Homeschool P.E. Games for Elementary Students

If you’re looking for P.E. activities to do at home, you’re going to love this collection of homeschool P.E. games for elementary students.

Keeping kids active and moving is an important part of growing up. Kids who are active are healthier, happier, and less stressed. (Coincidentally, so are their parents.)

This list of homeschool physical education games for elementary students is perfect for anybody who is looking for P.E. games that are fun and easy to learn.

Use these games to supplement your homeschool P.E. plans or as regular everyday activities for kids!

Physical education teachers, you could even implement these games into a public school P.E. setting. Because of their capacity for teamwork and team building, they will benefit your students in more way than one.

Really, there are no limits to the opportunities for your kids to enjoy some games that keep them active.

Not everyone is lucky enough to have their own homeschool gym filled with p.e. equipment but these games require no equipment at all, just space to run around.

Fun Homeschool P.E. Games that Get Kids Moving!

Many of these games are nostalgic games that I grew up with and others are new ideas that I heard about after I became a parent myself. They’re all fun though so scroll though and find a game to try today! Consider adding one (or more) of these games to your at-home PE plans.

When you’re done looking at these P.E. games, be sure to check out this collection of educational board games for even more learning fun.

Red-Light Green-Light

Red-Light Green-Light is a fun game for small and medium-sized groups all the way up to very large groups. The only limit is the amount of space you have to play in. Play at the park, in the driveway, at the gym, or in the living room!

How to Play Red-Light Green-Light

In Red-Light, Green-Light, one person is ‘it’ and everybody else goes to one side of the playing area (room, yard, park, etc).

The goal is for everybody to get to the other side of the playing area as fast as possible – it is a race after all – but players can only move when the light is green.

The lights are imaginary and ‘it’ determines what color the light is by saying either ‘red light’ for stop or ‘green light’ for go.

‘It’ can say red light or green light as quickly or as infrequently as desired. The other players need to pay attention because anybody caught moving during a red light has to go back to the starting line.

First one to the finish line wins!

Red Rover

Red Rover is another popular schoolyard game. It works best with large groups so if you’ve got a large family or are hosting a homeschool group, then this is the perfect P.E. game for you!

How to Play Red Rover

Players are split into two even teams. Each team lines up on opposite sides of the yard or park, hands joined.

One team picks a player from the other team to call over. They say the chant together ‘Red rover, red rover, send (insert child’s name here) right over’ at which point that child must run with all her might to the opposing team with the intention of breaking through a pair of joined hands.

If the player is able to unlink the hands, then she gets to take the players whose hands were loosed back to her team. If she does not unlink the hands, she has to join that team.

Freeze Tag

While there are many many versions of tag games, freeze tag is my personal favorite. That’s why I included it in this list of homeschool P.E. games for elementary students.

How to Play Freeze Tag

In freeze tag, one player is ‘it’ and tried to catch everybody else.

If you are tagged by ‘it’ you are frozen! Unlike in traditional tag, tagged players are not ‘it’ but are instead frozen in place and must stay in whatever position they were in when they were tagged.

Other players may touch frozen players to unfreeze them. But don’t get caught be ‘it’ while you’re unfreezing your friends!

The game goes on until everybody is frozen. Once everybody is frozen, somebody new becomes ‘it’ and the game begins again!

Sometimes I’ve played where the first person who was frozen becomes ‘it’ and other times I’ve played where the last person frozen becomes ‘it’. It’s really up to you!

My kids play this game all the time and they absolutely love it. Maybe yours will too!

Missionary Tag

Missionary tag requires a bit more players than most of the other versions of tag. It is best with at least 8 players but more is definitely better. An even number of players are required for this game to work.

How to Play Missionary Tag

In missionary tag, players are divided into pairs. Each pair links arms. Make sure each pair is spaced out from everybody else.

It is pre-determined who is ‘it’ and who ‘it’ will be chasing. These two players were once a pair but aren’t anymore.

When the game begins, whoever is ‘it’ must chase the other partnerless person.

The partnerless person can run away and escape from ‘it’ by attaching herself to another pair. When a twosome becomes a threesome, the person on the other end of the pair from the person who was just running now must unattach himself.

Now ‘it’ is chasing a new person!

This new runner can attach himself to another pair and force ‘it’ to chase a different player.

And the game goes on like this until somebody is finally caught and there is a new ‘it’.

Repeat for as long as you like!

Variations: If you’re playing with a very large group (such as a homeschool co-op or a public school p.e. class), you might find it beneficial to have more than one ‘it’ and more than one runner. This makes the game move along faster and keeps things more exciting!

And if you want to learn how to play Giants, Wizards, and Elves, that’s another great physical education friendly game for homeschoolers.

Simon Says

Simon Says is a favorite for young kids everywhere. You can start with very young children and go all the way through elementary ages. This p.e. game increases listening skills as well as movement skills making it perfect for your p.e. lesson.

Bonus points – if you have a physically disabled child, they can be ‘it’ in addition to the parent or p.e. teacher which allows everybody to play!

How to Play Simon Says

In Simon Says, one player is ‘it’ and gets to tell everybody else what to do – while trying to trip them up!

‘It’ stands at the front of the group and says things like ‘Simon says jump on one leg’ or ‘Simon says spin around 4 times’ and everybody else has to perform the action.

The trick comes in when ‘it’ tells players to perform an action without saying ‘Simon says’ first.

If somebody does an action without ‘it’ saying ‘Simon says’ then that player is out. If somebody performs an action incorrectly then that person is out.

When everybody is out, the last man standing is the next one to be ‘it’ and give the orders for the next round.

This is a fun game for preschoolers and elementary-aged kids alike! It’s also a fun way for homeschool parents to get involved in kiddo playtime while doing something else like making dinner, working on a computer, or helping a sibling.

More Physical Education Games and Activities for P.E. Class

If you don’t like the ideas above, or if you are just looking for even more suggestions, try one of the P.E. games below!

• Volleyball
• Kickball
• Dodgeball
• Hula hoop contests
• Jumping jack contests
• Beanbag tosses
• Frisbee golf
• Jump rope games and contests
• Softball
• Yoga

I hope your students love these p.e. games and that they increase the movement skills and cardio of each child. Homeschoolers, be sure to check out these other homeschool p.e. activities and ideas for keeping kids active. Or take a look at this official homeschool p.e. curriculum or p.e. lesson plans. Enjoy!

More Recommended Resources for Your Homeschool Gym

Free Printable Games

Did you know that in addition to the list of amazing games below, I’ve got a collection of free printable games?

If you like including games in your child’s studies, you need to grab this free printable collection of games.

This collection includes 11 printable games (50 pages) for your kid to enjoy, no matter where you are! Enjoy in the car, at the desk, or on the living room floor.

And the best part is these printable games are educational too!

Grab your collection of free printable games now!

Perfect for ages 3-13.