Team Building Games: Starting Your School Year Strong

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Welcome back to school PE Nation!

I created a new e-book "Team Building Games and Activities in PE," featuring games that help physical education teachers build culture and community in the first weeks of school. The 21-page resource contains engaging activities for grades K-5 that get students moving while developing teamwork skills.

• Getting-to-know-you games like "Pass Your Name" help students and teachers learn names while participating in movement challenges
• Large group team builders such as "Fish Relays" work well under pavilions during hot weather and incorporate passing challenges in different directions
• Small group team builders like "Group Juggle" develop communication as students pass objects in patterns while saying each receiver's name
• The activities are designed to create excitement, build culture, and avoid starting the year with students just sitting around
• These games help establish a solid foundation for the school year through movement and camaraderie

Take care and happy teaching!

Dave

Team Building Games Ebook (with preview): https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Team-Building-Games-and-Activities-for-PE-Class-14063095

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hello and welcome to the Super Size Fizz Ad podcast.
My name is Dave and today Iwant to talk about the beginning
of the school year, weeks oneand two, and games you can play
to build your teams, to buildyour culture, to build the
community that you want to build.
So, without further ado, herewe go.

(00:30):
Welcome in PE Nation.

(00:51):
So I wanted to share myexciting news of an ebook that I
just created recently and it iscalled Team Building Games and
Activities in PE.
It is 21 pages of differentgames and activities that you
can play in your PE classes withgrades K through five.
There's all sorts of learning,fun and engaging just games and
activities that you can play andbuild that culture, build the

(01:12):
excitement and start off theyear moving and not just sitting
around.
So let me go through what thisebook covers so you get a kind
of a glimpse of it and there isa preview if you click on the
link in the show notes.
All right, let's make this aboomer.
These are the three categories.
Here's the first one.
So first we have getting toknow you games, and I'll give

(01:37):
you a couple examples of in eachcategory.
So the getting to know yourgames are things like where you
pass your name.
That's one of the games.
You have to get in a circle ordown the line, students pass
their name instead of passing anobject, and they see how fast
they can do it, and withaccuracy, and even learning each
other's names in the process.

(01:57):
So it's games like that thatjust gets to know, they get to
know each other and you get toknow their names, which is very
important.
Just gets to know, they get toknow each other and you get to
know their names, which is veryimportant, as that's probably
one of the hardest things for meto do is learn.
You know over a hundred kids'names at a time.
It's very difficult and I spenda lot of time studying
yearbooks and playing games thatwill incorporate that,
especially the younger kids.

(02:18):
If they'd been with me for afew years, I think I know most
of their names.
Not all of them, unfortunately,but these are games that allow
you to get to know your studentsand they get to know each other
.
That's a great way to start theschool year.
So number two of the threecategories are large group team

(02:40):
builders.
Now, I use these quite a bit inthe beginning of the school
year, especially when it's hotunder the pavilion.
We'll be in the shade, so we'llspend some time under there and
I'll give you a game we use alot.
It's just fish relays.
So you don't have to haveinflatable fishes, you can use
critters or really anything topass and we get them to pass

(03:02):
down the line as fast as theycan.
And again we time them or justsay you know, whichever line
comes first wins.
But they do need to pass indifferent ways.
So we'll first have them passjust kind of sideways, then
they'll have to pass kind ofbehind them, like over their
head and behind them.
Then they will do down and back.

(03:22):
We will do things like they'llstand up and do it and twist,
and so they're adding, you'readding exercise and you know
different kinds of movement aswell as relay race kind of style
, where they're working togetherfor a common goal.
So that is one of the largegroup team builders in the ebook
and there's more explanation inthere, probably a better job

(03:44):
than I just did.
So that is number two.
All right, number three are thesmall group team builders.
These are actually my favoritebecause you can do a lot with
these.
You can and you could adddifferent wrinkles to them.
There's all sorts of hula hoopchallenges and there's my
favorite is group juggle.

