P.E. Activities with Cones, Hoops, and Poly Spots

Every Physical Education teacher has equipment that they use on a daily basis. Whether they are teaching indoors, outdoors, or in an alternative space or location, these must-have pieces of equipment are always within reach. You know, those items you replenish every year because you use them ALL of the time? However, not every P.E. teacher’s list of essential equipment is going to look the same. Here our my most commonly used pieces of equipment (in no particular order) and 5 fun P.E. activities using them:

• Poly Spots
• Cones
• Hula Hoops

Maze – Cooperative Activity
My favorite poly spot activity is a cooperative activity called Maze. You will need 30 poly spots and several already made maze cards for each group. Divide your class into 6 groups with about 5 students in each.
How to Play:
The students set the 30 poly spots into a 6 x 5 grid. One student in each group holds the pre-made maze cards on one side of the poly spot grid and the other 4 students stand on the opposite side. One student at a time picks a poly spot that they think will get them through the maze. If correct, they can keep picking. If they are wrong, they go back to the end of the line and the next person goes. This keeps going until all the team members get out of the maze.

Musical Fitness

My second favorite activity that includes poly spots is Musical Fitness. All you need to play this activity is 30-40 poly spots and 30-40 fitness exercise cards. Place the exercise cards in a circle around the perimeter of the gym. Then place the ploy spots on top of the exercise cards.
How to Play:
On the signal, have the students jog around the poly spots until the music tops. Whatever poly spot they stopped by is the exercise they need to perform. After 30-60 seconds, play the music again and have the students jog or perform a different movement activity around the ploy spots. Continue for 5-10 minutes. This activity is great for an instant activity/warm-up/ASAP to start class.

Flip It Fitness

My favorite activity to play with my students involving cones is Flip It Fitness. Kevin Tiller created this idea and the overall objective of the game is modeled after the bottle flip craze. As your students enter the gym, have them pair up and go to a set of cones.
How to Play:
At the signal, each pair of students starts to flip their cones. The first one to flip their cone and land it wins. The student that wins does a victory push-up and the other person does jumping jacks until a new challenger arrives.  You can also do this activity in partner relay lines. In addition, you can write exercises on the cones themselves and have them perform the exercises when a cone flips and lands.

Target Holders

Another favorite use for cones is as target holders. Cones are great for all target games. You can use many skills including rolling, overhand throwing, and underhand throwing in order to get the students to hit the targets. You can also use a variety of equipment including throwing discs, foam dice, foam balls, etc.

Fitness Timer

My favorite hula-hoop activity is Hula Hoop Timer. Hand each student a hoop as they enter the gymnasium. You should have a series of exercises written on a whiteboard, a sheet of paper, or just have the students pick their own exercise.
How to Play:
At the signal, the students spin their hoop. While the hula hoops spins, the students perform the exercise until the hoop completely stops. You can also have them do this activity in pairs and you can specify what component of fitness they must perform. Look at a great video of this activity by Justin Cahill.
For additional P.E. activities featuring hoops and poly spots, check out these blogs:

• 5 Ways to Increase Activity in PE with Poly Spots [Video]
• Hula Hoop Activity Ideas for PE [Video]

* Disclaimer: The activities described above are common P.E. Activities and are not my own creations.