40+ dynamic sports games for middle schoolers

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When middle school students take physical education classes, they are ready to release some stress or burn off excess energy. While some PE classes are dedicated to skill development and assessment (see you on the Monday mile), others provide opportunities to use these skills to enjoy physical fitness through collaborative games.

Celebrate no more sitting at a desk with a range of sports games for middle schoolers that are suitable for everything from sunny days outside to rainy days in the gym. Whether you have a locker full of balls and cones or you need some resources for some equipment-free activities, these middle school sports games and resources are sure to keep everyone looking forward to sports all day long—especially you!

Middle school student sports and ball games

After graduating from elementary school physical games, middle school students need activities that involve enough creativity, physical strength, and teamwork to keep them engaged. Use a bouncy ball, soccer ball, volleyball, or any other ball with these fitness activities for middle schoolers in or out of the gym.

• Concentrated ball: Using a classic focus game, students call out an item in a category (such as a fruit or animal) and then flick the ball to someone in the circle. If you can’t come up with an answer that no one has said before, you’re out!
• Clap to capture: The student throws the ball to a partner, who must applaud before catching the ball. (If they play football with each other, clap instead of jumping).
• Crab Football: Middle school students can crab walk and play football. Combine these skills for a scrambling soccer game where they can only walk and kick the ball in a crab walk!
• Capture tag: Think “freeze tags” with an appealing twist. Students “freeze” when they are tagged and “thaw” when someone throws a ball at them.
• Basketball shot put: How far can students throw a basketball? Have them use the shot put technique on a basketball and see who can throw the farther distance.
• Human bowling ball: Arrange middle school students like pins and have students throw balls at them like bowling balls. Whoever you hit will drop a pin!
• Release prisoners: The students in the inner circle are prisoners, guarded by dragons in the middle circle. In the outer circle are soldiers who throw balls to prisoners. Catch the ball to free the prisoner, but be careful – those dragons can catch it, too!
• Quadrant Volleyball: Make it a four-team volleyball game, using chalk lines or cones instead of the net. Then have each team pass the ball to the other team for an unpredictable volleyball game!

Junior High Regular Day and Sub-Day Sports Competitions

No matter the situation, need some solid games to add to your lesson plans? Whether you’re subbing in gym class or teaching in inclement weather, you can use the no-prep game any day on your schedule.

Unprepared to participate in the primary and junior high school sports sub-plan
By Mountain Mover PE
Grade: Pre-kindergarten to 12th grade

A series of middle school physical education games that can be scaled up or down to meet students’ grade-level skills in spatial awareness, physical activity, and fair play. Each lesson is accompanied by an activity description and learning outcomes to help you measure success and student skill development.

Engaging middle school running game

Middle schoolers may complain about running in sports, but the benefits of cardiovascular activity are so important that they need to do it anyway. Using sports games for middle school students to use running as a competitive tool makes the journey more interesting for those who would rather not run.

• Spot tag: When “It” students tag their peers, they gather together to find others in the class. It’s all fun until only one person is left unmarked!
• change: All you need is a square court and some strategic thinking to play this corner switching game in which students try to swap positions without the student in the middle being able to run to take their spot.
• Music sprint: When the music starts, students run – and when the music stops, they run too! See who can reach the finish line first.
• Skip a match: Sometimes, jumping rope can make running more fun. Have students compete by jumping rope instead of running, or try galloping, crab walking, etc.
• Sharks and fish: One student is a shark and the other students are minnows. Minnows run past sharks, and the sharks tag everyone they can find, turning them into fellow sharks. Then the little fish ran away again!
• Land or body of water: Designate one part of the field or stadium as “land” and another part as “water.” Place students in the middle and shout “Land!” or “Water!” and they run as fast as they can to get there.
• Band-Aid label: When a student is tagged, they place one hand where the tagger is touching. They run with one hand on that spot and then the other hand on the second spot they were marked on. When they are tagged for the third time, they are out (or “it”).
• Fill bucket relay: Using bean bags, pellets, or anything else that can fill the buckets, students can do relay races to transfer items from one bucket to another, one item at a time.

