Spring is just around the corner and students have the opportunity to participate in classic spring sports like baseball, tennis, and track & field. These race activity ideas incorporate skills from spring sports to create a unique and competitive PE class activity to get students moving and active, indoors or out.
Three Spring Sport Race Activities
Try one or all of these three spring sport themed race activities with your PE class. Make it more competitive by adding a challenge time to beat.
Baseball
This high-energy relay will keep students moving and gives them an opportunity to develop agility, speed, and body awareness.
You will need:
Split the class into small groups, putting one team at the home base and the other one at second. The first person in each line should be holding a baseball. At your signal, or the start of the music, the first person in each line will round the bases and upon returning to where they started, will hand the ball to the next person in line.
Whichever group get all of their teammates around all the bases first wins. Increase the challenge by playing obstacles between the bases or asking the team to complete the relay twice before declaring a winner.
Tennis
This tennis relay race will help students to practice focus, hand-eye coordination, and body awareness.
You will need:
Divide the class into small teams, and split each team into small groups. Have the groups stand across from the other half of their team, approximately 30 paces away. The first person in line has the tennis racket and ball and must control the ball as they bounce it on their tennis racket while walking to hand it off to the first person in line 30 paces away. If they drop the ball, they must pick it up and continue forward starting from where they dropped the ball.
The racket and ball are handed to the first person in line each time until the entire team is back on the side they started on, having walked with the ball and racket twice. The team that accomplishes this first wins. Keep student heart rate up by adding a cardio action for the students waiting in line.
Hurdle Jumping
This relay activity requires students to practice agility, speed, and body awareness to jump hurdles and sprint.
You will need:
- Hurdles (height appropriate for age group)
- Foam dice
- Floor spots
Divide the class into small teams and create two lanes for each team with some space for movement at the end. One lane is for hurdles and one lane for sprinting. Have each team line up on one end of the lanes. The first person in line will run down the hurdles lane, clearing each of the hurdles. They will then roll a die to select a cardio activity (1= 20 jumping jacks, 2= 10 push-ups, 3= 10 burpees, etc.) that they must complete before sprinting back to their team. They high five the next person in line and go to the back of the line.
The team that successfully gets all of their team members through first wins. Add a challenge by asking the teams to complete the relay multiple times, or by setting a challenge time to beat.
More PE Group Activities & Games
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