill you want. When the music stops, ask the kids to find a partner to shake hands with. This will be their shake hands partner. Students are to make a different partner for each: high five partner, toe to toe partner, back to back partner, side by side shake partner, thumb wrestle partner. Make a call with a series of partner calls or change the commands quickly.
Team Work Tag
Pick three or four students to be taggers. Everyone else is trying to stay alive. When a student is tagged, they either lay down on their backs of sit down on their rear. If a student is sitting on their rear, they need two people who have not been tagged to each grab a hand and pull them up. When pulled up, they are back in the game. If a student lays on their backs, they will need 4 students, one for each limb, to carry them to a hula hoop that is placed in the corner of the gym. Once there the person is revived. We don't allow taggers to tag when they are holding on to a teammate.
Hungry Hungry Hippos
This is a favorite of the kids. Put a bunch of balls (tennis and gator) in the middle of the gym. Place two scooter boards (connected), one milk crate, one big tub, and a rope (older kids) in each corner of the gym. Assign students to corner. Students are to ride the scooterboard on their belly and hold the milk crate with their hands. The crate is the mouth of the hippo and tries to trap balls underneath it. For the younger students we have a couple of hippo drivers who push the hippo out to the middle to get the marbles. For the older students, they give their hippo a push to the middle and retrieve them by putting the rope around their ankle (slip knot). Pick a magic ball to be the winning ball or play to see who gets the final ball. Lots of fun!
Burn Bucket
There is no limit on outs (burns). The entire order of one team kicks and then the teams switch places; fielders to kickers, kickers to fielders.
To get a runner out, they must be caught off base when the ball is put in the burn bucket. Outs cannot be caused by catching the ball in the air or by striking the base runner with the ball. For example, if I am up to kick, the opposing team is trying to get the ball in the burn bucket before I make it to the base. If they are successful, I am burned (out) and go back to my team's line. If the ball bounces out of the burn bucket and the runner successfully makes it to base before they can get it back in, the runner is safe.
You may have more than one runner on a base. If runners don't feel they can make it to the next base before the fielding team can get the ball in the burn bucket, they don't have to run. If the last runner is still on base at the end of the batting order, I kick and try to get them in.
Corresponding team members pitch to each other. #1 on the blue team pitches to #1 on the green team, #2 on the blue team pitches to #2 on the green team, etc. Each player gets his/her chance to both kick and pitch.
Points are scored by runners making it to home plate. I don't keep score. ;)
Castle Relay
If castle falls over you must touch the starting line and start over.
Level 1: Build castle on the middle line and sit down w/ team clapping
Level 2: Build castle, send two people through and sit down. No touching.
Level 3: Some as above but send three people through belly up.
Level 4: Blindfold someone, build castle, verbally direct them through, sit down
Level 5: Combine 2 teams, build a double decker castle
Noodle Patterns
Put students into group of 3's. One student will be a runner and the other two students would be holders. In the middle of the gym place a pile of noodle discs of different colors. Teacher calls a body part and a sequence of noodle colors. Runners have to run out to grab the color noodle to create the pile in the correct pattern. They can only grab one noodle at a time and must place the noodle between the body part. First team to make the pattern between the body parts wins. Change jobs on each pattern so everyone is a runner and holder at some point.
Treasure Hunt
Put out polydots across the gym. Give each team a certain symbol or picture to find. Students get in a line and one person at a time goes out to find just that picture. If they find one, they bring the picture and dot back to the group. If not, they cover up the picture again. Keep running until a team has found all of their pictures. Could make challenges by giving each picture a value and teams try to get the highest value total.
Cooperative Hoops
Line students up side by side. Try to step through a hula hoop until the hoops makes it to the end. After a hoop passes over the first person they move down to the end of the line to continue to the other side of the gym.
Cooperative Stack
Place a stack of stacking cups at the end of the gym. Put together teams of 3 or 4. Students have to build a 5-4-3-2-1 stack while stacking only one cup at a time. Students run down one at a time to stack their one cup. Give students a challenge to run down with (with scooter board/complete a push up/compete a curl up/jump rope down/etc.). First team to create the full stack and make it back would win.
Enchanted Forest
Find the pathway through the Enchanted Forest. All steps will be used once, and students will not need to skip over a step to get to another one. When they take the wrong path, they are told “Thank You” by the facilitator and they need to step out of the forest. They must be completely silent. Don’t forget to step out of the forest on your last step.
Parachute Math
Students work together practicing math facts to move the parachute in unison depending on what number is called. Multiple of 2's means feet= 2, knees=4, hips=6, shoulders=8, above heat=10. Uses harder number multiples with older students (i.e. call out multples of 7's, 8's 12's etc.). Students can also be the leader to call out numbers.
