• 22 games
  • Checked October 2026

Winter PE Games

Yarn-ball snowball fights, a snowman relay and frost tag for the gym, plus a set for real snow.

Winter PE Games

Show all 9
  1. Ice Floes Drift: One Floe Melts at Every Whistle1. A crossing on stepping mats. Each team of six starts with four small mats or carpet squares: the ice floes.2. The team crosses the gym standing only on floes, passing the back one forward to make the next step.3. At each whistle the teacher takes one floe from every team, down to two.4. A foot in the water sends the whole team back three steps. Teams that arrive cheer the others in.Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 12 to 36. You need: four small mats or carpet squares for each team.
  2. Frost and Sun1. Freeze tag with one player who thaws. Two taggers are the frost and wear blue pinnies. One player is the sun and carries a yellow ball.2. A runner tagged by the frost freezes like an icicle, arms straight overhead.3. The sun thaws an icicle by touching it with the ball. The frost may not tag the sun.4. If the frost has five icicles standing at once, it wins the round. Change all three jobs every two minutes.Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 12 to 36. You need: two blue pinnies and a yellow ball.
  3. Beanbag Curling: Slide It to the Rings1. A sliding target game, after curling, the ice sport in which stones are slid toward a target of rings. Tape three rings on the floor inside each other, ten steps from a line.2. Two teams take turns to slide one beanbag along the floor from behind the line. It has to slide, not fly.3. When all eight are played, score three for a beanbag in the inner ring, two for the middle and one for the outer. A beanbag knocked out of the rings scores nothing.4. Play four rounds, and swap which team slides first.Ages: 7 to 14. Players: 4 to 30. You need: tape and four beanbags for each team.

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Winter indoor PE games 9

  • Avalanche: Cross Between the Rollers 1. A crossing through rolling balls. Four rollers stand along each side line with a crate of soft balls. Everyone else is a skier on one end line. 2. On the call "Avalanche", the skiers cross to the far end line while the rollers roll balls across the floor. 3. A skier touched below the knee by a rolling ball joins the rollers on that side. A thrown or bouncing ball does not count. 4. Skiers cross again on each call. The last four skiers are the first rollers of the next game. Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 14 to 36. You need: two crates of soft balls.
  • Beanbag Curling: Slide It to the Rings 1. A sliding target game, after curling, the ice sport in which stones are slid toward a target of rings. Tape three rings on the floor inside each other, ten steps from a line. 2. Two teams take turns to slide one beanbag along the floor from behind the line. It has to slide, not fly. 3. When all eight are played, score three for a beanbag in the inner ring, two for the middle and one for the outer. A beanbag knocked out of the rings scores nothing. 4. Play four rounds, and swap which team slides first. Ages: 7 to 14. Players: 4 to 30. You need: tape and four beanbags for each team.
  • Dual Slalom: Two Racers, Two Rows of Gates 1. A side-by-side race through gates. Set two matching courses of six gates, each gate a pair of cones a step apart, set left and right in turn. 2. Two racers start together, run through every gate of their own course and sprint back down the outside. 3. A missed gate means going back to it. 4. Winners race winners, and everyone else races someone new, so nobody sits out. Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 8 to 30. You need: twenty-four cones.
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Winter indoor PE games, continued

  • Frost and Sun 1. Freeze tag with one player who thaws. Two taggers are the frost and wear blue pinnies. One player is the sun and carries a yellow ball. 2. A runner tagged by the frost freezes like an icicle, arms straight overhead. 3. The sun thaws an icicle by touching it with the ball. The frost may not tag the sun. 4. If the frost has five icicles standing at once, it wins the round. Change all three jobs every two minutes. Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 12 to 36. You need: two blue pinnies and a yellow ball.
  • Ice Floes Drift: One Floe Melts at Every Whistle 1. A crossing on stepping mats. Each team of six starts with four small mats or carpet squares: the ice floes. 2. The team crosses the gym standing only on floes, passing the back one forward to make the next step. 3. At each whistle the teacher takes one floe from every team, down to two. 4. A foot in the water sends the whole team back three steps. Teams that arrive cheer the others in. Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 12 to 36. You need: four small mats or carpet squares for each team.
  • Roll for the Snowman: A Building Relay 1. A relay in which a die decides what you may build. Each team has a pile of parts: three hoops, two foam noodles, three beanbags and a cone. 2. One runner at a time runs to the far end and rolls a big die. One, two and three are the bottom, middle and top hoops. Four is the noodle arms, five is the beanbag buttons, six is the cone hat. 3. The runner comes home and lays that part flat on the floor. Hoops go down in order from the bottom, and no part goes on before its hoop. 4. A roll the team cannot use yet means five jumping jacks beside the die. The first whole snowman wins. Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 12 to 30. You need: a big die, three hoops, two foam noodles, three beanbags and a cone for each team.
  • Ski and Shoot: A Gym Biathlon 1. A lap race with target stops, after biathlon, the winter sport that joins cross-country skiing to target shooting. Mark a lap around the gym and a throwing line five steps from three hoops on the floor. 2. Each racer runs one lap with long sliding strides, stops at the line and tosses three beanbags, one at each hoop. 3. Every miss costs a penalty loop around two cones before the next lap. 4. Racers run three laps and stop three times. Start in waves of six, and race your own time from the first lap. Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 6 to 30. You need: three hoops and three beanbags for each lane, and cones.
  • Snowball Fight Across the Center Line, With Plows 1. The clear-your-side throwing game, with plows. Split the gym with a line of cones and scatter forty yarn balls evenly: the snowballs. 2. On the whistle both sides throw snowballs into the other half, below shoulder height. Nobody is ever out, and a player who is hit plays on. 3. Two players on each side are plows: they may not throw, but push snowballs forward along the floor with a foam noodle. 4. Play four rounds of one minute. On the whistle everyone freezes, the side with fewer snowballs wins the round, and new plows are chosen. Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 12 to 36. You need: forty yarn balls, cones and four foam noodles.
  • Snowball Relay: One More Runner Each Lap, Then It Melts 1. A relay that grows like a rolled snowball. Teams of five line up behind a start line with a cone twelve steps away. 2. Runner one runs around the cone and back, takes runner two by the hand, and both go around. Each lap picks up one more. 3. After all five have run a lap together, the snowball melts: one runner drops off at home each lap, the first to join first, until the last runner goes around alone. 4. A chain that breaks stops and joins up before it moves on. Ages: 8 to 11. Players: 10 to 35. You need: a cone for each team.

