Christmas fitness games for a fun, festive wind-down!
Merry Christmas! We’re on the final stretch towards the end of term now – and we’re sure you’ll be looking forward to the rest! The last week of term before Christmas is always a fun time for children – and PE can play a part, too! We’ve pulled together a selection of Christmas fitness games […]
Merry Christmas! We’re on the final stretch towards the end of term now – and we’re sure you’ll be looking forward to the rest!
The last week of term before Christmas is always a fun time for children – and PE can play a part, too! We’ve pulled together a selection of Christmas fitness games that are perfect for the end of term – whether you add them into your lessons, use the ideas as classroom breaks, or reward the class with a ‘bonus’ PE lesson!!
Christmas Fitness Games
Fitness lessons, like any PE activities, are hugely important for primary school children because they help develop some of the basics of physical activity. This includes balance, agility and coordination – all crucial for a child’s motor development. Fitness lessons also help build confidence in PE within EYFS, KS1 and KS2 children.
Keeping children active around the Christmas period is also important – think of the chocolate and sweets they are likely to consume over the Christmas holidays!
So, Fitness lessons are a vital part of the PE Curriculum – but they can be very useful in the run-up to Christmas, too, burning off that festive excitement and encouraging teamwork, coordination and creativity.
Here are some Christmas fitness games that are easy to set up, fun to play and perfect for children to enjoy before they head into their Christmas break.
Santa’s Sleigh Race
How to play: Set up a relay race where the kids must ‘pull Santa’s sleigh.’ Divide the class into teams, and each team member must drag a ‘sleigh’ (which could be a large cardboard box, mat, or hoop) to the finish line using their hands or a rope.
Progressions: Add in some fun obstacles like ‘snow piles’ (cones or soft balls) that they must navigate around, or require pupils to perform a set number of exercises (like five jumping jacks) before they can tag the next person.
Snowball Toss
How to play: Use soft white balls (or even crumpled white socks, or used paper) as ‘snowballs.’ Set up buckets or hoops around the room, and the children try to throw their snowballs into the containers from a distance. The challenge: Each child has to do 5 squats before tossing a snowball!
Progression: Make it a competition by assigning different point values to various containers based on their distance or size.
Progression: Add naughty elves… One large team aims to throw all the snowballs into the containers/hoops, whilst the ‘naughty elves’ try to remove the snowballs as quickly as possible. Play for one minute, counting how many snowballs are left at the end, then select new elves.
Elf Tag
How to play: A fun twist on traditional tag! In this version, the child who is ‘It’ is the ‘Grumpy Elf,’ and the other children are ‘Santa’s helpers.’ When tagged, helpers must freeze until another player touches them to ‘unfreeze’ them.
Progression: Change the freeze zone by making the frozen children perform a fitness task (such as five star jumps, burpees or press ups) before they can get back in the game.
Rudolph Rescue
How to play: This one takes a little more pre-planning – but everything you need for it is here… Calendar Archives – PE Planning under our Calendar Resources – Christmas!
Create an obstacle course for each team using mats, cones, benches, hurdles etc. Print and cut out the ‘Rudolphs’ and place them in a hoop at the end of the obstacle course.
Progression: Make the obstacle course more challenging, with tougher fitness features. Also, the more Rudolph’s there are, the longer the game will last.
Simple Christmas fitness games for younger children
For EYFS or earlier KS1 children, how about these more simple festive fitness lesson ideas? Alternatively, these could work as warm-up exercises for the ideas above.
Reindeer Reach: Reach up high, as if you’re trying to touch the sky to help Santa guide his sleigh!
Snowman Squats: Pretend you’re building a snowman and squat down to gather up all the snow before rolling it into a ball.
Elf Twists: Twist from side to side to ‘twist’ the holiday ribbons decorating the tree.
And, to make the lesson extra festive, consider playing Christmas music in the background during the activities to add to the atmosphere. And don’t forget to celebrate their hard work with a little Christmas treat, such as a chocolate coin hunt!
Merry Christmas!
We hope you like these Christmas fitness games… And that your last week before the end of term is a fun-filled one!
PE always has a place in end-of-year fun, and it’s a great opportunity to ensure children get plenty of exercise before they break up for the Christmas holiday.
As always, we’d love to hear how you have given your PE lessons a festive flavour this month! And, of course, if you need them, you’ll find our PE lesson plans here. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, from all of the team at PE Planning!
