• 22 games
  • Checked October 2026

Kindergarten PE Games

Games nobody loses for ages 5 and 6, opening on ten that need no equipment at all.

Kindergarten PE Games

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  1. Walk Like You Feel: Follow the Leader's Mood1. Follow the leader, led by a feeling. The class spreads out behind one leader, who stands where everyone can see.2. The teacher names a feeling: sleepy, excited, shy or proud. The leader walks the way that feeling walks, and everyone travels around the gym the same way.3. On the stop signal, freeze in a statue of that feeling.4. A new leader takes the next feeling. Ask the class what their feet did differently each time.Ages: 5 to 8. Players: 6 to 30. You need: nothing.
  2. High Hand, Low Hand: Watch the Teacher, Not the Whistle1. A watching game with no sound. The children skip around the gym with their eyes on the teacher, who walks about among them.2. A hand held high means travel tall on tiptoe. A hand held low means travel small and low. A flat palm facing out means stop.3. The teacher changes the signal without a word, sometimes with their back to half the class.4. Hand the job to a child every minute. Later, add one more signal: two hands up means find a partner.Ages: 5 to 6. Players: 6 to 30. You need: nothing.
  3. Leader Walks a Shape: Circle, Square or Triangle?1. Follow the leader with a puzzle in it. The class walks in one line behind a leader.2. The teacher whispers a shape to the leader: a circle, a square or a triangle. The leader walks that shape on the floor, as big as the gym allows, and the line follows.3. When the leader is back at the start, everyone stops and calls out the shape their feet drew.4. Choose a new leader and a new way to move: marching, on tiptoe, sliding sideways. With grade 2, try a figure eight.Ages: 5 to 8. Players: 6 to 30. You need: nothing.

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Kindergarten, no equipment 10

  • Copy It Small, Copy It Big 1. Follow the leader, with the size changed. The class faces a leader, each child on a spot of their own. 2. The leader makes a big move: giant arm circles, a wide jump, long strides on the spot. The class copies it as small as it can be made. 3. On the call "big", the leader makes tiny moves and the class copies them huge. 4. Change the leader every five moves. Ages: 5 to 8. Players: 6 to 30. You need: nothing.
  • Float Like Bubbles: Touch and You Both Pop 1. A moving game about keeping your own space. Every child is a bubble: arms out wide, floating around the gym on quiet feet. 2. Bubbles float anywhere but never touch. If two bubbles touch, both pop: they sink slowly to the floor. 3. Count to three together, blow yourselves up again and float on. 4. On the stop signal every bubble freezes. Then make smaller bubbles, with elbows out, and float a little faster. Ages: 5 to 6. Players: 6 to 30. You need: nothing.
  • Glue Feet: Run, Stick, Wiggle 1. A stop-and-go game with a wiggle in it. The children run anywhere in the gym until the teacher calls "glue". 2. On "glue", both feet stick to the floor where they are. The teacher names a part to move as big as it will go: arms, knees, hips or head. 3. The feet stay stuck, however big the wiggle gets. 4. On "unstuck", run to a new place. Later, a child calls the part. Ages: 5 to 6. Players: 6 to 30. You need: nothing.
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Kindergarten, no equipment, continued