Kindergarten to grade 2 7

  • Find Your Mitten Mate 1. A find-your-partner game. Hand every child a paper mitten. Each color or pattern is on exactly two mittens. 2. While the music plays, children skip around and swap mittens with everyone they meet. 3. When the music stops, find the child holding the mitten that matches yours and sit down together. 4. The teacher gives the pairs one job, such as ten jumps holding hands, and the music starts again. Ages: 5 to 8. Players: 6 to 30. You need: paper mittens in matching pairs and music.
  • Frozen Mittens: Two Hands Carry One Snowball 1. A carrying game for partners. Pairs stand palm to palm, one hand each: their mittens have frozen together. 2. Yarn balls lie all over the floor. A pair squeezes one snowball between its two joined palms and carries it to the pair's hoop. 3. A dropped snowball is picked up the same way, with no other hands. 4. When the floor is clear, pairs count their snowballs and swap to the other hand. Ages: 5 to 8. Players: 4 to 30. You need: yarn balls and a hoop for each pair.
  • Hoop Skating Partners 1. A gliding game for two. Partners stand side by side and hold one hoop between them at waist height, like two skaters holding hands. 2. They slide their feet around the rink, the court, without letting go, steering around other pairs. 3. On one whistle, skate backward. On two, turn once around on the spot and go on. 4. On "New partner", put the hoop down, walk to the nearest free hoop and skate with whoever arrives there. Ages: 5 to 8. Players: 4 to 30. You need: a hoop for each pair.
  • Parachute Igloo: Pass the Snowball Before the Roof Comes Down 1. A parachute game that ends indoors. The class lifts the parachute high on a count of three, takes two steps in, pulls the edge down behind and sits on it. 2. Inside the igloo, a yarn ball goes around the circle from hand to hand. 3. Count how many children it passes before the roof sinks onto heads. 4. Come out, lift again and try to send the snowball farther. A class that knows the game sends two. Ages: 5 to 11. Players: 10 to 36. You need: a play parachute and two yarn balls.
  • Shovel the Walk 1. A pushing game along a line. Each child has a foam noodle, the shovel, and a beanbag, the snow, at the start of a painted line. 2. Push the snow along the line to the far end without lifting it and without leaving the line. 3. At the end, push it into the hoop, the snow pile, and walk back for another beanbag. 4. When every walk is clear, the class counts the pile together. Ages: 5 to 8. Players: 4 to 24. You need: a foam noodle for each child, beanbags and hoops.
  • Snow Angel Tag: Three Angels and Back In 1. Tag with a quick way back. Two taggers hold a soft white ball each and tag with it in the hand. 2. A tagged child lies down on that spot and makes three snow angels on the floor. 3. Then it is up and running again. Runners step around anyone making an angel. 4. Change the taggers every minute. Ages: 5 to 8. Players: 8 to 30. You need: two soft white balls.
  • The Snowplow Picks Up the Whole Street 1. A follow-the-leader that grows. Every child sits on a floor spot: a car parked in the snow. One child is the snowplow. 2. The plow drives around the street with both hands pushing in front, and taps a car on the shoulder. 3. That car stands up and follows behind. The line grows with every tap, and the plow picks a new way to move each time. 4. When every car is in the line, the plow calls "Garage" and everyone walks fast to a spot. The last car picked up is the next plow. Ages: 5 to 8. Players: 6 to 30. You need: a floor spot for each child.

