• 19 games
  • Checked October 2026

Games for Gym Class

Monster Ball, Cross the River and Bench Ball in numbered steps, opening on games that keep a large class busy.

Games for Gym Class

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  1. Monster Ball: Four Teams on Four Sides1. A throwing game at one big target. Mark a large square and put a big exercise ball, the monster, in the middle. One team stands behind each side.2. On the whistle everyone throws soft balls at the monster to drive it away from their own line. Nobody steps into the square or touches the monster.3. When the monster rolls over a line, the team behind that line takes a point against it, and the monster goes back to the middle.4. Balls lying in the square are fetched only on the fetch whistle. After five rounds, the team with the fewest points wins.Ages: 8 to 14. Players: 16 to 40. You need: a big exercise ball, twenty or more soft foam balls and tape or cones for a square.
  2. Human Obstacle Course: Half the Class Is the Course1. An obstacle run with no equipment. Half the class spreads out, and each player holds a shape: a bridge on hands and feet, a tunnel standing with legs wide, a turnstile standing with both arms out, a post standing tall.2. The other half runs the course: under every bridge, through every tunnel, under an arm of every turnstile and once around every post.3. No obstacle may be touched. Each runner counts the obstacles passed in one minute.4. Swap halves, and the new obstacles choose new shapes.Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 12 to 40. You need: nothing.
  3. Across Before the Ball Stops Bouncing1. A sprint against a bouncing ball. The class stands on one end line. The teacher stands at the side with a playground ball.2. The teacher throws the ball high into the middle of the gym. Everyone runs for the far line while it bounces.3. Anyone still running when the ball stops bouncing and starts to roll owes five star jumps on the far line.4. Change the way of crossing each time: backward, sidestepping, skipping. A lower throw makes it harder.Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 10 to 40. You need: one playground ball.

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Gym games for large classes 14

  • Across Before the Ball Stops Bouncing 1. A sprint against a bouncing ball. The class stands on one end line. The teacher stands at the side with a playground ball. 2. The teacher throws the ball high into the middle of the gym. Everyone runs for the far line while it bounces. 3. Anyone still running when the ball stops bouncing and starts to roll owes five star jumps on the far line. 4. Change the way of crossing each time: backward, sidestepping, skipping. A lower throw makes it harder. Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 10 to 40. You need: one playground ball.
  • Bench Ball: Catch It on the Bench, Join the Bench 1. A passing game that ends with a whole team on a bench. Stand one bench at either end of the court. Each team starts with one catcher on the bench at the far end, behind the other team. 2. Teammates pass the ball up the court. No running with the ball and no contact. 3. When the catcher on the bench catches a throw cleanly, the thrower joins the bench. A dropped ball goes to the other team. 4. The first team with all its players but one on the bench wins. Rules differ from school to school. Ages: 8 to 14. Players: 12 to 36. You need: two sturdy benches, a soft ball and pinnies.
  • Class Clock: One Lap Each Way With Hands Joined 1. A whole-class challenge against the stopwatch. Everyone joins hands in one big circle. One pair of joined hands is twelve o'clock and starts above a line on the floor. 2. On "go" the circle runs clockwise until twelve o'clock is back over the line, then at once the other way until it is back again. 3. If any hands come apart, the clock stops and the try does not count. 4. The teacher calls the time. The class talks for one minute about how to be faster, and runs it again. Ages: 8 to 14. Players: 10 to 40. You need: nothing.
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Gym games for large classes, continued

