11 Jun 10+ Playground Games Ideas to Keep Kids Active in School
Physical education in primary schools is important. They help in promoting children’s good health and fitness with various activities. But the key factor to all these playground games ideas is to make them exciting and enjoyable so that the students take active participation in them. Below we have listed down some fun and effective playground games ideas that also abide by the social distancing PE lessons.
Physical Education in Primary Schools: Playground Games Ideas
1. Race:
Racing is one of the most fun and simple playground activities for primary schools. Organising a racing competition would help build children’s muscles and bones. You can organise racing games with small prizes for students that would also act as an excellent motivation for them. But, be sure to make it exciting and interactive. You could be creative by introducing racing games like the space hopper race, the classic lemon and spoon race, or the fun sack race! Also, make sure to be innovative while deciding the route to make the competition interesting.
2. Obstacle Course: This type of activity improves the child’s development in various aspects such as balance, coordination, alertness, strength and endurance. You can even use some furniture, add balance beams, cones, ladders, hurdles, balls, tunnels, or climbing walls to create the ultimate obstacle course.
Here are some other game ideas you could use for your obstacle course:
- Allow them to jump/crawl/crab walk from one obstacle to the other.
- Let them use balls to knock down some objects.
- Another exciting task is to make them fill water in a cup, which they need to carry from one point to another and pour the water into another container. You can perform this activity with sand, balls, papers etc.
- Let them jump over several objects to reach their destination.
- Make them perform a sit-up or other exercise after completing each task (and before they move to the next task).
Further Reading: Creative playground ideas for schools in the UK
3. Throwing Games:
Throwing a ball can help improve a child’s hand & eye coordination, motor skills, and timing. There are numerous throwing games that you could try with your students such as basketballs, throwing balls through hoops, hitting the target with a ball with the target being a board or a set of cans. You could also practise chest throw with them where the child has to stand behind a line and throw the ball from their chest as far as they can. This helps build body strength, balance and agility. This is a great way to enjoy physical education in primary schools as it improves their fitness and with more practice, enhances their skills.
4. Organised Sports:
Engaging students in everyday sports activities helps keep them fit and improves their overall health. Along with this, it also enhances their social skills among other students. It gives them a sense of achievement after winning a particular sport. It would also create healthy competition between the class, motivating them to do better in each game. You can introduce organised sports such as football, cricket, tennis, basketball, and badminton.
5. Skipping:
One of the most common and simple physical activities, skipping helps children improve their coordination skills and agility. Regular skipping helps boost their brain functioning. It also helps increase concentration, focus and memory by regulating the blood flow to the brain. It is an ideal game for students that also helps you follow the guidelines of social distancing PE lessons. You could experiment with different skipping games, such as running through the rope or jumping.
6. Trampoline:
Trampolining is a fun and exciting game beneficial for the child’s cardiovascular health and helps build strength. It is also used for gymnastics as kids love jumping up and down on the trampoline, which makes it a joyful game that they will truly love. Let them play on a mini-trampoline and engage them in games like knee jumping, jumping high with hands stretched out, etc.
7. Dancing:
Kids love dancing, so it could be an indoor game idea that you could start to give the students a break from classroom learning. Dancing is also an excellent cardio exercise that helps build stamina and flexibility. The dancing steps don’t need to be structured. Kids can create their own steps, and to make it more fun, you can add some fun props like dancing rings, scarves or pom poms.
8. Hula Hoops:
Hula hoops are another fun activity that abides with the social distancing guidelines after the COVID-19 lockdown. It is an effective way of teaching coordination skills by making them wiggle their hips and providing them with a full-body workout. One thing is for sure, once you teach your students how to use the hula hoops, they won’t stop using them!
9. Hopscotch:
A unique and classic game that has been played for ages, Hopscotch is a good game to play indoor as well as outdoor. To make things interesting, you can extend the hopscotch from time to time to keep kids engaged. To make hopscotch, you have to follow these steps:
- Draw a hopscotch design on the ground/tile.
- Select throwing objects; for example, a small stone to land on square one.
- Hop on the given square while skipping the ones where your stone has landed and balancing well to pick the stone to make your way back.
- You can pass the stone to the next person or continue the game yourself.
10. Scavenger Hunt:
A scavenger hunt is a thrilling game about searching for hidden clues. It is a fun team activity that could also exercise each child individually. This activity helps promote team skills while strengthening their mental abilities by solving riddles and clues. This game would challenge them on both a physical as well as an intellectual level. It is also a great creative playground game idea where you could use several obstacles to hide the clues.
11. Climbing:
Preschoolers or toddlers are full of energy and love climbing on things at their homes or schools. Climbing plays a key role in developing their motor skills from the early stages. It also builds their strength, as to climb a frame or a ladder they have to use their weight to pull themselves up. This simple action improves their grip strength, enhances their upper body strength and arm muscles. It is also a great way to improve eye and hand coordination. For this activity, you would need a rock climbing wall/frame in the playground or a ladder.
12. Basic Board Games:
Not every kid enjoys physical activity. For such kids, you could have some basic board games in schools to keep them engaged and active. Each game comes with a set of rules and protocols that help impart the importance of following rules to win a game. Board games also help with brain development and improve their skills in planning, organising, and making well-executed decisions. One of the most important lessons that board games teach kids is how to be a good sport despite losing. So, keep some board games around that kids can play with as a break from physical activity.
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