  • High Hand, Low Hand: Watch the Teacher, Not the Whistle 1. A watching game with no sound. The children skip around the gym with their eyes on the teacher, who walks about among them. 2. A hand held high means travel tall on tiptoe. A hand held low means travel small and low. A flat palm facing out means stop. 3. The teacher changes the signal without a word, sometimes with their back to half the class. 4. Hand the job to a child every minute. Later, add one more signal: two hands up means find a partner. Ages: 5 to 6. Players: 6 to 30. You need: nothing.
  • Leader Walks a Shape: Circle, Square or Triangle? 1. Follow the leader with a puzzle in it. The class walks in one line behind a leader. 2. The teacher whispers a shape to the leader: a circle, a square or a triangle. The leader walks that shape on the floor, as big as the gym allows, and the line follows. 3. When the leader is back at the start, everyone stops and calls out the shape their feet drew. 4. Choose a new leader and a new way to move: marching, on tiptoe, sliding sideways. With grade 2, try a figure eight. Ages: 5 to 8. Players: 6 to 30. You need: nothing.
  • Pass the Move Around the Circle 1. A copying game in a circle. Everyone stands in a ring with room to swing their arms. 2. The first child makes one move on the spot, such as a jump with a clap. The whole circle does it together four times. 3. The next child around the ring shows a new move, and the circle copies that one. 4. No move is used twice. A child who cannot think of one says "help", and the child beside them offers one. Ages: 5 to 8. Players: 6 to 30. You need: nothing.
  • Stork Stops: Freeze on One Foot for a Count of Three 1. A stop-and-balance game. The children gallop around the gym while the teacher claps a steady beat. 2. When the clapping stops, freeze like a stork on one foot with arms out, and count to three aloud together. 3. A foot that touches down is lifted again, and the count goes on. 4. Next time, freeze on the other foot. Later stops are harder: one foot and eyes on the ceiling, one foot and hands on the head. Ages: 5 to 6. Players: 6 to 30. You need: nothing.
  • Three Pathways: Straight, Curvy, Zigzag 1. A traveling game about the path your feet draw on the floor. Teach three pathways first by drawing each in the air: straight like a ruler, curvy like a snake, zigzag like the teeth of a saw. 2. On "go" the children walk around the gym. The teacher calls a pathway, and everyone travels that way until the next call. 3. On the stop signal, freeze and point along the path you were making. 4. Then a child calls the next pathway and a way to move along it: a gallop, a slide or a march. Ages: 5 to 7. Players: 6 to 30. You need: nothing.
  • Walk Like You Feel: Follow the Leader's Mood 1. Follow the leader, led by a feeling. The class spreads out behind one leader, who stands where everyone can see. 2. The teacher names a feeling: sleepy, excited, shy or proud. The leader walks the way that feeling walks, and everyone travels around the gym the same way. 3. On the stop signal, freeze in a statue of that feeling. 4. A new leader takes the next feeling. Ask the class what their feet did differently each time. Ages: 5 to 8. Players: 6 to 30. You need: nothing.
  • Wall to Wall: A Child Picks the Way to Cross 1. A crossing game with no catcher. The class stands along one wall. 2. One child is the chooser and names a way to cross: giant steps, on tiptoe, sideways like a crab, backward and slow. 3. On "go" everyone crosses that way to the other wall and freezes with one hand on it. 4. The teacher picks a child who crossed exactly as asked to be the next chooser. Nobody races: the last one there is as right as the first. Ages: 5 to 6. Players: 6 to 30. You need: nothing.

Bean bags and balls 6

  • Bean Bag Under the Bridge 1. A sliding game for partners. One child makes a bridge on hands and feet. The other kneels in front of it with a bean bag. 2. Slide the bean bag along the floor under the bridge, then run around to pick it up. 3. Swap jobs: the slider makes the next bridge. Each pair counts its slides aloud up to ten. 4. Then make a different bridge: on hands and knees, standing with legs wide, or with the back to the floor on hands and feet. Ages: 5 to 7. Players: 2 to 30. You need: a bean bag for each pair.
  • Bounce, Catch, Take a Step 1. A bouncing game that crosses the gym. Stand on one line with a ball. 2. Drop the ball, let it bounce once and catch it with two hands. Each clean catch earns one giant step forward. 3. A ball that gets away is fetched and brought back to the spot where it was dropped. 4. At the far line, turn around. On the way back, clap once between the bounce and the catch. Ages: 5 to 7. Players: 6 to 30. You need: a playground ball for each child.
  • Drop It, Catch It: A Bounce Between Partners 1. A catching game for partners standing close. Partners face each other one step apart with one ball. 2. One holds the ball out at shoulder height and lets go. The other catches it after one bounce. 3. Take turns. After five catches each, both take a small step back, and the drop becomes a gentle bounce pass. 4. Count the pair's catches in a row. A miss starts the count again but not the distance. Ages: 5 to 7. Players: 2 to 30. You need: a playground ball for each pair.
  • Roll It, Race It, Stop It 1. A rolling game for one child and one ball. Stand on a line with the ball in two hands. 2. Roll it gently along the floor toward the far line, then run after it. 3. Get in front of the ball and stop it with two hands before it reaches the far line. 4. Walk it back and go again. Try to roll it a little faster each time and still beat it. Ages: 5 to 7. Players: 6 to 30. You need: a playground ball for each child.
  • Rolling Through the Forest 1. A rolling game with children for trees. Half the class stands spread out with feet wide apart: the trees. The other half has a ball each. 2. Roll your ball along the floor between the feet of a tree, run around the tree and pick the ball up on the other side. 3. Go to a different tree each time. Trees stand still and count the balls that roll through. 4. After two minutes, swap jobs. Balls are rolled, never thrown or kicked. Ages: 5 to 7. Players: 8 to 30. You need: a small ball for every two children.
  • Toss Ahead, Jump In: Hoop to Hoop With a Bean Bag 1. A toss-and-jump trail with no fixed path. Scatter hoops over the floor, one for every child and a few more. 2. Stand in a hoop and toss your bean bag underhand so that it lands in another hoop with nobody in it. 3. If it lands inside, jump or hop to that hoop and pick it up. If it misses, fetch it and toss again from where you were. 4. Keep going until the whistle. Then count how many hoops you can visit before the next one. Ages: 5 to 7. Players: 6 to 30. You need: a hoop and a bean bag for each child, and a few hoops more.

