30 Gym Class Games for Elementary School

Yoga - Play a yoga for kids video or guide them through your own version. You will love seeing how engaged and excited students are to practice yoga — and they pick up on it very quickly!
Simon Says Get Moving - Play a game of Simon says, but use all exercises to get them moving. Here's a list to get you started: toe touches, bridges, forward tumble (if on soft flooring), side bends to touch the ground, hops, jump on one foot, spin, hop backward, flamingo legs, run in place, etc.
Gymnastics - Kids love gymnastics. Consider teaching them soft gymnastic skills, such as bridging, cartwheels and more. Choose one skill to focus on, guide them through how to do it, and then allow them to practice.
Dance Routine - Even if you aren't a dance teacher, you can learn a simple dance routine by following a YouTube video or making up your own and then guiding students through the steps to learn the dance. Be sure to play music whenever they get to perform and praise them for their effort.
Animals - In this game, students get to take on the characteristics of different animals. Call out a name and have them act out the movements and sounds of different animals. Then, when you call out a new animal, they have to switch! Make sure to play the game with them long enough for them to understand the different animals. Here are a few animals to get you started: crabs, kangaroos, ducks, bunnies or lions.
Hula Hoops - Hula hoops are great exercise and they work a lot of muscle groups! Get out the hula hoops, play some music, and let them go! You can take this to the next level by having them practice spinning the hoops on other body parts, such as on an arm, on lower legs while laying on their backs with legs up and so on!
Jump Ropes - Don't discount this old school favorite. Jumping rope is an incredible way to tone the body while getting the heart rate up. Give students jump ropes and time them to see how many jumps they can do in a period of time. If you know how, teach them old playground games like double dutch.
Funny Running - This hilarious game has students running from one side of the gym to the other while doing some kind of funny movement. You can alternate between different types of running and incorporate music to make it more fun! Ideas include: race across as some kind of animal, a certain kind of dance like a new disco move or any other type of creative movement that they can do while attempting to run across the gym.

Parachute - There are so many games you can play using a parachute, and most of them require students to work together to use the parachute at the same time. Simple games include throwing beach balls on top of the parachute and having students work together to keep the balls in the air.
Water Relay - Split kids into small groups and have a bucket of water with a big sponge in it at the start of each group of kids. Their goal is to carry the big sponge to another bucket ahead to squeeze out the water. They race the sponge back to the next person, who dunks the sponge and runs with it to repeat the relay. Teams are working to fill their second bucket with enough water to reach the line. This game is absolutely perfect for hot days, since kids will love the opportunity to get a little wet and cool off!
Leap Frog - Split groups with an effort to group kids of similar heights. Groups are attempting to relay race across an area of about 50 feet, but they have to do it by jumping over each other! Have one student start by leapfrogging forward and then stopping in a frog or a crouch position. The next student runs and then jumps over them, then crouches. This game continues until a person on the team has reached the end of the relay area. If a student struggles to jump over, they can do a series of jumps next to a student to pass them and then crouch ahead of them.
Balance the Egg - Learning to balance is an important motor skill. Have the students attempt to balance a small ball on a spoon and walk across an area and back. Break kids into several teams and make it a relay.
Hop in a Hoop - This fun game can be done in a small area indoors. Space out a bunch of hula hoops. Put on music and ask students to walk around like musical chairs. Or, if you have enough space, you can have them do a certain exercise, such as hopping, skipping, side-stepping, etc., and then when the music stops, you call out a number. Students must group up inside the hoops with only that number of students, no more or no less. Once they have the correct number of students in their hoop, they pull the hoop up to their waists to prevent other people from joining the hoop. Just be sure to only use numbers that can evenly be split into the hoops you have or the students in your group. This isn't a game designed to leave any students out.
Find Your Friend - For this game, make sure students are in a safe, flat area with no hazards, preferably inside a gym. Students wear light blindfolds and are gently led to different areas around the playing area or gym. Then they are told to walk carefully as they try to find their friends. When they bump into a friend, they link arms and continue looking for more friends. They continue until everyone is linked together! Remind students to be gentle and keep hands lower so they don't poke each other in the face.

Command Relay - In this game, it's every student for themselves. Students walk around or run around a designated area until you blow a whistle and call out a command to freeze in a position or do a certain exercise (e.g., 3 knee lifts). The students who don't listen are out. Your commands can range from an exercise to a freeze position. Decide in advance what type of activity you'll ask them to do to alleviate confusion. For example, you could do a whole series of positions you practice in a group before playing, so when the game is moving, you don't have to stop and explain. Examples include freezing like a ball, a star, a pencil, etc.
Hoop Run - Set colored hula hoops in the corners of a play area. Then have students run around and when you call out a color, they have to rush to that hoop color. You may need several hoops of the same color to fit your group, although a little squeezing is part of the fun.
Hot Potato - In this game, students are either in one large group or broken into smaller groups. Each group has a ball that is their "potato." The goal is to not get stuck with the potato when the whistle blows. You can have students chant the hot potato song or just play music and have them toss the potato until the music ends. This game works great indoors or in a small space.
In Your Opinion - This game requires a small amount of prep but can be reused for future games. Create signs that can be used to mark bases with: LOVE IT, JUST OK, NOT FOR ME and NEVER TRIED IT. Then, have a student who stands in the middle of the bases and calls out the name of a food. Students run to the base that describes their answers. If the person calling out the food tags a player before they make it to the base, that person gets to call out the next food.
Obstacle Relays - Set up a series of obstacles around an area and time students as they move through the relays. To move things along, start a new student every 5 or 10 seconds, creating urgency for all students to keep their pace. Allow students to go more than once in an effort to beat their own time. Don't announce times of students, which can alienate students who are slower. The goal is to have fun, exercise and compete with your own personal best.