Parachute- Cat and Mouse
Pick 2-3 kids to be cats, climb carefully on top of the parachute on hands and knees. Cats close their eyes. Pick 3-4 mice students who crawl on hands and knees under the parachute. Cats try to tag mice. If a mouse gets tagged, they come out and join the rest of the class. The rest of the class are making waves with the parachute.
Parachute-Carosel
One-three students carefully sits in the middl of the parachute criss-cross. Class makes "waves" and walked in a circle with the parachute. Have center students pick 3 new kids, until all students get a chance
Stepping Stones Sorting
Have students sort themselves by topic (i.e. birth month, height, rainbow color clothes). Extra challenge would be to do this without talking (!)
Switch
4 people on corners of a square. 1st person in line says go and everyone has to switch positions. Person in line takes a spot that is left. Whoever doesn't get to a spot goes to the end of the line.
Hula Hoop Road Trip (K-2nd)
Each student has their own hula hoop. They pretend to drive it like a car. Teacher calls out various words that affect their driving: School Crossing: Walk VERY slowly, Highway: Jogging or running in general space, Mountain road: Curved running, Cul-de-sac: Run in a circle, Out of Gas: Drop hoop & sit pretzel style inside hoop, Speed Limit 30: Walk, Bumpy Road: Skip, Flat Tire: Hop, Stuck in the Mud: Jog in place, Rain: Drop the hula hoop & move arms up & down while making the sound of windshield wiper, Radio: Drop the hula hoop & turn on the radio -- then sing a tune and dance inside the hoop, Sunshine: Reach into the glove compartment to pull out cool shades -- put them on using the "John Travolta" fingers in a "V" shape moving over the eyes
Memory Relay
Copy the structure- teams try to recreate a hidden structure with PE equipment- All items are at one end of the gym along with the hidden structure. Team mates can only bring back one piece of the structure at a time, The team collects all the pieces of the structure and then works together to put the pieces in the correct position to recreate the "hidden" structure.
Horse & Rider
Students in partner groups with one jump rope. One student becomes the "horse" and holds the jump rope around their waist. The other partner is the "rider" and holds the handle of the jump rope. The rider chooses where to guide the horse in the gym, and is responsible for their safety (don't let the horse crash). Gentle pull to the right= horse goes right. Gentle pull left= horse goes left. Jiggle reins=horse speeds up. Gentle pull back=horse stops. Start with ALL horses walking speed. Switch roles after 2 minutes. Extensions: guide the horse on a gym line, horse can gallop, horse can skip, etc. When class is ready, have the horses go blind (close their eyes). Keep switching roles until everyone has had a chance at multiple variations of the game. Odd number groups= 2 horses & 1 rider.
Summer four corners
Place a cone in each corner of the gym, along with a flip deck of color coded cards. Each deck has a different item for each theme (I swam: in a pool, in a river, in the ocean, in a lake). Students move in a specified direction and manner to the cone that matches their experience. Opportunities to have students share before moving to the next category.
Garbage bag relay
One large garbage bag for every two students, each team has a total of four students and two garabage bags. Need one basketball per team. Goal of the relay is to move the baketball using only the garbage bag a designated distance. Partners hold the G.B. by the corners, stretching it lenthwise. The ball will be tranfered to the other team by rolling from one G.B to another. Rules: 1. Partners may not move their feet when the Basketball is on their G.B. 2. Ball is rolled from one G.B. to the next. 3. If the ball hits the ground they go back to the start line. 4. Teams continue until the ball crosses the finish line. Suggestions: Team should practice moving the ball before relay starts. Two preferred ways for partners to get into position to receive the ball after rolling it to the other two teammates: a) pair runs around other two or b) after receiving the ball, the pair lifts their G.B, allowing other teammate pair to run under it to then receive the ball. Relay could be done with larger groups of six or eight.
This or That
Students are given two choices and have to decide which one...summer/fall, rain/sun etc...
No Relay Relay
Have students sit in Team Tag lines at one end of the gym. (This is basically their squad, in a single file line.) In front of each squad, have an overturned frisbee with one bean bag of the same color. Blue frisbee, blue bean bag; red frisbee, red bean bag. Place one cone next to each team’s frisbee and have a supply of popsicle sticks to count successful strikes. On the other side of the gym and directly across from their line, set up one bowling pin.
Once the music starts, the first person in line underhand tosses their bean bag, from their starting point, in the direction of their team’s pin. If it doesn’t knock down the pin (it won’t), the tosser goes to the end of the line and the next person in line jogs out to where their team’s bean bag landed and picks it up. From that spot, they underhand toss their bean bag towards their pin. If it doesn’t knock it down, they run back to the end of their line and the next person in line jogs out to where their bean bag landed and picks it up. They continue to take turns until they are close enough to knock down their pin.
