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P.E. GAMES FOR HOME

Ideas are categorized according to grade levels.

Fun Activities for Grades K-2nd

1. Tape Shape Game: Use low-tack painters tape to put a variety of shapes, letters and/or numbers on your floor. Have your child stand on their favorite one then give them instructions to follow that will lead them to their next destination (for example: “bear crawl to the square”, “hop like a Frog to the T”, “Run to the rectangle”). This game keeps your child moving, but also helps them learn their shapes, letters and numbers!

2. Tape Lines: Make 5–10 separate lines of tape (low-tack painters tape), each about a foot apart, on your floor or carpet. Label the first one the “start” line and then give your kids simple instructions:

   1. Long Jump: See how many lines they can jump over. Have them try and beat their best score each time. Experiment with arm swinging vs. arms behind their backs.

   2. Run ‘n’ Jump: Now let them take a running start and see if they can jump even further!

   3. Long Jump Backwards: Increase the difficulty by performing the tasks jumping backwards.

   4. Hop: How far can they jump on one leg?

   5. Reach ‘n’ Stretch: How far can their leg reach with one foot on the “start” line?

3. Spider Web: Use painter’s tape to make a web-like design on a doorway opening (idea via Hands On As We Grow). Give your kids some newspaper to scrunch up and throw up at the web. Or get creative and use other light-weight objects like balloons.

4. Balloon Taps: Hang a balloon by a string from your doorway so it is a few inches higher than your child’s arm reach. Then challenge them to try and tap it with their hand. Count how many they can do in a row without missing (this gets tiring very quickly!). Up the ante by seeing if they can jump and touch the balloon with the top of their head!

5. Alligator Alley: One of our favorite go-to inside games of all time. Simply scatter some “islands” or “boats” across the floor (use pillows, stuffed animals, books, etc) and then have your kids jump from one to the next without falling into the “water” and risk being eaten by a hungry alligator. Parents, consider playing the role of a hungry alligator that chomps after them when they stumble!

6. Lego Color Hunt: You have to try this one, it is a kid-favorite and super easy. Select 4 pieces of colored construction paper and then collect 10 Lego pieces that match each one (ie. 10 yellow Lego pieces for a yellow piece of paper). Now hide all of the Lego pieces in one room/area of your house and lay out the colored paper on a table or the floor nearby. Start the clock and have your kid(s) start hunting. Once they’ve found a Lego, they need to return it to the piece of paper that matches in color. See how long it takes them to find them all (tell them there’s 10 of each color so they can count to see if they’re missing any themselves). When finished, have them try it again to see if they can beat their time.

7. Puzzle Piece Hunt: Hide all the pieces of a wooden board puzzle and have your child search for them – returning each piece to the board as they go. This game gets them moving, and their brain working at the same time, and kids love having a goal to complete.

8. ABC Hunt: Have your kids go around the house with a basket, collecting items that start with each letter of the alphabet (A for apple, B for Barbie, C for Crayola, etc) – give them a checklist to mark off each one as they go. Time them so they get moving!

9. Bubbles! We’ve never met a child that doesn’t get excited about bubbles. Blow some with a wand and challenge your kids to pop them all before they touch the ground, prompting lots of jumping and diving.

10. Parachute: Grab a bed sheet and get your whole family involved – everyone taking a side and rapidly moving your arms up and down. Put some small balls or balloons on top and try and fling them off. Also, if possible, take turns crawling under and out of the parachute while others make waves with the parachute above you. Kids love this one!

11. Musical Letters: Make pieces of paper with big letters on them and spread them around the room. Play some music while they dance and then stop it and call out one of the letters. They have to immediately find the letter and sit down on it. If they pick the wrong one, have them do 15 jumping jacks (or whatever age appropriate movement you decide). Scale this activity to fit the level of your child – use colors, numbers or sight words to make it easier or harder.

12. Freeze Dance: Add-in a game to your dance party where one person stops the music and everyone else must instantly freeze. If you catch someone moving, they’re out (or just have them do some jumping jacks). The last one standing (or dancing in this case), wins.

At Home Physical Activities for Grades 3rd-6th

1. Balloon Paddle Ball: Using an object, such as a fly swatter, tennis/badminton racket, paper plate, over-sized popsicle stick, paint stir stick, spatula, plastic spoon, your hand or the back of your hand, etc. Try to balance a balloon on the object. Have your kids try to keep their balloon on their "paddle" (object) as they navigate through obstacles or run around the house.

2. Balloon Volleyball: Make a “net” by tying a piece of string between 2 chairs and then have your child hit a balloon back and forth by running from one side to the other, trying to keep it off the floor. If you have 2 or more kids, have them hit it over the net as many times as they can without it touching the ground.

