Many children get a portion of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity from games played during physical education, or gym class. Whether you play a role in coming up with activities for your school's gym classes or you teach your child at home, using popular children's games during PE can help maximize student participation and involvement while providing physical activity.
Freeze Tag
A perennial favorite with children, freeze tag is commonly used in physical education for elementary grades as an aerobic activity. Direct your students to play this game by marking designated bases and dividing the children into two different groups. Students in one group run from base to base while the second student group attempts to tag them; once tagged, a student must "freeze" in place until one of his teammates touches him, thus unfreezing him. Increase cross-curricular connections by incorporating history, math, science or language-arts concepts into the game. For example, in lower grades, have tagged children form the shape of an alphabet letter with their bodies, suggests Theresa Purcell Cone, co-author of "Interdisciplinary Elementary Physical Education." To unfreeze someone, a child must stand in front of the frozen player and form her body into the same letter shape.
Red Light-Green Light
Many PE teachers use red light-green light in the lower elementary grades as a means of promoting physical coordination and listening skills. This game requires all students to line up side by side at a clearly marked starting line in a large location, such as a gym. Designate one student as the caller and have this student move to the finish line, facing away from the other players with his eyes closed. When the caller calls out "green light," all the other students walk, skip or run forward toward the finish line. When the caller calls out "red light," all the players must halt immediately. Those who don't halt at the proper time are out of the game; the first player to reach the finish line wins.
Kickball
As a favorite game among elementary-age children, kickball often plays a prominent part in physical education curricula. Traditional kickball requires you to organize two teams. Using a baseball-like setup, one team rolls a kickball, or soccer ball, toward home base for a player on the opposite team to kick. Fielders field the ball and attempt to tag the runner out before she gets to home base to score a run; the team with the most runs at the end of the game wins. Increase the aerobic workout your students get from kickball by eliminating the pitcher position and having the kicking team run the bases and score in groups, suggests Christopher Hopper, co-author of "Physical Activity and Nutrition for Health." After fielding the ball, the fielding team must run to the pitcher's mound as a group and line up single file, passing the ball along the line completely from the front student to the rear student to tag running players out.
Capture the Flag
This traditional playground game often plays a role in physical education classes because of its ability to involve students completely. Not only does capture the flag encourage physical activity, but it also requires children to plan, evaluate, participate in groups and work as a team, says Brian Barrett, author of "Games for the Whole Child." Divide children into two equal groups and mark off a set territory for each team in a large area, such as a gym or football field. Give each team a brightly colored object to serve as its flag, which they must display in the center of their territory. Each team must infiltrate the other team's territory and "capture" the flag without being tagged. Those tagged must wait in a pre-determined location in the opposite team's territory, unable to leave until a team member tags them.
References
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans
- "Interdisciplinary Elementary Physical Education"; Theresa Purcell Cone et al; 2009
- "Physical Education Lesson Plans for Classroom Teachers"; Carol Jahan; 2007
- "Physical Activity and Nutrition for Health"; Christopher Hopper et al; 2008
- "Games for the Whole Child"; Brian Barrett; 2005
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