Warm-ups & tag
Traffic Lights
Green means go, amber means walk, red means freeze. The simplest listening-and-moving game there is, and the fastest way to settle a group before anything else.
Warm-ups & tag 7 games
Warm-ups & tag
Stuck in the Mud
A tag game where tagged children stand "stuck" with legs apart and get freed when a friend crawls through. Constant movement, nobody sits out.
Warm-ups & tag
Animal Walks
Cross the room as a bear, crab, frog, kangaroo or snake. Big, silly, whole-body movement that quietly builds strength and coordination.
Warm-ups & tag
Shadow Tag
Tag by stepping on someone's shadow. No touching at all, so it suits a group that gets too rough with normal tag. Needs sunshine.
Warm-ups & tag
The Bean Game
Runner bean, jumping bean, jelly bean, broad bean, frozen bean. A call-and-move game that needs nothing and works in a classroom.
Warm-ups & tag
Sharks and Little Fish
Little fish dash from one side to the other while the shark tries to tag them. Caught fish become seaweed: feet stuck to the floor, arms waving, helping the shark catch the rest.
Needs: Cones or markers
Running, jumping & hopping 7 games
Running, jumping & hopping
Crossing the River
Cross a "river" on stepping-stone hoops without touching the water. Jumping, landing and balance, and the one they ask for again.
Needs: Hoops, Ropes
Running, jumping & hopping
Jump the Stream
Two ropes make a stream that gets wider each round. Children take a run-up and jump it. Simple, self-levelling and thrilling for a four-year-old.
Needs: Ropes
Running, jumping & hopping
Hoop Hopscotch
A hopscotch course built from hoops: one hoop means hop on one foot, two side by side means jump with feet apart. Build it, then play it.
Needs: Hoops
Running, jumping & hopping
Kangaroo Hops
Two-foot bounces across the room with a "joey" (beanbag) held between the knees. Pure jumping practice dressed up as a game.
Running, jumping & hopping
Lily Pad Leap
Frogs leap from lily pad to lily pad around the pond. When the coach calls "heron", every frog needs a pad of its own. Musical chairs with jumping.
Needs: Hoops
Running, jumping & hopping
Speed Bumps
A road with ropes laid across it as speed bumps. Cars drive along and must jump every bump. Great for a group that needs to move in one direction.
Needs: Ropes
Running, jumping & hopping
Gallop Like Horses
Children are horses. Trot, gallop and stop on your call, then a gallop round the paddock. Most children cannot gallop until someone shows them, so this is worth teaching properly.
Balance 6 games
Balance
Tightrope Walk
Walk a rope on the floor heel to toe without falling into the crocodile pit. Then walk it sideways, backwards, and carrying a beanbag.
Needs: Ropes
Balance
Beanbag Balance
Balance a beanbag on your head, hand, foot or elbow and move around the room without dropping it. Teachers can run this in a corridor.
Needs: Beanbags
Balance
Freeze Frames
Move, then freeze in a called shape: tall tree, tiny mouse, flamingo, star, bridge. Balance practice hidden inside a game of statues.
Balance
Flamingo Challenge
One-leg balance made into a challenge ladder: stand, then count, then with eyes on a target, then with a beanbag, then with a wobble. Children track their own level.
Balance
Rock and Roll
Rocking, rolling and tumbling on mats: rock like a boat, roll like a log, curl and rock like a ball. Builds the core and vestibular sense that later balance depends on.
Needs: Mats
Balance
Statues in the Wind
Children are statues in a park. The coach is the wind: a gentle breeze makes them sway, a gust makes them lean, a storm makes them wobble, and calm makes them stand tall. Balance, with a story.
Ball skills 8 games
Ball skills
Roll and Collect
Roll a ball to knock over a cone, run to fetch it, roll again. The first ball skill for most three-year-olds: a two-handed push along the floor.
Needs: Soft balls, Cones or markers
Ball skills
Rolling Bowling
Bowling with skittles or plastic bottles. Set up the triangle, roll to knock them down, reset for the next bowler. Counting, turn-taking and a smooth roll.
Needs: Soft balls, Cones or markers
Ball skills
Hoop Toss
Toss beanbags into hoops at increasing distances. The first hoop is a gift, the last one is a triumph. Underarm throwing done properly.
Needs: Beanbags, Hoops
Ball skills
Balloon Keep-Up
Keep a balloon in the air using hands, then heads, then feet. Slow enough to track, so it teaches catching and striking to children who cannot yet manage a ball.
Needs: Balloons
Ball skills
Kick to the Gate
Kick a ball through a cone gate from close range, then further, then on the run. The first football skill, without a goalkeeper to make it scary.
Needs: Soft balls, Cones or markers
Ball skills
Bounce and Catch
Drop, bounce, catch. Then bounce and clap. Then bounce to a partner. Catching is much easier when the ball comes up from the floor, so this is where catching starts.
Needs: Soft balls
Ball skills
Dribble Snake
Push a ball with your feet in and out of a snake of cones. Keeping the ball close is the whole game, and it is harder than it looks.