Snow PE games, outdoors 6

  • Break the Trail: The Leader Peels Off Every Twenty Steps 1. A team race through deep, untouched snow. Teams of six line up one behind another at the edge of a clean field. 2. The leader stamps the trail and the others step in the prints. 3. After twenty steps the leader steps aside, lets the line pass and joins the back, so the hard part is shared. 4. The first whole team to its flag wins. Walk back along your own trail and count how many leaders it took. Ages: 8 to 14. Players: 12 to 36. You need: a flag or a cone for each team.
  • Snow Hurdles: Build Three Low Walls, Then Race Over Them 1. A building job and then a race. Each team has five minutes to pile and pack three walls of snow across its lane, no higher than the shortest player's knee. 2. Teams then run a shuttle relay over their own walls, there and back, tagging the next runner by hand. 3. A runner who flattens a wall rebuilds it before the team goes on. 4. Race twice, and let teams trade lanes for the second race. Ages: 7 to 14. Players: 8 to 30. You need: nothing.
  • Snowball Supply Line 1. A making-and-passing relay. Each team spreads out in a line, with a bucket three steps beyond the last player. 2. The first player packs a snowball and hands it on. It goes down the line from hand to hand. 3. The last player tosses it underhand into the bucket. Only whole snowballs in the bucket count. Snowballs go at the bucket, never at a person. 4. After three minutes, count the buckets, and everyone moves one place down the line. Ages: 6 to 14. Players: 8 to 30. You need: a bucket for each team.
  • Standing Long Jump Into Clean Snow 1. A jumping contest that measures itself. Stamp a take-off line at the edge of clean snow. 2. The first jumper of each team swings both arms and jumps forward from two feet. The back of the heel print is the mark. 3. A teammate lays a stick at the mark, and the next jumper takes off from that stick. 4. When everyone has jumped, the team whose last stick lies farthest from the line wins. Ages: 6 to 14. Players: 6 to 30. You need: a stick for each team.
  • Three Crews, One Snowman 1. A building race in three crews. Split each team into a base crew, a middle crew and a head crew, and start each crew at a different corner of the field. 2. On the whistle each crew rolls its own ball toward the team flag in the middle. The base crew gets the corner farthest away. 3. The crews meet at the flag and lift the balls into place together. 4. The first snowman to stand for a count of ten wins. Then every team walks around to see the others. Ages: 7 to 14. Players: 9 to 30. You need: a flag or a cone for each team.
  • Track Tag on the Class's Own Tangle 1. Tag on paths, as fox and geese is played on a wheel trodden in snow. Here the class treads its own tangle first: two minutes of follow the leader in loops and crossings over a clean patch. 2. Three foxes then chase the geese. Everyone may run only where the snow is already trodden. 3. A tagged goose becomes a fox, and the fox that made the tag becomes a goose. 4. Anyone who steps into clean snow adds five new steps of path as a forfeit, so the tangle grows as you play. Ages: 6 to 14. Players: 10 to 30. You need: nothing.

How this list was compiled: Our suggestions for a gym class from December to February, with a set for a field under real snow. The wording, the ages and the player counts are ours, and no game has a holiday in it. Indoors, snowballs are yarn balls thrown below the shoulder. Outdoors, a snowball goes at a target or a bucket and never at a person. 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): Educational stage, for the ages of each United States grade; Tag (game), for freeze tag and for fox and geese; Curling; Biathlon. Licence: own work

How it works

These winter PE games have no holiday in them, so they run from December to February and work as January PE games too. Indoors a snowball is a yarn ball. Outdoors it goes at a bucket, never at a person.

Read the full guide

Gym first, snow in the menu

The page opens on nine winter indoor PE games, most of them written for grades 3 to 5. The menu under the button changes to Kindergarten to grade 2, or to Snow PE games, outdoors: six PE games to play outside in the snow.

A snowman two ways

For a build a snowman PE game indoors, Roll for the Snowman is a relay in which a die decides which part a runner may add. Outdoors, Three Crews, One Snowman rolls the real thing from three corners of the field.

Questions and answers

How do you play a snowball relay gym game?

Teams of five line up. Runner one circles a cone and comes back for runner two, and each lap picks up one more until all five run together. Then one runner drops off each lap until the last goes around alone.

How do you run a snowball fight in PE?

Use yarn balls and a center line. In Snowball Fight Across the Center Line, both sides throw below the shoulder for a minute, a hit player plays on, and the side with fewer snowballs wins the round.

Which outdoor snow games need no equipment?

Track Tag on the Class's Own Tangle and Snow Hurdles need only boots and clean snow. Snowball Supply Line adds one bucket for each team.

Which winter PE games suit kindergarten?

Snow Angel Tag, The Snowplow Picks Up the Whole Street and Hoop Skating Partners are written for ages 5 to 8, and none of them has a loser.

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