Keeping Homeschooling Easy - How to teach Physical Education

This is probably my favourite homeschooling subject of all, maybe because it's so simple and so core to health and happiness!

At school the kids only do it twice a week usually but I suppose they also get a run around at break and lunch time. We all need daily exercise and, especially if the weather isn't great or you don't have a garden, we can't guarantee that the kids will get that run around time so I recommend including it every day.

Exercise is also key for mental health (as happy hormones are released when we work out) as well as physical health and this daily time will help set them up with good habits for later life.

Here are some of my favourite keep-it-easy PE 'classes'.

Each person takes a turn to come up with an exercise and everyone does it for 30 - 60 secs. Be warned, kids seem to especially love exercises that involve you rolling around on the ground!

Ask your child to teach you some playground games that they like and join in. Tig (and the million variations of it), skipping, jump rope, hop scotch, stuck-in-the-mud etc.

Play a kids Yoga Youtube video (you can join in too).

Ball games - there are so many and just keeping it simple will teach them skills for so many different sports. Play catch and make up silly names you have to call out before you throw the ball to that person. Set up a few obstacles they have to dribble the ball around. Experiment with different sizes of balls for throwing, catching and kicking.

Go for a walk! If at all possible, take it 'off-piste' - we all get so used to being on pavements and smooth surfaces but walking on uneven ground or letting them climb trees has been shown to improve brain function and memory.

There's loads of kids exercise classes streaming at the moment you could join in with. Of course we will all have heard about Joe Wicks for HIIT style classes, Oti Mabuse is doing dance classes and there's loads more out there.
Put on some music and have a mad half hour of dancing. I recommend trying this with some 90s rave music ;)

If possible, take your exercise outside!

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Read more in this blog series:
Homeschooling: Adjusting to Becoming a Home Educator and How to Keep it Simple
Top 10 Homeschooling Tips
Keeping Homeschooling Easy – How to teach Numeracy

Keeping Homeschooling Easy – How to teach Literacy