3. Balloon Croquet/Balloon Golf: Make your own indoor course by using chairs, toilet paper rolls, pieces of construction paper, etc. Amp up the activity by writing active tasks on each “tunnel" or "hole." When your balloon touches, makes it through or in “do 15 jumping jacks as fast as you can” or “go run up and down the stairs 2 times.”

4. Airplane Landing: Make paper airplanes and throw them. BUT, you have to collect it and bring it back to the start line without walking – this could be running, hopping, skipping, twirling, crawling…let them get creative!

5. Flash Light Scavenger Hunt: If you have a room that can get sufficiently dark by turning off the lights and closing the blinds, send your kids on a Flash Light Scavenger Hunt where they have to find certain hidden items in the dark using a flashlight. If the weather is warm enough you can do this at night.

6. In-Home Basketball: Grab some laundry baskets,, buckets, etc. and place them on the floor, stairs or hang from a door handle or hook. Make your own house friendly balls using a wad of paper, bean bags, soft toys or rolled-up socks. Play a game of horse or see who can make the farthest shot. Set-up lines of tape to see how many shots they can make from each one. Or, set a timer for 1 minute and challenge them to make as many baskets as they can (running to retrieve the ball after each missed shot!).

7. Jumping Limbo: Do the Limbo in reverse: instead of going under, have your kids jump over! Using something flexible like a stretchy exercise band, crepe paper or jump rope, have 2 people hold it (or attach it to something on one side) and start it on the ground. Have your kids run in a circle and then jump over it. After a few successful jumps, raise it an inch or two. Keep raising it until they can’t jump any higher!

At Home Physical Activities for Grades K-6th

1. Create a Race-Car Track: Use low-tack painter’s tape to make a huge road system for your child's toy cars. Think outside the box and have the track scale furniture and other obstacles (just make sure it’s something you don’t mind toy vehicles being “driven” over). The key to making it active is to make it large-scale, so they are engaging their core muscles while crawling all over.

2. Don’t Let The Balloon Touch The Ground: This is the classic game that kids fall for every time. The rules are simple – hit the balloon up in the air but don’t let it touch the ground. To make it more challenging for older kids, have them juggle more than 1 balloon, or keep one hand behind their back. Time them to see how long they can do it for. If you have multiple kids, have them count how many times they can hit it back and forth, then see if they can beat their time!

3. Penguin Waddle: Place a balloon between your child’s knees and have them waddle across the room without dropping it. Make it more challenging for older kids by having them go around a few obstacles. If they drop it, they have to go back to the start.

4. Ping Pong Ball Catch: Using a plastic/paper cup and a few ping pong balls (or any small object that will fit in the cup), have your kids toss the ball to a partner and try and catch it in the cup. Start out close together and then keep taking a step backwards to increase the challenge. For a single-player, they can simply throw the ball in the air and try and catch it.

5. Crab Walk: Teach your child how to do the crab walk, then see how fast they can scurry across the room. Have races with siblings (or yourself!) and then increase the level of difficulty by having them balance a stuffed animal on their stomach. If it falls, they have to scramble back to the beginning and start again!

6. Cotton-Ball Crawl: Try moving a pile of cotton balls from one room or spot to another by using a spoon. The feather-weight cotton balls make it easy to fly off if they don’t balance it just right!

7. Target Practice: Set up some targets (empty water bottles or paper towel rolls work great) and have your kids try and knock them down with Nerf guns or throwing soft objects. The exercise comes in when they have to keep going back and forth between retrieving their objects and the start line.

8. Mission Impossible Obstacle Maze: Using either Crepe Paper or Flag Tape (held in place with Painter’s Tape), create an intricate maze in a hallway for your kids to navigate their bodies through. Put the tape up high and down low, forcing them to step over and crawl under at various points. The only problem with this one is that once you make it, your kids will constantly be begging you to make another! (You can also use yarn)

9. In-Home Basketball: Grab some laundry baskets,, buckets, etc. and place them on the floor, stairs or hang from a door handle or hook. Make your own house friendly balls using a wad of paper, bean bags, soft toys or rolled-up socks. Play a game of horse or see who can make the farthest shot. Set-up lines of tape to see how many shots they can make from each one. Or, set a timer for 1 minute and challenge them to make as many baskets as they can (running to retrieve the ball after each missed shot!).

10. Figure Skating: Clear an area on your floor and pretend you’re gliding across the ice. There’s several fun ways to make it feel as real as possible: Use dryer sheets, they provide just the right amount of slide and won’t scratch your floors! You can also use paper plates, just step on them with your bare feet (they’ll “stick” better) and then slide away. Or, put a pair of wool-like mittens on your feet or old tissue boxes (kids can simply place their feet through the opening).

11. Bowling: Set up your bowling “lane” with some painter’s tape and use plastic bottles or cups for pins. Use any type of ball to bowl, attempting to knock down as many pins as possible. Keep track of the score, or simply aim to knock them all down in one turn. Consider creating a plastic cup pyramid to knock down, this will up the fun-factor even more.

