Christmas is a hectic time in schools, but it is also a magical time.  Rehearsals, card making, lines being learnt for the Christmas performances…  There just aren’t enough hours in the school day!

That means PE lessons often suffer. But it really doesn’t need to! We’ve got a bunch of fun Christmas PE activities lined up for you!

Christmas Nativity Routines

If you covered dance or gymnastics this year, then why not use the nativity staging to recap on their routines and practice a staged performance?  Kids love Christmas songs, so you could incorporate a jolly song and have your students perform to music.  And if they are feeling really confident, let them perform their routines to another class. Or even tie it into the Christmas production! 

Christmas themed PE games

Take a look at our Calendar Resources for lots of one-off Christmas themed games. These can be incorporated into your school PE lessons, used during a brain break, or played during lunchtimes throughout December.  And, they can be progressed and adapted to suit any age and any ability.

Present hunt

Print and cut out several sheets of Christmas presents from our lesson plan here, and then scatter them around the playing area. Organize your students into 6 teams of elves. Give each team a color, and get them to stand behind the start line.

Blow the whistle, and one elf from each team must race to grab a present in the color of their team. The game continues until all presents have been collected.

Plus, you can make the game more challenging, by turning over the presents so that they’re faced down.

Santa’s escaped reindeer

You’ll need bibs and hoops for this one! Set up a large area to spread out in. Place four hoops on the outside of the area, each a different color. Explain to your students that Santa’s reindeer have escaped from their pens, and that he needs the elves to gather them up.

Select 4 students to be the elves. Each of the students will need a different color bib, each color matching one of the hoops. The rest of the class are the reindeer, and the four elves must catch them and put them back in their pens.

There are two winners in this game! The elf with the most reindeer, and the last reindeer to be caught.

Download the lesson plan here.

Classroom Christmas PE activities

Take a look at our Classroom PE activities to ensure some form of Phys Ed still takes place, if your school PE hall is out of use due to rehearsals, and the weather makes outdoor PE impossible.  Additionally, these resources vary from active play to theory PE games. 

For those without a full subscription, we have a range of free PE lesson plans available with our free membership.

We would love any feedback you have regarding any of our resources… And hear how you get on with fun Christmas PE activities!