Weather often impacts the physical education plans in our homeschool. Whether it’s pouring rain, cold, or scorching hot, we could have scheduled a nature walk or a trip to the playground, but a shift in weather systems can foil our activities.

I like to have a variety of alternatives to consider in times like these, and today, I’m going to share them with you!

Photo Credit: © depositphotos.com / tan4ikk

Hot Lava

Do you remember playing this game as a child?! To play hot lava, I made a simple version for our homeschool by cutting out squares of non-skid shelf matting. I spread the matting around on the floor, and the players have to hop from “stone” to “stone” without falling into the hot lava.

Dance Party

Put on some music and bust out your best dance moves. You can organize some dances too, like a conga line, the Chicken Dance (one of my favourites) and the limbo!

“Snowball” Fight

Ball up some white socks and throw them at one another! Don’t get hit or you turn into a snow statue!

Balance Beam

This is an easy one to set up.

Stick a long piece of painter’s tape to the floor and encourage your children to walk across the beam without falling off. You can make it more challenging by having them hop from one balance beam to another.

Hopscotch

While you have the painter’s tape out, why not set up a game of hopscotch? Toss a bean bag onto the squares of the hopscotch area.

If you don’t want to waste painter’s tape, you could always purchase a hopscotch rug and roll it out when you want to play.

Yoga

Yoga is one of my favourite indoor physical education activities. Roll out the yoga mats and strike a pose! Many great kids’ yoga DVDs are available, and they’re often quite affordable.

Hula Hoops

Have you ever done one minute of hula hooping?! It’s quite the workout! Get out some small hula hoops and challenge your children to keep their hula hoops up as long as they can.

Bean Bag Toss

Set up a target and have your children toss bean bags into it. You can use bowls (each worth a different point value), a box with holes cut in it, or a store-bought bean bag toss game!

Egg Spoon Race

Use tablespoons to carry a plastic egg (like the ones you find in stores before Easter) across the room to a partner. Transfer the egg from your spoon to your partner’s spoon without dropping it, and then race back to the starting line.

We like to use this cute egg and spoon race game. When the egg drops, the “shell” cracks, and the bean bag yolk falls out. It’s so much fun!

Tail Tag

Place a piece of fabric in a child’s back pocket or loosely wrapped around a belt loop. Everyone will chase that child and try to pull the tail out!

Tunnel

Crawling uses many muscles. We love our pop-up tunnel and often take it out when the weather is bad.

Obstacle Course

Move tables and chairs around and set up a fun obstacle course! We usually crawl under tables, climb over chairs, crawl through boxes, etc. It’s so much fun!

Captain, Yes Captain

When I worked in out-of-school care, this was a favourite game. I used to chuckle as the kids tried to keep up with the “commands” the “captain” would shout out.

To play, you first select a “captain”. The captain yells out orders, and the crew has to follow the orders.

Here are the orders:

Bow: Run to the front of the boat (front of room)

Stern: Run to the back of the boat (back of room)

Port: Run to the left side of the boat

Starboard: Run to the right side of the boat

Hit the deck: Lay down on your stomach

Salute: Salute and yell, “Aye, aye, captain!”

Scrub the deck: Drop to your knees and pretend to scrub the floor.

Captain’s quarters: Everyone ran towards the captain.

SHARK!: Everyone must run to a designated base. The last player to the base is eliminated.

Parachute games

When my aunt closed her day home, she gave us a 6′ parachute. We’ve gotten so much use out of it! Many of the games we’ve enjoyed come from the Parachute Play book. We simply clear a space in the middle of the living room and start playing our games—our favourite is to try to keep a ball on the parachute while flapping the parachute up and down.

Simon Says

There’s nothing like a game of Simon Says. I like to use physical commands, such as jumping on one foot, running in one spot, doing jumping jacks, crawling on the belly, doing sit-ups, etc.

These are just a few of our fun default physical education activities when we can’t get outside. I hope you’ve found something fun for you and your children to do.

Reflect:

What are some of the indoor physical education activities you participate in?

Jennifer Bly

Author of My Kitchen, My Classroom: An Introduction to Homeschool and creator of The Deliberate Mom. Jennifer writes about parenting, homeschooling, her faith, and life with her husband and two girls. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Applied Human Service Administration Degree with a specialization in Early Learning in Child Care.