(04:04):
So group juggle is kind of anoldie but a goodie, where
students I have them around hulahoops.
Like the hula hoop is set downand then they form a circle
around it, and I strive forgroups of five, six or seven,
and that's doable because youcan always rearrange groups.
I say five is the best number,seven's, pushing it a little bit

(04:27):
, but it's possible.
So what they do is you give theman object and they have to pass
in a set pattern and they theymake the pattern and they have
to figure out how.
This is another kind of figureout kind of thing, where they
have to work together and figureout a pattern where it goes to
everybody once but it does not.
You do not pass to somebodynext to you.

(04:48):
So if there's a group of five,that's actually perfect, cause
that's like a star pattern.
Six is a little tougher andseven is tough as well.
It's just a matter of themworking together, talking about
it and figuring out the pattern,and every time they pass they
have to say the person's nameand they pass on the object and

(05:08):
then it just continues aroundthe circle.
If they get that right, we canadd another object.
Now you can also do questions.
Sometimes I'll add questions inthere, like, okay, you have to
say your name and your favoriteI don't know sport or game or
activity you like to play, andso I'll say, oh, I'm Dave and I
like to golf, and I pass it tothe next person, and then they

(05:28):
say their name and pass the nextperson.
Eventually, though, though, youcan again add another object.
So then, if I'm well, I'm Dave,and I'm passing to my
daughter's name, savannah, soI'll just say Savannah, I'll
pass it, I'll say Savannah, andthen she'll pass to her friend,
paige, and I'll pass another one.
I'll say Savannah, so it'll belike a rubber chicken and a deck

(05:50):
ring, something like that, andthen it goes around.
So that's two objects.
Then you can have three.
Now the.
This is awesome.
I do have a video I'll have tofind it, maybe post it in here
Of my students last year doingfour objects.
It was amazing, and they reallywere concentrating.
That's a really cool game andreally need to see them working

(06:11):
together, because that meanseverybody has to work for the
common goal, like if oneperson's not paying attention,
it doesn't work and it's just alot of fun and it builds that
camaraderie and you know justthat team building aspect of it.
So that is one of the games inthe small group team builders.
And that is number three.

(06:32):
And now it is time for yourcowbell tip of the day.
All right, so your tip of theday is to check out the e-book.
Again, there's a preview in theshow notes.
If you click on the link youcan see the.

(06:54):
It's the teachers pay teachers.
There is a preview in there.
So again, I'm just going to readpart of this, where that I
wrote this about this e-book.
It covers all the basics ofbuilding a winning PE culture,
from cooperative games to namegames to large and small group
games.
It is everything you need.
So my hope is that you get aton of ideas and value from this
book and it sparks joy andlaughter in your PE program.

(07:16):
Furthermore, I hope you usethese games and activities to
build the culture you want foryour program and I this is I'm
going off script here you knowI've used these games a lot.
It's not like I've used them onetime or I just read about them.
I've used these games and youknow some I use more than others
.
Some I've used for, you know,the last 10 years and some I
just started and some I kind of,you know, phase out here and

(07:37):
there and or I bring them back.
But it helps you build thatsolid foundation for your school
year of movement and not justsitting there building the
culture, you know, getting teamsgoing, getting the camaraderie
going, like I said, and so Ihope you pick up a copy of that.
Again, it's in the show notes,everything's in the show notes.
I'll link it up there.
So that is it.
That is your cowbell tip of theday.

(08:09):
Thank you everybody for tuningin today.
I really do appreciate it, asalways.
Go to the show notes orsupersciencephysedcom for more
information and definitelyfollow me on Substack or Medium.
Those are where my articles arewritten and then you'll get
actually it's two per week ifyou sign up for the email list

(08:29):
two articles a week.
Sometimes it's a podcast link,sometimes it's an article, but
two things a week just onstrategies, tips, inspirational
stories, things like that.
That'll help you with your PEprogram.
So take care, pe Nation, have agreat day, week, weekend,
whenever you're listening tothis, and let's keep pushing our
profession forward.
Thank you.