12. Soccer: Bring outdoor nets inside, or set up a goal using 2 cones (or plastic cups), a chair (score by getting it through the legs) or a simple piece of tape. Use any soft ball.

13. Miniature Golf: Tape some plastic cups lying on their side to the ground, or create tunnels with pieces of construction paper. If you don’t have putters, use long rolls of wrapping paper, hockey sticks, pool noodles, etc.

14. Egg ‘n’ Spoon Race: Grab a spoon and any small round object that will fit on top (or if you’re brave and have easy-to-clean floors, go ahead and use a real egg!). Create a course for your child to navigate through and see if they can do it without dropping the "egg" off the spoon. Once they’ve got the hang of it, go for speed!

15. “Potato Sack” Race: Using pillow cases, have your kids step in and hold it up around their waist, then hop to the finish line.

16. 3-Legged Race: Tie your kids’ ankles together with something soft and stretchy, like a long sock or bandage wrap. Now they’ll have to work as a team to coordinate their movements to get from point A to point B.

17. Movement Charades: Pretend to be your favorite animal, superhero or sports player by imitating their signature moves (no sounds allowed!). The rest of the players try and guess who they are – the first one to do so correctly, gets a point. If your kids have trouble thinking on the spot, write down some suggestions and place them in a hat to draw from when it’s their turn

18. Snowball Fight: Create an indoor snow fight by creating your own snowballs with scrunched up pieces of newspaper, or buy a fun indoor snowball fight kit. Make your own fort to take cover in between throws.

The above ideas were acquired from: https://whatmomslove.com/kids/active-indoor-games-activities-for-kids-to-burn-energy/

Additional Ideas:

1. Build a fort

2. Set up a Relay Race

3. Build an Obstacle Course

4. Create targets to knock down by throwing or kicking a ball

5. Create a game outside using sidewalk chalk

6. Play games on the trampoline

7. Watch dude perfect on youtube and then create your own dude perfect video

8. Flip a Coin Fitness - Assign exercises to heads and tails. Example: Heads = 10 Jumping Jacks, Tails = 10 Pushups

9. Deck of Cards Workout - Assign exercises to cards. Example using Face Cards: 7 Hearts = 7 Squats, 4 Spades = 4 Burpees, etc.

OTHER HELPFUL SITES/LINKS:

FITNESS GRAM PACER TESTS:

• PACER TEST: 15 Meter https://youtu.be/XL-IPaYVcUc

• PACER TEST: 20 Meter https://youtu.be/pP4eIcwgQbk

• PUSH UP TEST: https://youtu.be/bpfPe5OvSH4

• CURL UP TEST: https://youtu.be/RW6OssVmJBI

Coach Meger Fitness Games:

• Main Site: https://coachmeger.com/

• Health: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOg8vHlLYShTjR1OpfvX1bw/playlists?shelf_id=2&view=50&sort=dd

• 4 Minute Dance Tabata Workout (Fortnite Fitness): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v6Zcc1_tR0

Spark P.E.:

• Main Site: https://sparkpe.org/

• Dance K-2: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL82DMmW0FdfGkOvsmWM7Et_RiWjsyTEYp

• Dance 3-5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT00lVTDNTY&feature=youtu.be

"Would You Rather" Fitness:

• https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOd6e-UwlLo1RnCPCx3VzyS80UgCkJIjN

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HuFAkhPeKQ&list=PLOd6e-UwlLo1RnCPCx3VzyS80UgCkJIjN&index=10&t=1s

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm74B5VW-cs&list=PLOd6e-UwlLo1RnCPCx3VzyS80UgCkJIjN&index=10

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8IZfNrA17w&list=PLOd6e-UwlLo1RnCPCx3VzyS80UgCkJIjN&index=12

• https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8NnJIpJ_xqqwmg5tkA4aq6KCYfguVNel

Virtual PE Resources to Keep Kids Moving

• https://www.weareteachers.com/virtual-pe-classes/

Active Home - OPEN (Online Physical Education Network)

• https://openphysed.org/activeschools/activehome

Shape America

• Activities: https://www.shapeamerica.org/covid19-resources.aspx

• Calendars: https://www.shapeamerica.org/publications/resources/teachingtools/teachertoolbox/calendar_archive.aspx

Koo Koo Kanga Roo

• https://www.youtube.com/kookookangaroo

The PE Specialist

• https://www.thepespecialist.com/peathome/

Sworkit

• https://sworkit.com/

Fitness Blender (YouTube Channel)

• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiP6wD_tYlYLYh3agzbByWQ

P.E. With Joe

• https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyCLoPd4VxBvQafyve889qVcPxYEjdSTl

Phys. Ed. Review

• https://physedreview.weebly.com/-at-home-resources.html

P.E. Central

• https://www.pecentral.org/index.html