When someone is successful in knocking down their team’s pin, they set it back up, grab their bean bag, and run back to hand it off to the next person in line. This person then tosses their bean bag from the starting point. The student that successfully knocked down the pin will then go to the box of popsicle sticks and grab ONE. They return to their team and drop the stick inside their team’s cone. This counts how many times a team was able to knock down their pin.
To modify you can add smaller objects (buckets) that the kids have to throw into for more points. For older kids you can put a maximum number of throws to get the bonus buckets.
At the end of class, each team counts their popsicle sticks and tells me their score when returning the sticks to the box. I congratulate them on working together to be successful as a team.
45 Seconds (30 Seconds)
Split class into two teams. One team wears jerseys. Kicking team will each get a chance to kick. Kicker kicks the ball in any direction. When kicked the team will have to runners who are trying to stay up (not get hit by a ball). The fielding team is going to track down the kicked ball and will pass it from person to person. When they have the ball in their hands, they can't move. As a result, they have to pass to teammates. Their job is to try to hit one of the two runners who are moving around the gym. If a runner is hit by the ball they will sit down. The other runner may tag this runner back up if possible. Runners job is to try to be standing at the end of the 30 seconds. Kicking team gets two points for each runner left standing. Fielding team is trying to get both runners down before 30 seconds is up.
Tic Tac Toe Relay
Claw Machine
(Underhand toss, relay, running)
-Four teams with a line-up cone and a hula hoops station - each hoop has a 20+’ rope tied to it, with the other end of each rope taped to the floor.
-About 10-15 feet out from the hula hoops is a large pile of light-weight cones and any other random object you want (I used giant badminton birdies, cones, and rubber animals).
-A player runs from the line-up cone to their group’s hoop, steps on the piece of tape holding their rope in place for extra hold on the rope. They toss their hoop towards their pile and pull in their rope, trying to grab objects. Any objects they catch they bring with them back to put in a large bin by their team’s line-up cone.
-At the end of 3-5 minutes, put all of the objects back out there and play again.
Scooter Survivor
Purpose of Activity: To practice cooperation, communication, and teamwork skills
PE Standards: 3.2, 4.1, 4.2,4.4, 4.5
Grade Level: K-6
Equipment: 8 cones, 5-6 scooters with small ropes attached, class set of dot spots, 8-9 folding mats, bucket of bean bag creatures, 8 red bean bags
Set-up:
-Add cones to make a large rectangular playing area around the gym.
-Evenly spread-out 5-6 scooters, each with a rope, along a baseline (scooters wheels are up, rope on top).
-Each scooter will get 5-6 dot spots (preferably the same color) in a line
-Spread out folding mat “islands” inside the rectangular area, preferably far enough away so students can not jump from mat to mat.
-Spread out placement of 5-7 red bean bag “life packs” on in the playing area
Directions:
Divide students into even teams, one student per dot spot. Using only a scooter “boat” and a rope, teams must travel from one side of the “shark-infested ocean” to the other side WITHOUT touching the gym floor. If ANY member of the team touches the floor, the WHOLE team returns to the beginning. On their journey, teams can earn rewards:
1.Teacher gives sea creature/beanbags to students when they show teamwork skills. Use verbal feedback to reinforce teamwork concepts (i.e. “you were safe by pulling the rope gently”, “you waited your turn showing patience”, “you made a plan with your team”, “you stayed positive in a hard moment”, etc.)
2. Each time a WHOLE team crosses the ocean, they receive a sea creature
3. “Life Packs” are red bean bags, which saves you from the sharks and allows your team to keep going (and not go back to the beginning).
Game Goal: The team with the most sea creatures by the end of the game wins.
Safety Rules:
-Students MUST ask their teammate “ARE YOU READY?” before pushing or pulling scooter
-NO standing on the scooter (sitting, knees, or tummy is ok)
-Teacher can take away sea creature points for being unsafe/jumping from island to island
Teacher Notes:
*The teacher is the “shark” and determines when a student has gone into the ocean.
*Remind students that teams can go fast or slow, but the goal of the game is to show many different teamwork skills (and earn sea creatures)
Extensions: (For when teams travel a few lengths of the gym)
-Broken arm (loss of use of one arm)
-Blindness: two people must keep their eyes closed
-Each person on the team chooses a challenge (blindness or broken arm)
Closure:
At the end of the game, teams count up their sea creature points (can also offer bonus sea creatures to teams who are quickest/quiet). Ask students to share out how they were able to earn their points. Highlight the different teamwork skills necessary to complete this game.
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