Warm Up Activities for P.E.

Moving Around Activities

• Get the students moving around with a "bean-naming" activity. Call out different bean names and have the students do different moves to each name. For example, if you say "runner beans," the students must jog in one place, and if you say "jumping bean," they must jump around the room. For a "chilly bean," they must shiver like they are cold and for "jelly bean," they must wobble around like gelatin. Have the students pretend they are moving through a jungle by jumping over logs, tiptoeing past snakes, high kneeing through quicksand and ducking under branches.

Tag Activities

• Play a couple of games of tag to warm up your students. Select one player to be "it." "It" must chase the other players and try to tag them. When he tags a player, they must link arms and continue to tag other players who must also link arms with tagged players. Play until "it" and his linked partners tag everyone. For another tag game, give each player a strip of crepe streamer paper to hang from the back of his pants. When you say "Go," the players must try to grab other players' crepe paper. If a player loses his crepe streamer, he is out of the game. The last player standing with a crepe steamer wins the game.

Body Part Activities

• Students can get their bodies moving with a few body part games. Give each student a beanbag and have them place it on the floor in front of them. Call out a body part and have the students place that body part on the beanbag. If you say "elbow," the students must bend down and place their elbow on the beanbag. If you say "head," they must place their head on the beanbag. Alternatively, use a hula-hoop instead of a beanbag and have the students place the specific body part in the hoop.

Other Activities

• Have the students walk around the outside of the gym or a track. Call out different traffic signals for the students to do. For example, if you say, "red," they can stop, and if you say "green," they must run. Call out "yellow" for a jog. Another activity is the "pirate ship," in which students pretend they are doing things on a pirate ship. When you say "scrub the decks," have them crouch down to pretend they are cleaning the floors. Say "walk the plank," and have the students pretend to be balancing on a plank.