  • Do This, Do That: Two Games, Nobody Out 1. A copying game with a catch, run as two games side by side. Split the class into two groups, each facing its own leader. 2. The leader shows a move and says "do this", and everyone copies it. When the leader says "do that", nobody moves. 3. A player who copies on "do that" is not out: they jog across and join the other game. 4. Change the leaders every minute. The moves are big ones: star jumps, lunges, a spin, a balance on one foot. Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 10 to 40. You need: nothing.
  • End Line Ball: Called Numbers Play, the Rest Guard the Line 1. A rolling game with a goal as wide as the gym. Two teams stand on opposite end lines and number off from one. A soft ball lies in the center circle. 2. The teacher calls two numbers. Those players from each team run out and play two against two, passing and rolling the ball with their hands. 3. A point is scored by rolling the ball over the other team's end line. Everyone standing on a line is a goalkeeper and stops rolled balls with feet or hands. 4. A ball that leaves the floor on its way over the line does not count. Call new numbers after each point, or after one minute. Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 12 to 36. You need: one soft ball.
  • Even It Out: Every Hoop Ends With the Same Number 1. A sorting puzzle solved on the run, with no talking. Lay six hoops around the gym and share forty-two beanbags between them unevenly: two in one, fifteen in another. 2. On the whistle every player may carry one beanbag at a time from any hoop to any other hoop. 3. The class has to make all six hoops hold the same number without a word being spoken. 4. A player who thinks it is done stands still with a hand up. When every hand is up, count the hoops. Play again with five hoops and forty beanbags. Ages: 8 to 14. Players: 12 to 40. You need: six hoops and forty-two beanbags.
  • Four Corners on the Move: The Called Corner Runs a Lap 1. Four corners, changed so that nobody is out. Number the corners one to four. One caller stands in the middle with eyes closed and counts to ten. 2. During the count everyone moves quietly to a corner of their choice, traveling the way the teacher has set: skipping, sliding sideways or walking backward. 3. The caller names a number with eyes still closed. In the usual game the players in that corner are out. Here they jog one lap of the gym while the others choose again. 4. The first lap runner back is the next caller. Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 12 to 40. You need: nothing.
  • Hoop Line Showdown: Rock Paper Scissors Where You Meet 1. A meeting game on a line of hoops. Lay twelve hoops in a curving line, with half the group queuing at each end. 2. The first player from each end jumps along the line, one hoop at a time, until the two meet. They play one round of rock paper scissors. 3. The winner jumps on. The loser steps out and joins the back of their own queue, and the next player of that team sets off at once from its first hoop. 4. A player who reaches the other team's first hoop scores a point, and both teams start again. Lay two lines for a class of thirty. Ages: 8 to 14. Players: 12 to 40. You need: twelve hoops for each line.
  • Human Obstacle Course: Half the Class Is the Course 1. An obstacle run with no equipment. Half the class spreads out, and each player holds a shape: a bridge on hands and feet, a tunnel standing with legs wide, a turnstile standing with both arms out, a post standing tall. 2. The other half runs the course: under every bridge, through every tunnel, under an arm of every turnstile and once around every post. 3. No obstacle may be touched. Each runner counts the obstacles passed in one minute. 4. Swap halves, and the new obstacles choose new shapes. Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 12 to 40. You need: nothing.
  • Hundred Passes: Six Balls, Nobody Holds One for Three Seconds 1. A passing game for the whole class as one team. Everyone jogs inside the court while six soft balls are passed around. 2. A player who catches a ball stops, and has three seconds to throw it to someone who is moving. No handing over, and never back to the player it came from. 3. The class counts the catches aloud. A ball that touches the floor takes the count back to zero. 4. At fifty, add two more balls. The target is one hundred. Ages: 8 to 14. Players: 16 to 40. You need: eight soft balls.
  • Monster Ball: Four Teams on Four Sides 1. A throwing game at one big target. Mark a large square and put a big exercise ball, the monster, in the middle. One team stands behind each side. 2. On the whistle everyone throws soft balls at the monster to drive it away from their own line. Nobody steps into the square or touches the monster. 3. When the monster rolls over a line, the team behind that line takes a point against it, and the monster goes back to the middle. 4. Balls lying in the square are fetched only on the fetch whistle. After five rounds, the team with the fewest points wins. Ages: 8 to 14. Players: 16 to 40. You need: a big exercise ball, twenty or more soft foam balls and tape or cones for a square.
  • Newcomb With Two Balls for a Big Class 1. Newcomb, the throw-and-catch game played over a volleyball net, with a second ball so that a big class stays busy. Each side spreads out in three rows. 2. A ball is thrown over the net and has to be caught before it lands. The catcher throws it back from that spot within three seconds. 3. A ball that hits the floor in court scores a point for the side that threw it. Both balls are in play all the time. 4. After every five points, each row moves up one and the front row goes to the back. Ages: 8 to 14. Players: 12 to 40. You need: a volleyball net and two soft volleyballs.
  • Sideline Handball: Half the Team Lines the Court 1. A passing game to goals, set up so that a class of thirty plays at once. Stand a mat on its edge against each end wall as a goal, with a line five steps out that only the goalkeeper may cross. 2. Half of each team plays on court. The other half spreads along both sidelines. 3. As in team handball, a player may take three steps with the ball and hold it for three seconds. A sideline player may catch and pass, but not shoot or step onto the court. 4. A ball thrown against the mat scores. After every goal, court players and sideline players change places. Ages: 11 to 14. Players: 16 to 40. You need: two mats, a soft handball and pinnies.
  • Zone Ball: Everyone Stays in Their Own Third 1. A passing game with a zone for every player. Split the court into three zones from end to end. Each team puts a third of its players in each zone, and players stay in their zone. 2. The ball has to be caught by a teammate in every zone on its way up the court before a front player may shoot. 3. A shot is a toss into a hoop lying on the floor behind the end line. No steps with the ball, and no contact. 4. After each goal, every player moves up one zone and the front players go to the back. Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 12 to 36. You need: a soft ball, two hoops, cones and pinnies.