Follow the leader games 1

  • Over, Around and Through: Follow Along the Trail 1. Follow the leader along a trail of equipment. Lay out a loop: a rope to walk along, three cones to go around, two hoops to step through and a low mat to crawl across. 2. Lines of four follow their leader around the loop. The leader decides how to do each part, and the line does the same. 3. On the whistle the leader goes to the back of the line. 4. Start the lines at different points on the loop, so that nobody waits. Ages: 5 to 8. Players: 4 to 30. You need: a long rope, three cones, two hoops and a mat.

Preschool, ages 3 and 4 5

  • Bean Bag Hat: Bow It Into the Basket 1. A balancing walk with a bow at the end. Each child puts a bean bag on their head, the hat, and stands on a line. 2. Walk slowly to the basket five steps away with hands down. 3. At the basket, bow so that the hat slides off and drops in. 4. A hat that falls on the way is put back on at the place where it fell. Take a new bean bag and go again. Ages: 3 to 4. Players: 2 to 16. You need: a basket and two bean bags for each child.
  • Catch the Scarf on Your Knee 1. A catching game slow enough for small hands. Give every child a light scarf. 2. Throw the scarf up as high as you can and catch it with two hands as it floats down. 3. Then the teacher names a place to catch it: on a knee, on an elbow, on the head, on a foot. 4. Finish by throwing all the scarves up together on a count of three and catching any scarf at all. Ages: 3 to 4. Players: 2 to 16. You need: a light scarf for each child.
  • Jump Down to the Spot 1. A jumping-down game with a soft landing. Unfold one mat flat as the landing and put a folded mat beside it as the step, no higher than a child's knee. Lay a floor spot on the landing mat. 2. One child at a time climbs onto the step and jumps down onto the spot with two feet. A grown-up stands beside the landing. 3. Land with knees bent and arms out in front, and hold still for a count of two. 4. Walk around to the back of the line. Later, move the spot a little farther away. Ages: 3 to 4. Players: 2 to 12. You need: two gym mats and a floor spot.
  • My Own House: Out on the Drum, Home When It Stops 1. A going-out-and-coming-home game. Every child stands in a hoop of their own: their house. 2. While the teacher taps a drum, the children leave their houses and walk, run or gallop anywhere in the room. 3. When the drum stops, everyone goes home to their own hoop and sits down in it. 4. Play it many times. Later, a new sound sends the children home a new way: a shaker means tiptoe home. Ages: 3 to 4. Players: 4 to 16. You need: a hoop for each child and a drum.
  • Through the Hoop Tunnel 1. A going-through game. Three grown-ups or older helpers each hold a hoop upright on the floor, a few steps apart in a line. 2. The children go through all three, one behind another, any way they like: crawling, stepping high or ducking. 3. After the last hoop, run around a cone and back to the start. 4. Then the holders lift the hoops a little off the floor, so that every child has to step over the rim. Ages: 3 to 4. Players: 2 to 16. You need: three hoops and a cone.

How this list was compiled: Our list for a gym class from preschool to grade 2. The wording, the ages and the player counts are ours. No game puts a child out, and each is built on one rule; those are our own rules for the list. Nothing is thrown at a child, and the preschool games need a grown-up close by. Checked on 12 October 2026 at Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_stage) for the ages of each United States grade. Licence: own work

How it works

These games for kindergarten PE have one rule each and no way to be out, so nobody sits and watches. Each prints its ages, its players and what to fetch.

Read the full guide

Four sets, by what you have

The menu under the button changes from Kindergarten, no equipment to Bean bags and balls, Follow the leader games or Preschool, ages 3 and 4, five preschool PE games that keep a grown-up close by.

One rule, one signal

Teach the stop signal first and use the same one all lesson: a clap, a drum or a raised hand. Each game adds one rule to it. Float Like Bubbles is a good first game, because it also teaches each child to keep a space of their own.

Questions and answers

What are kindergarten PE games without equipment?

Ten need nothing. Glue Feet and Stork Stops are the quickest to teach, and Three Pathways is the one for a lesson on pathways.

What are good kindergarten PE games with balls?

Every child has a ball of their own in Roll It, Race It, Stop It. Rolling Through the Forest needs one ball for every two children, and so does the partner game Drop It, Catch It. No ball is thrown at anyone.

Which are outside PE games for kindergarten?

Sixteen of the games work on grass or a playground: choose All games in the menu, then Works outdoors under More filters. The six that stay indoors need a wall, a mat, a smooth floor or still air for a scarf.

Do these work as PE games for 1st grade?

Yes. The bean bag, ball and follow-the-leader sets are written for ages 5 to 7 or 8, which covers first and second grade. Bean Bag Under the Bridge is played in pairs, and Over, Around and Through in lines of four.

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