Elementary PE games keep kids active and teach about teamwork, creative expression, fitness, and overall health. Try these classic and unique games!
Kids were made to move, and physical education (also known as PE) is a vital part of a holistic education that brings fun and energy to every school day. Elementary PE games go far beyond expelling energy to promote personal skills, social skills, creativity, and physical fitness.
Help kids learn to develop healthy habits while having fun with their friends by planning both classic and original PE games for elementary students. Discover some fun PE activities and games to use during gym class, recess, wellness days, and other special events.
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Fitness Bingo and Other Classic Elementary PE Games
Classics get that categorization for a reason — they never go out of style! Incorporating tried-and-true elementary PE games invokes a sense of nostalgia for teachers and provides easy activities for substitute teachers.
List of classic elementary PE games
Most adults and kids are very familiar with the rules of these games. But, you can also use them as base ideas for any original games you (and your class) want to invent!
- Tag
- Simon Says
- Relay races
- Crab soccer
- Parachute games
- Four corners
- Red Light, Green Light
- Kickball
- Noodle hockey
- Balloon volleyball
- Mat ball
- Badminton
- Four square
- Beanbag toss
- Basketball
Fitness Bingo Games
Speaking of twists on classic games, fitness bingo is a new take on an old game that can be played outdoors, indoors in a gym, or even as an indoor recess game in small classrooms.
Playing a round or two of exercise bingo encourages students to try new activities and adds exciting gameplay to fitness lessons. Students complete a variety of exercises and mark off the corresponding squares on their bingo cards. The first person to complete a line horizontally, vertically, or diagonally yells “Bingo!” to win the game.
Physical Activity Printable Mini-Book and Bingo Game
By Make Way For Tech
Grades: K-1st
Students start by working through the nine-page mini-book filled with information about physical activity. Then, they use their answers to the bingo clue cards to complete their bingo cards.
Exercise / Fitness Bingo Life Skills Special Education Activity
By Tall Trees Special Education
Grades: 6th-12th
This no-prep game includes 24 exercises and stretches that can be done in the classroom without getting down on the floor. It includes 20 bingo cards, exercise calling cards, and even bingo markers.
Dance Games for Elementary PE Classes
It’s hard for most people to resist the urge to dance when great music comes on, so dancing games are an easy way to get everyone moving in their own way. As a bonus, research shows that dance has positive psychological benefits for kids!
So, crank up the music and let students dance freely, teach them a choreographed routine, have them follow a video tutorial, use dance video games, or add elements of dance to classic games like tag.
Classic dance and music movement games for elementary PE classes
Any time you pair music with movement in PE, you’ve got a type of dance game. These classics easily explore different types of music when you switch up your playlist.
- Ribbon dancing
- Scarf dancing
- Freestyle dance warmup
- Musical chairs
- Aerobics
- Group dance songs (like the Cha Cha Slide or the Hokey Pokey)
- Finger plays (like the Wheels on the Bus)
Freeze dance games for kids
Freeze dance games have become a staple of elementary gym classes. They merge movement with music for creative and fun fitness. Look for modern, kid-friendly, and principal-approved music selections, like Kidz Bop, to keep students engaged and excited.
Freeze Dance and Creative Movement
By The Bulletin Board Lady-Tracy King
Grade PreK-6th
Great for brain breaks or inspiring creative movement, this set will have kids wiggling those wiggles out and exploring a wide range of motions. It comes with dance and movement cards showing the approved moves kids can use when they freeze.
Brain Break – Freeze Dance
By Lindsay Jervis
Grades: PreK-5th
You choose the music, but the provided dance move pictures can be projected onto a SMART board or whiteboard, or you can print them to make a little freeze dance flip book or laminated cards.
Line dance games for kids
Line dancing isn’t only applicable to country music! Many group dances are also considered line dances because you typically perform them in rows of people. Teach students the steps to different line dances, then encourage them to add some personal flair to the moves.
How to Teach Line Dances in Physical Education |Dance Steps Cheat Sheet for PE|
By The PE Specialist
Grades: K-8th
This teacher cheat sheet includes all the dance steps for eight different line dances from The Wobble to The Chicken Dance. Each dance is broken down into phases and includes tips for teaching.
Original elementary PE games with dancing
If dance is one of your favorite units to teach, consider creating new elementary PE games your students will talk about until high school!
- Ballet Kickball: Teach a few basic ballet moves like a leap and a pirouette that students must use to get anywhere in the game.
- Dance Tag: Everyone has to dance around the room while trying to avoid being tagged.
