Physical education class often is among the most appealing parts of the day for elementary school-aged students. A variety of activities typically are played to ensure beneficial daily physical activity and reinforce the importance of learning to play with others. With fun and challenging activities such as Flag Tag, Chicken Fights and Hoop Race, physical education classes can continue to be fun in addition to being productive.
Flag Tag
Equipment required for Flag Tag includes one belt and two flags per person. Each person wears a belt and two flags. Two players chosen to be the taggers. The object is for the players who are chosen to be taggers to chase the remaining players and remove their flags. When a person's flags are both removed, then that person becomes the tagger. The last player with at least one flag still on is the winner. An additional way to play is to make everyone taggers and have each player attempt to rip flags off of everyone. The player with the most flags at the end wins.
Chicken Fights
In Chicken Fights, players pair off in groups of two. Players compete in a squatting position with thighs parallel to the floor. The object is for a player to pull his opponent to the floor to win a match, and ultimately win two out of three matches. If any body part other than the feet touches the floor, that player loses the match. Hitting, diving into opponents and having thighs higher than parallel to the ground are not allowed.
Hoop Race
For Hoop Race, separate the participants into groups of four and then separate the four-person groups into pairs. Place the pairs about 50 feet apart from each other. Each pair should have one hoop, large enough for two kids to fit inside. The first pair stands inside of the hoop and lifts the hoop without using their hands. As the first pair remains inside of the hoop, they run to the other pair in their group. Once the second pair is reached, the first pair drops the hoop, which is picked up by the second pair with no hands. After the hoop is picked up, the second pair runs with it to the original marker and back again to the first pair while remaining inside of the hoop. The first pair then stands inside of the hoop, picks it up again with no hands, and runs to the starting point. The first group to complete the game wins.