Crossing and class challenges 2

  • Cross the River: Two Scooters, Two Mats, One Rope 1. A team crossing in which the floor is the river. Mark two banks as far apart as the gym allows. Each team of five or six has two scooter boards, two small mats and one long rope. 2. The whole team and all its equipment must reach the far bank, and nobody may touch the floor between the banks. 3. A rider sits or kneels on a scooter and never stands on it. The rope can pull a scooter back for the next rider. 4. A foot or a hand in the river sends that player back to the start bank. Give teams two minutes to plan before the first crossing. Ages: 8 to 14. Players: 10 to 36. You need: two scooter boards, two small mats and a long rope for each team.
  • Feet Together: The Line Crosses as One 1. A team crossing that only works together. Six to eight players stand side by side, each with the side of a foot pressed against a neighbor's foot. 2. The line has to reach a line ten steps away without any two feet coming apart. 3. If two feet separate, the whole line goes back to the start. 4. A team that crosses tries it again in silence, then facing backward. Ages: 11 to 14. Players: 6 to 40. You need: nothing.

Team ball games 3

  • Netball Rules on a Basketball Court 1. A passing game with no dribbling, borrowed from netball. Two teams of five to seven play to the basketball hoops. 2. A player who catches the ball stops, and has three seconds to pass or shoot. No running with the ball and no bouncing it. 3. There is no contact, and a defender stands a step away from the player with the ball. 4. Shots are taken only from inside the key, which stands in for the shooting circle of a netball court. Ages: 11 to 14. Players: 10 to 28. You need: a ball and pinnies.
  • Speedball: Kick It on the Floor, Throw It in the Air 1. A team game that mixes soccer and handball. Two teams of four or five play on a basketball court with a soccer ball and a goal at each end. 2. A ball on the floor is played with the feet. A ball that comes up off a foot may be caught, and from then on it is passed by hand. 3. A player holding the ball may not run with it. Nobody but the goalkeeper picks a ball up off the floor. 4. One common way to score is three points for a kicked goal and one for a thrown goal. Scoring differs from school to school. Ages: 11 to 14. Players: 8 to 24. You need: a soccer ball, two goals and pinnies.
  • Team Wall Ball: Throw It So It Cannot Be Caught 1. A rebound game against a wall. Two teams of three or four share the floor in front of a wall, with a line taped on the wall at head height and a line on the floor five steps back. 2. A player throws a soft ball from behind the floor line so that it hits the wall above the tape. 3. The other team has to catch the rebound before it bounces twice. A catch gives that team the next throw, and a miss gives the throwers a point. 4. No player throws twice in a row for a team. Play to eleven, with a game at every free stretch of wall. Ages: 8 to 14. Players: 6 to 32. You need: a soft ball and tape for every six to eight players.

How this list was compiled: Our list for a gym class in grades 3 to 8. The wording, the ages and the player counts are ours. Named games such as Cross the River and Monster Ball are played in many versions, and the steps here are one version of each. Tags are a touch on the arm or the back, no ball is thrown at a player and nobody is put out of a game for good; those are our own rules for play. Checked on 12 October 2026 at Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ followed by the name): Four corners (game), for the usual rules; Speedball (American ball game), for kicking, catching and one way of scoring; Newcomb ball, for throwing and catching over a net; Benchball, for scoring on a bench and its many rule sets; Handball, for three steps and three seconds; Netball, for three seconds, no dribbling and the shooting circle; Educational stage, for the ages of each United States grade. Licence: own work

How it works

These are fun games to play in the gym with a whole class, written for grades 3 to 8. Nobody is put out, no ball is thrown at a player, and every game prints its ages, players and equipment.

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Four sets, one menu

The page opens on Gym games for large classes, the games that keep thirty or more busy at once. The menu under the button changes to Crossing and class challenges, Team ball games or No equipment.

By grade

More filters, under that menu, holds Grades 3 to 5 and Grades 6 to 8. The second keeps the good PE games for middle school, such as Speedball and Sideline Handball.

Questions and answers

Which PE game with no equipment works for a full class?

Five need nothing. Four Corners on the Move and Class Clock each take up to forty players at once, and Human Obstacle Course turns half the class into the course.

What are good 6th grade PE games?

Sixth graders are 11 or 12. Monster Ball and Bench Ball suit a mixed class, and Grades 6 to 8 under More filters shows the rest.

Which of these are PE games for elementary school?

Choose Grades 3 to 5 under More filters. Zone Ball and End Line Ball give every third and fourth grader a job.

How do you play the Cross the River PE game?

Each team shares two scooter boards, two mats and a rope, and has to reach the far bank without touching the floor. Schools play it in many versions, as they do Monster Ball and bench ball. The steps here are one version of each.

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