What’s Up Phys Ed Friends!
So, let’s be honest, you (and your students) are probably counting down the days to Christmas Break – am I right?
Expect your students to be off the walls as they await all the joys that 2 weeks out of school and the promise of brand new toys can bring. Don’t forget to take it easy on your students over the next few weeks as they are under a lot of stress lately due to being monitored constantly by the Elf on the Shelf, who has a direct line to Santa.
Below you will find some ideas for some Christmas Themed PE Dances, Games and Activities for your classes in the next few weeks.
Dance Warm-ups
If you don’t want to lead a dance, this is a great little Just Dance video you can throw up on a projector or TV and follow along with your students – the moves will pop up in the bottom right hand corner to give you a heads up before you have to perform them each time.
If you’d rather teach your students a line dance – below are 2 different versions of the song Jingle Bells
First up we have All Star Phys Ed Teacher Chad Triolet with a dance to the Hampton the Hamster Version of Jingle Bells. Chad has lots of great videos on his Youtube Channel – Check it out.
The next one is another fun 4 wall line dance to the Crazy Frog Version of the song Jingle Bells.
Bonus if you have bells to give your students to shake while doing the dance!
For more awesome dances check out this slide presentation that was shared by another PE All-Star Lynn Burrows – It has a bunch of Christmas Dances – a different dance for each slide. A great resource to share with your faculty.
Station Activities:
Holiday Themed Station Activities are always fun as well, and a big hit with my younger students especially – here are some stations that I’ve found to be fun (here are a few examples of setup):
- Ice climb on the Rock Wall
- Snowmobile Racing (Scooters)
- Santa’s Bag Toss – Throwing to a equipment sack
- Snowball Target Practice (throw balls at any target, especially pins with a Grinch face on them)
- Hockey Shootout (practice shooting with hockey sticks)
- Snow Shoe Exploring (use cup stilts or buddy walkers)
- Snow Castle Building (cup stacks, noodle slice towers, hula huts)
- Wreath Toss (hula hoop or ring toss)
- S-A-N-T-A Basketball (Same as HORSE, but spell SANTA)
- Gingerbread Houses – Build Hula Huts
- Just Dance (Crazy Santa video from above)
- Chimney Climb – Rope Climbing
- Test the Toys – play with any random equipment
Here’s a few I use for Kindy Kiddos (for some examples of Older Student Check This Out)
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You can get my printable station signs at my TPT store HERE if you’re interested.
For a walkthrough of the Christmas Station Activities, check out the video below:
Station Transitions
Don’t forget to challenge your kiddos with some holiday themed movements as they transition to the next station 😉
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More Fun Games:
Monster Ball (AKA: The Abominable Snowball)
This is a fun game that we sometimes play during our throwing unit, we also play it around Christmas with 2nd – 5th graders as a fun way to review Throwing Skills. Check out the video above for an example or download the free lesson plan and get more details HERE.
Elf Express
This is a great game by another PE All-Star, Joey Feith. You might have played a similar game where students travel in a line of hula hoops (or a train) and pickup or drop off cargo. This is a great way to put a Christmas theme on a tried and true concept that will inspire teamwork and cooperation with your students. Check out the video below for an overview of the game.
So to Recap Elf Express:
- Level 1 – Move the Sled
- Level 2 – Collect the Toys
- Level 3 – Deliver the Toys
I usually play levels 1 & 2 with my 2nd and 3rd graders and try to get through levels 1 – 3 with my 4th and 5th grades. I also make a few tweaks – like using laundry baskets as the chimneys to deliver the toys and hanging them on the basketball nets and rock wall in my gym to make it a little bit more challenging for the older students.
That’s a wrap!
I hope you can use some of these ideas. If you can’t fit them in before Christmas, you could always just play them in January and re-brand them by calling them something different.
I hope you enjoy the Chaos of this pre-holiday teaching season and have an AMAZING holiday break with your friends and family.
If you have some more awesome games/activities – share one in the comments or hit us up on social media @thePEspecialist
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Have Fun and Teach On!
Hi! Thank you for all your help by sharing your resources and assistance! It has made my first year in PE so much less stressful.
I am hoping for an additional idea to add to the “snowmobile race” in the Holiday Stations set up. We did the monster mash tag version for Halloween. Do you have a way of mixing it up a little more for the Winter Holiday version? (For example, I am thinking of adding a “hoop” and combining it with “Santa” basketball).