- Simon Says Dance: “Simon” calls out specific dance moves or styles of dance that everyone else must show when they say, “Simon says.”
- Dance Move Relay Race: Each leg of the relay requires students to perform a different dance move. Try to stick to one dance style for each new race.
Elementary PE Games for Circuits and Stations
Setting up stations helps you get a lot of dance and movement into one class period. It also makes the class more self-directed, so you can talk less and have more fun!
Use pre-made fitness circuit and station cards for easy prep
PE stations are an effective way to improve students’ cardiovascular fitness and muscular strength while keeping the class engaged. Each fitness station can be dedicated to a specific activity, exercise, or skill practice, and easily tailored to each student’s abilities. Students will spend a set amount of time at each station before rotating to the next one, allowing them to practice a variety of movement activities.
Fitness Circuit Station cards – 36 PE gym activities: Elementary & middle school
By Prime Coaching Sport
Grades: K-8th
These printable exercise cards cover the six components of fitness necessary to keep your students healthy and active: core, flexibility and balance, stamina, leg strength, arm strength, and whole-body exercise. Minimal equipment is required (at most a few balls, a hoop, and a bench), so the setup of your lesson is so simple!
PE Stations – 44 Fitness Exercise Activities for Elementary Phys Ed Lesson Plans
By Cap’n Pete’s Power PE
Grades: K-5th
This resource offers 44 dynamic fitness stations with activities targeting key physical fitness components. It’s the perfect tool to encourage movement, teamwork, and skill development in any physical education setting.
Physical Education Stations – Fitness and Exercise Activities
By Pink Oatmeal
Grades: PreK-4
There are 16 different station setups and descriptions included along with tips for how to use each one. These would also be great for fitness activities or to use a few stations as part of your workshop or centers as a brain break.
Dramatic Play Fitness Center … Yoga . Exercise . Burn Energy & Build Muscles
By Howywood Kindergarten
Grades: PreK-1st
You get 10 decorative signs to hang around your fitness center: five sets of unique yoga moves and five sets of strength moves. All of these activities can be completed without any equipment, but you may want to add a few 2-3 pound hand weights.
P.E. Circuits – Exercise Task Cards by Making Lemonade in the Classroom
By Making Lemonade in the Classroom
Grades: 2nd-12th
This dynamic resource includes 18 exciting circuit station activities and six simple warm-up or cool-down stretches designed to make fitness fun, engaging, and hassle-free. With bright visuals and clear instructions, these task cards and Google Slides are perfect for any teaching space — classroom, gym, or outdoors.
Zen Zone Booklet: Meditation, Yoga, & Breathing Techniques for Students
By The SuperHERO Teacher
Grade: 4-12
This booklet is filled with meditation, yoga, and breathing techniques to encourage a calm, relaxing, and stress-free environment for you and your students. Just follow the directions or poses listed on each of the pages.
Tips for gamifying fitness circuits and stations
By nature, stations and circuits aren’t really games. But, you can turn them into games by adding time limits, mini competitions, and achievements to “unlock.”
- Hang pictures of the movements or dances at each station, so it’s clear what the task is. Hide bonus actions on the back of these pictures.
- Use checklists where students mark off each station as they complete it. Award students for the most stations completed, the fastest time completing a station, the most creative way of completing a station, or other achievements.
- Use music breaks or completely switch the music genre to denote when it’s time to move to the next station.
More Fitness Resources for Students and Teachers
The National PE standards serve as a guide for the types of elementary PE games to include in your lesson plans. These resources can also help with planning and tracking fitness activity.
Weekly Physical Activity Log PE Worksheet – Track Fitness & Health Habits
By Sarah Casey PE
Grades: 5th-9th
Empowering students to track their fitness progress can be a valuable tool for fostering a sense of ownership and accountability over their health and well-being. This student-friendly tool allows kids to type in their activities, duration, and how they felt after each session. With basic FITT principle labels integrated into the log, students start to understand the importance of frequency, intensity, time, and type in their physical activities.
Full Year Elementary PE Curriculum: Kinder through 6th Grade Digital PE Program
By Health Education Today – Health and PE Resources
Grades: K-6th
This all-digital annual PE curriculum plan includes fully integrated daily PE lessons with step-by-step instructions for teaching. Each lesson is editable, and you can print the whole curriculum if you prefer.
Get everyone moving with elementary PE games
Movement helps get kids’ minds and bodies energized. Whether you need brain breaks, field day activities, welcome back from break activities, or gym class ideas, elementary PE games are sure to get kids going. Inspire students to lead active and healthy lifestyles inside and outside the classroom with even more physical education resources on TPT.
