Physical Education Articles for Teachers

Baseball is America’s pastime for a reason. It is a wonderful game, full of action, suspense, and drama. It is an incredibly difficult game to play perfectly (there have only been 23 perfect games in the 135 year history of the MLB), and yet it can be played by anyone who can lift a bat. It is un...

Grouping strategies are an important tool for every teacher. When individual and group practice have run their course and it is time to play a sport in a PE class, a far stronger kind of grouping strategy becomes available to PE instructors: the formation of teams. When a teacher takes it upon hi...

While many PE teachers can rely on a significant amount of sun for outdoor activities, most will also encounter weather that forces them to change their plans. If unaccounted for, inclement weather can wreak havoc on a PE teacher’s curriculum, throwing significant portions of the year into disarr...

Football is a game that kids around the world have been playing for decades, with little more than a ball and some questionably defined boundaries. The apparent simplicity of design and execution disguises how difficult it can be to teach the fundamentals of this sport, especially to those people...

Sometimes, school performance can be directly related to exercise. This is because generally, physical health and mental acuity are inextricably tied. If students are too fidgety and need to release some energy, they will be unable to sit still or focus; consequently, they won’t learn. Often, tea...

Summer is here! The mosquitos are thick in the air, and the kids are growing restless! Whether you work at a summer camp, or you’re looking for some new games to play at the next summer get together, we’ve got you covered! Gather up a group of kids, and check out these fresh ideas because, let’s ...

This is the fourth in my series of articles on PE games. Previously, I've described the Frisbee game, British bulldogs, and my version of kickball. If you regularly take your kids out for a game during PE, I would bet that you've played steal the bacon. You know, that's the game where you line up...

Riding a bike is a rite of passage for most people. You always remember the first time you hopped on a bike, managed to balance, and rode like the wind. In celebration of National Bike Month this May, have your class delve into the many reasons to break out the bike and start pedaling. Why Bike ...

This is the second in my series of articles on PE games that I play with my elementary school students. The first article describes the Frisbee Game. If you like to play Frisbee, please check out this article. The next game I'd like to introduce is the game of British Bulldogs. This game is alway...

Whether you teach in a school where the parents are heavily involved, or one in which you rarely see them, it is nonetheless highly advantageous for you to do everything in your power to maintain positive relationships with the parents of your kids. Every teacher knows how difficult it can be whe...

The Math Olympiads are an international program that trains students to develop the ability to solve challenging, high-level math problems. If you choose to participate, your class will study advanced problem-solving techniques, and compete in special tests given one Tuesday per month from Novemb...

There are a lot of math games out there that will help students develop basic skills, such as addition, subtraction, reducing fractions, and so on. But true mathematical strategy games, where the player is challenged to discover the strategy that will guarantee a victory every time, are really ...

Brain teasers are often used by major tech companies, like Intel, Google and Yahoo, to test prospective employees on how sharp their thinking is. Here are some of the very best "Problems of the Week"; many of which I’ve used for years to challenge my GATE fifth graders. However, there is no set ...

If you are like most elementary teachers, especially in 4th or 5th grade, providing some variety during P.E. can sometimes be a challenge. You've got your repertoire of PE games: Steal the Bacon, Kickball, or maybe some relay race variations. However, sometimes you find yourself in search of some...

During my teaching career, I must have spent thousands of hours out on the playground and on ball fields, leading a variety of games with my classes. Some of the games are standard fare, such as: kickball, wallball, soccer, softball, and basketball. However, many of the games we played were of my...