Hey Taryn,
Thanks for reaching out!
You can add cones or dots to the snowmobile race to give an obstacle for students.
You can also change the monster to the snowman tag for the winter holiday version.
Hope this helps!
So do you let them set the hoop a little further away so they can jump to that hoop or should they be laid close together like the video. I can see my 5th graders trying to do that.
Hey Mecca,
It’s up to you. Just note if students set the hula hoop out too far they will not be able to reach and risk having to start over.
We let them discover by trial and error and then have a discussion about it between rounds.
Hope this helps!
thanks, great material, keep posting
Thank you Brent!
Glad you’re enjoying the resources!
Thanks! I am a first year PE coach, but have been in the classroom for 17 years. I am needing all kinds of ideas because I was not sure what I was going to do next week. Thanks guys for the ideas.
You’re welcome Miguel!
Glad you’re enjoying the resources!
Ben, thanks for these great ideas!
You’re welcome Hugh! Glad you’re enjoying the resources!
This all sounds great! I can’t wait to try!!
Let us know how you like the Christmas Activities! Enjoy!
You’re Awesome!
Thank you for always having great ideas for physical education class!
Seriously, it is very stressful and difficult trying to think of things to have the kids do at their house.
You make my life easier and that speaks volumes about You!
Thanks again and Happy Holiday’s!!!
Suzanne Heinzman
Suzanne! Thank you for those kind words! We are here to help teachers be their best! Glad you’re are able to enjoy the resources! You as well, Happy Holidays!
Do you play elf express with kindergarten? If not what do you do that’s similar for them?
Normally I just stick with stations with Kindy – see the video included in the post for some examples.
very handy
what is test the toys?
Play with any random equipment that you have in your equipment room (I usually pick something that kids don’t normally get to play with)
Great description of the activities. I am excited to do these games with my kids, they will love it.
Glad you found them helpful – Have Fun!
Hi Ben,
Merry Christmas! Thanks for the Christmas activity ideas. I think they will help my students and me enjoy the last week of school before winter break. I wish you a joyous holiday season.
Diane K. Walker
Physical Educator
Clarendon 1 SC
Awesome – hope it goes well!
$5 for the station signs on TPT?
Yep
Thanks for the great ideas. I will be using some of these PE games in my youth ministry in BC, Canada.
Thanks!
Awesome Andrew! Hope they go well
We play a game called, Santa Sleigh Ride. Have a scooter for Santa, and a rope for the reindeer. Reindeers pull Santa down to the other end of the gym and back. I use old jump ropes or plain rope, not too long a piece. They love it. Safety if they fall off twice, they walk back.
Haha, Awesome! I saw someone do this with a hula hoop on Twitter the other day – looks like a blast
I love this idea. Thanks for sharing!
The elf express will work great for my outside PE class. We have PE in a grassy field, so we get excited to find games that don’t involve much equipment, painted lines or a solid surface. Thanks so much!
Nice – I’ve played that one outside as well, glad it went well
love this 🙂
Love these resources!!! Thank you!!!
Have a Happy Holidays!!!
Thank you !!
Wonderful Christmas games
Niki
Greece
Thank-you for all of your wonderful blogs. I do relief work and it is great to have some games on my bag of tricks, especially with some of the more spirited classes! I love these Christmas clips
Do you have a written lesson plan for the Pokemon Dodgeball Game? (The one where the pokemon characters are perched on the stops and they throw the ball to knock them off & then bring them to their side of the court?) I am planning to play this with a Christmas theme (snowman character on the stop, mixed with the Pokemon characters, with each character being worth 1 point and the snowman worth 3). Thank you.
I’ve never played that game, but remember seeing it on Twitter somewhere – maybe do a Twitter search for Pokemon with the #physed Hashtag?
My one question on this game is about the “squares” that the students have to stay outside of to throw. Is there a certain size? One of my gyms is full-sized with volleyball court lines painted as well. My other gym is 20m long and has a modified basketball court lines on it. I know that I can use whatever I have to make/mark boundaries, but please help me to know approximately what sized court works well. I don’t want it to be too easy OR too difficult! Thanks again for being a great resource!
The court I use is 25 x 30 ft, it works pretty well. The size/weight of the ball has a lot to do with how quick the game goes as well, so you could modify that to fit the space you have.
big thanks!!! enjoy your postings!! keep up the good!!!