Do warm ups before beginning the PE activities to get bodies and minds ready. Turn your students into "beans." "Jumping beans" jump like crazy all around the room. "Jelly beans" move around the room letting their muscles be loose and floppy like jelly. "Chili beans" shiver and shake their bodies. "String beans" make their bodies as long and thin as they can. Let students come up with their own variations to teach to their classmates.
Play a variation of Simon Says using physical education exercises as you shout "Mrs. Smith says do five jumping jacks, touch your toes or do three sit-ups." Keep it fast-paced to keep your kids alert and moving.
Incorporate a nylon parachute into PE activities. Children enjoy the fun of parachute play and may not even realize they are working on developing strength and coordination. For "Popcorn," place small balls on the parachute. Have children hold the edges of the parachute and lift the edges causing the balls to pop up into the air. Older students can hold the parachute off the floor with two or three children under the parachute. Place balls in the center of the parachute. The students underneath try to push the balls off the parachute while the students holding the edges try to keep them on. Rollerball is a game using rhythm, coordination and cooperation. The students hold the edges of a parachute at waist level while making the parachute flutter and wave, beginning at one point and moving around the circle. When they have the idea of making the "wave" in this way, place a ball on the parachute. The students roll the ball all the way around the parachute by making it ripple around the edges.
Increase your students' concentration and attention by playing a copycat game. The students stand in a large circle with the teacher in the center. The teacher performs a movement and the students copy it. Make the movements more complicated and fun as you go to keep students focused. Choose different students to be the leader.
Give each student a tennis ball. Position a few buckets around the area. Spread the students out around the gym. Students work on their eye-hand coordination by practicing bouncing, throwing and catching their balls. Allow individuals to demonstrate their skills and original moves to the class.
Divide the class into groups of five. Give hula hoops to four students in each group. The students strike poses with the hula hoops and freeze in position. The children without the hoops try to maneuver through them by crawling, stepping through or going backwards. Switch so that each child in a group has an opportunity to go through the hula hoop maze.
For a Hula Hoop Toss game, divide the class into pairs. The students in each pair compete against each other taking turns tossing hula hoops at a rubber traffic cone. Three points are given for ringing the cone. Two points are given for a "leaner". The student who gets to a score of 21 first is the winner.