The Gym, for teachers

Free, no account, no adverts, nothing about a child sent anywhere. Everything here works with a whole class, most of it needs no equipment, and all of it is drawn so you can put it on a board.

Two rules that make these work

Everybody moves at once. A relay where twenty-eight children queue so four can run gives most of the class about ninety seconds of activity in a half-hour lesson. Every workout and game here is written so the whole room is moving in its own space.

Nobody is eliminated. Knockout games sit down the children who most need the movement, in front of everyone, first. In these games a team can race a clock or a task, but a child is never ranked against another child — and our own tests refuse the wording that would do it.

For a hall full of children

Everybody MovesA whole class, one hall, five rounds, nobody standing in a line waiting.12 min · ages 6 to 9 · 6–40 children · a room CornersA different way of travelling at each corner of the hall. Five times round.12 min · ages 6 to 9 · 6–40 children · a hallway The Whole HallFive rounds, everybody moving at once, nobody standing in a line.15 min · ages 9 to 12 · 6–40 children · a hallway

Group games

11 that work with three children or thirty. Each page has three ways to change it when it gets easy.

Game	Children	Minutes	You need	Ages
Freeze Dance	2–40	6	nothing	4 to 11
Animal Tag	3–30	7	nothing	4 to 11
Jump the River	2–30	7	chalk	5 to 12
Simon Says Moves	2–40	6	nothing	4 to 12
Traffic Lights	3–40	7	nothing	4 to 11
Hold It Till It Comes Back	3–12	6	a soft ball	7 to 14
Roll an Animal	2–30	6	nothing	4 to 11
Everybody's It	4–30	6	nothing	6 to 12
The Relay With No Queue	6–40	8	a shoe	6 to 14
Captain's Coming	3–40	7	nothing	5 to 12
Pass the Pose	3–30	5	nothing	5 to 14

Four minutes between lessons

Short, quiet, and done beside a desk. 12 workouts are eight minutes or less with nothing that jumps, stamps or drops, and 11 of the games need no equipment at all.

Animal Parade7 min · ages 4 to 6 · 🤫 quiet Red Light, Green Light Squats8 min · ages 4 to 6 · 🤫 quiet Teddy Bear Carry7 min · ages 5 to 6 · 🤫 quiet Three Minute Shake-Out7 min · ages 6 to 9 · 🤫 quiet Carpet Three8 min · ages 6 to 9 · 🤫 quiet Twenty On, Ten Off8 min · ages 9 to 12 · 🤫 quiet

What the guidelines ask for

SHAPE America recommends 150 minutes a week of instructional physical education for elementary children and 225 minutes for middle and high school, plus 20 minutes of daily recess — and is explicit that recess is not PE and must not be used to meet a PE requirement.

Actual provision is some way off. One study of US elementary schools found PE offered about twice a week, averaging 78 minutes. Recess did better, at about 137 minutes a week with most schools offering it daily. The 2024 US Report Card on Physical Activity put 20–28% of 6-to-17-year-olds at the 60-minutes-a-day mark and gave the country a D−.

None of which is a stick to beat anyone with — it is the reason a four-minute movement break between lessons is worth more than it looks.

Things worth knowing before you run it

Mark out an arm's length per child before you start, and keep anything that jumps away from the walls.
Every workout page carries the same five stop signals, and they are worth reading to a class once.
There is no barbell, dumbbell or bench anywhere in the Gym, and no equipment a school would need to buy.
Every move has an easier and a harder version on its own page, and a no-jump swap, so one activity fits a mixed class.
Nothing here mentions weight, shape, size or calories. The words are refused in the code, not just avoided.

PE games Brain breaks Print a class plan For grown-ups Peabody for educators