Hobbies And Interests
Indoor Activities
If you can't venture outside for some physical education activities, you can still get the students moving around inside. One activity involves setting up stations around a room composed of different physical activities such as jumping rope and sit-ups. The students all take turns at each station, spending a minute or so at a time doing each activity. Students can easily do stretching exercises inside, such as the warm-up called Sprouting Seeds. The stretch starts with the students all crouching down and, like a flower blossoming, stretching up to the sky. The warm-up quickens until the participants literally jump up to complete the stretch. Other classic indoor activities include Freeze Dance and Tug of War.
Outdoor Activities
With an outdoor space, the students have more free range to run around and burn energy. Have your small group race each other from one end of a field and back. Or declare that everyone's it, and have all of the students run around trying to tag their peers. If a player gets tagged, he freezes until someone tags him back into the game. Even with a small group, relay races make the task of running more fun for students as they compete against other teams. Have the students bring in one shoe box each to play Shoe Box Relay. Tape the tops of the boxes to the bottoms and cut a hole out for the students to put their feet inside the boxes. The students then form teams and take turns running to the end of a field and back until one team finishes first.
Water Activities
If it's hot outside, you can still exercise by using water activities. Play Capture the Flag with a watery twist. Divide the players into two teams and give each team one side of the field. The teams use water balloons to take their opponents out of the game. A team has to bring the enemy flag back to its base to win. To give the students a stretch, play the Limbo game but spray them with a hose as they go under the limbo stick.
Educational Activities
Teach the students about physical education with trivia and energy burning activities. After you teach the students about the importance of being healthy, divide the players into two teams. Line the teams up about 10 feet away from you. Ask a question such as, "How many hours of physical activity should you have per week?" The two first players in each team race to you. Whoever gets there first gets to answer first. Give the team with the right answer one point. Continue until one team reaches 10 points and wins the game. Have the students keep journals of the amount of time they spend exercising at home, as well as what they eat.