PE and Distance Learning: How Does It Work?

April 26, 2024 byKristina Cappetta

5 min to read

Even though you may not have access to a gym while your student learns at home, incorporating plenty of indoor and outdoor PE activities at home into your student’s online learning schedule can be quick to set up and easy to do. Here are some suggestions for indoor and outdoor options to get your student up and moving!

Online Workouts & Apps

Online workouts and apps provide excellent PE at home activities to beat boredom and boost brainpower. Sites like Sworkit Kids offer a variety of kids' workouts for children of all ages. Workouts are customized to improve strength and flexibility. There are different ranges of intensity, making it perfect for beginners or those who are more advanced. The GoNoodle app is another option that provides short, interactive videos to keep your student moving at home.

Also, if your child takes karate, gymnastics, or other lessons, check with your student’s teacher to see if they offer online classes or can offer you recorded classes to do at home.

YouTube Yoga Classes

YouTube has plenty of yoga videos for kids of all ages. Cosmic Kids Yoga appeals to a younger crowd. If you want videos without a cartoon feel, that still include easy movements for elementary-age children, try Maa Yoga for Kids.

There are also online yoga classes for middle and high school students through Yoga Ed. These are geared for beginners so that your student can get comfortable with the poses and increase their flexibility.

Chair Aerobics

Make chair aerobics part of your student’s PE at home plan. They can practice bike pedaling, power holds, chair jacks, and healthy stretches from their chair. They can also use their chair to do dips, toe taps, and more. There are online videos that can demonstrate various chair aerobic workouts for both younger children and teens.

Dance

When you’re looking for PE activities at home, just turn on some music and let your student dance! Dancing has many health benefits that include improving cardiovascular endurance and building muscle strength. It helps to boost brain power as well because of the focus one must have for the changing movements and rhythms. Dancing also increases endorphins, resulting in a mood boost.

For even more PE activities at home for kids, visit Connections Academy.

Outdoor PE Activities at Home

Walking and Running

Walking and running are easy PE activities for children of all ages. Start the day by going for a walk or run around the neighborhood. If you live near a track or open space, let your student walk, or run there. They can even do a few laps around the house if Mother Nature isn’t cooperating.

Jump Rope

Jumping rope has many health benefits such as burning calories and improving coordination and balance. Incorporate this activity into your PE at home schedule by seeing how many jumps your student can do daily. Keep a chart so they can see if they can beat their previous number of jumps. You can also challenge them by putting numbers in a hat and having them draw one to see if they can complete the number of jumps they picked.

Backyard Volleyball

Backyard volleyball is another PE at home activity for students of all ages. If you have more than one student taking part in online learning, you can set up a volleyball game. No need for a net or traditional volleyball. Create a line with either chalk or string and use an inflatable ball. Students can volley the ball back and forth across the line. They can score points up to whatever number you choose.

Build an Obstacle Course

You can make an obstacle course with any items you find at home. While it’s best to do this activity outdoors, you could always improvise and do it inside on a rainy day.

Here are some ideas:

Use pillowcases for a sack race to hop to the finish line.
Lay hula hoops on the ground and have your student jump from hoop to hoop.
Add jumping jacks or sprints to the course.
Set up a balancing station to improve coordination skills.

Keep track of your student’s time to finish and see if they can beat it next time. If you have more than one student, compare times and determine a winner. This can give students motivation to always improve.

Play Hopscotch

Hopscotch is a timeless activity that makes for a fun PE at home activity. Play it with one or more students. It’s also easy to set up:

Use chalk to draw numbered squares from 1-10 on your driveway or sidewalk in a board pattern.
Your student tosses a stone to the first square, and then hops on one foot to each empty square.
When they reach the last square, they turn around and go back, leaning over to pick up the marker, skipping the square with their marker.
For the next turn, your student tosses their stone into the second square, and hops through the course the same way.

Once you have your hopscotch game drawn, you can keep using it until it rains!

Whether it is indoor activities, outdoor activities, or a combination of both, you can make PE at home an integral part of your student’s online learning experience. This will help to keep them focused, in-shape, and motivated to learn.