Needs: Soft balls, Cones or markers
Ball skills
Beanbag Ladder
Ropes laid as a ladder on the floor. Throw a beanbag to land on rung one, then rung two, and climb the ladder. Precision throwing with a built-in scoreboard.
Needs: Beanbags, Ropes
Teamwork & parachute 6 games
Teamwork & parachute
Parachute Mushroom
Everyone lifts the parachute together, steps in, and pulls it down behind them to sit inside a mushroom. The first parachute game to teach: it makes the group work as one.
Needs: Parachute
Teamwork & parachute
Popcorn
Soft balls on the parachute. Shake it to make them pop like popcorn, then try to pop every last one off. Loud, joyful, and everyone is busy.
Needs: Parachute, Soft balls
Teamwork & parachute
Cat and Mouse
One mouse crawls under the parachute, one cat crawls on top. Everyone else ripples the parachute to hide the mouse. Cooperation with a giggle.
Needs: Parachute
Teamwork & parachute
Pass the Beanbag
Sit in a circle and pass a beanbag round, faster and faster. Then two beanbags going opposite ways. Turn-taking, hand-to-hand control and a lot of laughing when they meet.
Needs: Beanbags
Teamwork & parachute
Human Train
Hands on the shoulders in front, and the train goes wherever the driver goes: around the cones, through the tunnel, over the bridge. Following, matching pace, staying connected.
Teamwork & parachute
Team Balloon Keep-Up
A circle of children keeps one balloon in the air. Everyone must hit it once before anyone hits it twice. The group counts every hit out loud.
Needs: Balloons
Relays & circuits 6 games
Relays & circuits
Beanbag Relay
Teams race to move all their beanbags from one hoop to another, one beanbag per run. Simple, fair, and easy to reset.
Needs: Beanbags, Cones or markers, Hoops
Relays & circuits
Fill the Basket
Beanbags scattered everywhere, teams race to collect them into their hoop, one at a time. Then the coach tips the baskets out and it starts again. Endless.
Needs: Beanbags, Hoops
Relays & circuits
Cone Circuit
Four stations, four movements, small groups rotate on a whistle. A station circuit teaches children to work independently and gives every child constant activity.
Needs: Cones or markers, Hoops, Ropes
Relays & circuits
Rainbow Run
Coloured cones around the room. Coach calls a colour and everyone runs to touch one. Colours, listening and a sprint, for the youngest groups especially.
Needs: Cones or markers
Relays & circuits
Pass the Hoop
A circle holding hands. Pass a hoop all the way round without letting go. Wriggling through a hoop while keeping hold is a full-body puzzle.
Needs: Hoops
Relays & circuits
Obstacle Course
Over, under, through, around. A course built from what you have, with a clear start and finish. Children can help build it, which is half the fun.
Needs: Cones or markers, Hoops, Ropes
No equipment & small space 6 games
No equipment & small space
Simon Says (Moves)
Simon Says with movement commands only: hop, balance, stretch, jump, march. No equipment, any room, and nobody is out for long.
No equipment & small space
Follow the Leader
A line snakes around the room copying whatever the leader does: giant steps, tiptoes, arm waves, crouches. Then a new leader. Copying is how most movement is learned.
No equipment & small space
Body Letters and Numbers
Make a letter or number with your body: an L, a T, a 1, a 7. Then with a partner: an A, an H, an M. Movement, literacy and problem-solving in one.
No equipment & small space
Mirror Me
Pairs face each other. One moves slowly, the other mirrors. Then swap. Quiet, focused, and good for a pair who struggle to work together.
No equipment & small space
Weather Walk
Walk through the weather: splash in puddles, lean into the wind, tiptoe over ice, shelter from the storm, stretch in the sun. A movement story you can tell in a classroom.
No equipment & small space
Freeze Dance
Dance while the music plays, freeze when it stops, and the coach calls how to dance: big, tiny, fast, slow, one arm, sitting. Works in a classroom with desks pushed back.
Needs: Music player
Cool-downs 5 games
Cool-downs
Sleeping Lions
Everyone lies still as a sleeping lion. The hunter walks around trying to make them move, without touching. The classic end to a session.
Cool-downs
Rainbow Breathing
Draw a rainbow in the air with both arms: breathe in going up one side, out coming down the other. Then a slow stretch through each colour. Settles a group in three minutes.
Cool-downs
Melting Ice Cream
Stand tall as a frozen ice cream, then slowly melt: head, shoulders, arms, tummy, knees, all the way to a puddle on the floor. The slower the better.
Cool-downs
Stretch Like a Cat
On hands and knees: arch up like an angry cat, dip down like a happy cat, stretch back like a sleepy cat, then curl up. Four moves and a purr.
Cool-downs
Toe-Tap Circle
Sit in a circle with legs out, feet nearly touching. Gently tap your toes to the left, then right, then both. A quiet, seated game that keeps a tired group together until pick-up.