Outdoor fitness lessons are always lots of fun. I usually start with warm-up stretches, maybe even a quick lap around the oval. I join in with my students as much as possible. I prefer to use minimal equipment for fitness except keeping it light and as fun as possible, with a little competitiveness in there.

Some outdoor games you may like to play with your class;

• Stuck In The Mud – choose one player to be in. All other players scatter around the marked area. The player who is in must run around and tag as many people as they can. When tipped, a player must freeze and stand with his/her arms and legs apart. The only way to be freed is for a non-tagged player to crawl through the tagged players’ legs. Players are safe while crawling under legs and cannot be tagged when in that position. No equipment needed.

• Catch and Carry – three hoops are spread apart in a straight line; the first students carry a bean bag forward and put it in the first hoops. They return to get the second bean bag and place it in the second hoop and so on until all of the bags have been placed in all of the hoops. Equipment needed – six hula hoops, six bean bags for two teams

• Around The World – students stand in a circle with one student in the middle. The student in the middle throws the ball to each student in the circle, working their way around the world or back to the beginning of the circle. Students take turns being in the middle of the circle. Equipment needed - two balls for two circles

• Rob The Nest – students are divided into four teams each standing behind a hula hoop in one of the four corners of the playing fields. On ‘go’ the first student in each line runs to the middle and grabs a bean bag, taking it back to their hoops, The next student in the line then has a turn and so on until all of the bean bags from the middle are gone. When all the bean bags are gone from the middle, the teacher yells ‘rob the nest’ and all of the students run around and grabs the bean bags from the other team’s hula hoops to put in their own. When the time is up (60 seconds) the team with the most bean bags safe wins. Equipment needed – four hula hoops and 12-16 bean bags

• Dodge Ball – students move around a designated area, one student or teacher throws a soft ball from the waist down. If a student is hit with the ball, they must move out of the area and help throw the ball at the remaining students. Equipment needed – cones and two soft balls

• Piggy In The Middle – in small groups, students stand two metres apart with one student in the middle. The students on each end throw the ball to each other, trying not to let the person in the middle catch it. Once the student in the middle catches the ball, they join the others and another student has a turn being in the middle. Equipment needed - six balls

• Hoppo Bumpo - students cross their arms and hop on one leg. The aim is to bump the other students so that they lose their balance. The last person standing wins. No equipment needed.

• Barrel Ball – the court is set up with two barrels at either end of the court and students are split into two teams. Children spread themselves out around the court and pass the ball to each other to get the ball close enough to shoot it in the barrel. Each time a team gets the ball in the barrel they get a point. Once a goal is scored, the ball starts from the middle of the court again. Rules are very similar to netball. Equipment - One ball and two barrels

• Doggy Bone - have the class line up in two lines and then take six steps apart and turn to face the other line before sitting down. Each line is numbered from one from opposite ends. The teacher calls a number and those two students rush into the middle to grab the bone and take it back to their spot. Tally the points of the the winner. Equipment needed - one magazine rolled with sticky tape.

• Cups and Saucers - Divide the class into two groups, named cups and saucers. Place enough cones in the centre so there is at least one for each child. Place half of them upside down, the other half the right way around. On ‘go’ the teams must attempt to turn over the cones e.g. the saucers turn the upside down ones the correct way, and the cups do the opposite. The team with all of their cones turned over first wins. Equipment needed - enough cones for each player.

What fitness games do you like to play with your class? We would love it if you joined the conversation and left a comment below.