Find activities that get their heart racing

Physical education classes focused on cardiovascular health could change the lives of middle school students. Using these exercise games ensures middle school students get the most from their lessons (and have fun too!).

101 fun sports games for elementary and middle school students
Via PE power pack
Grade: K-8

With so many obstacle courses, soccer games, throwing competitions, ice-breaking sports games, and more, you’ve already got half your sports year planned! Help middle school students practice new skills, work as a team, and enjoy the most energetic part of the day with 101 sports games.

Cool game of cones and hula hoops

Whether you inherited a class set of hula hoops and cones or just received an order from the main office, it’s great to have games that use these middle school PE staples! Bring out these easy-to-stack supplies (plus a pool noodle or two) to play sports games for middle schoolers.

• Hula Hoop Tic Tac Toe Game: Use chalk or tape to create a tic-tac-toe shape on the ground. Students throw hula hoops at each location to get three in a row first.
• Stealing bacon: Two rows of numbered students listen to their individual numbers. When you call out a name, the designated student will run to the center and grab the “bacon” (hula hoop or cone) before the students in the other row!
• Hula Hoop Horseshoes: Set up cones and place students and hula hoops far away. Set a timer and see how many circles they can throw around the cone (knocking over the cone doesn’t count).
• hula label: In a game of tag, students can “unfreeze” their peers by grabbing a hula hoop and asking them to step over it. The limited hoops make this game especially competitive!
• Pool Noodle Archery: Who needs a bow and arrow? Use pool noodles as arrows for students to throw across the target (another student holds a hula hoop). The student with the most bullseye wins.
• Tunnel Escape: Creating a moving obstacle course, teams send runners through a tunnel of hula hoops held by their peers. They can crawl, jump or climb through circles to reach the finish line.
• Flip the cone: Have students use their bottle flipping skills in the game, encouraging them to flip the cone into a standing position. Set a timer and see who wins!
• Blind Man’s Maze: Build a cone-shaped maze and have the team verbally guide blindfolded students through it. (If your site has many gopher holes or obstacles, consider having a companion hold their shoulders to guide them.)

Build camaraderie through cooperative sports games

Sports are sports, and sports are teamwork. Have students work together through a series of collaborative games that encourage teamwork and healthy competition.

Physical Education and Classroom Cooperative Games
By: Health Education Today – Health and Physical Education Resources
Grade: Grade 5-12

Can sports be a collaborative experience, even if there is competition? Through a series of team-building activities, communication games and fun physical games, students are helped to understand each other while developing physical skills so that middle school students can learn to cooperate.

Participate in Equipment-Free Middle School Sports Games

Take a break from dodgeball and hula hoop competitions and play some games that don’t require any equipment. With bodyweight exercises and yoga competitions, your students might not even miss throwing dodgeballs at each other!

• Fitness Bingo: Have students fill out a bingo card with exercises they learned in class (sit-ups, push-ups, stretches, etc.). When you call them out, they will mark the exercises after completing the required number of exercises.
• Balanced bird: Place students on a rope or balance beam and have them try to stay on the beam as the balancing positions become more and more tricky (putting hands on head, lifting one foot, performing squats, etc.).
• Stay up late: Divide students into groups and stand in a circle. They all had to decide on a way to stay in a chosen position longer than other circles, such as a figure four or leaning back while holding hands.
• Target jump: With the target placed in the middle of the circle, students practice long jump to see who can get closer. (Have everyone take it one at a time to prevent crashes!)
• Yoga corner: Name each corner of the floor a yoga pose and have students run to them when you call them out. Once they get there, they stand their ground until you call the next one.
• Hold it: Who can hold a yoga pose the longest? Have teams send out volunteers to try and hold on to your designated position before their competitors fall.
• Somersault relay: This activity is perfect for a gymnastics unit and encourages students to practice somersaults and race strategies to beat other teams in relay races.
• Plank frog jump: Divide the class into groups and have each group line up in a row. They then move into plank position, except for the last person, who “jumps over” their team members to form the plank at the end of the line. The next person breaks the board and does the same thing until everyone has had a turn. The fastest team wins!

Feel the burn with this fitness game for middle school

Strong students have a strong will and a strong body! Have students practice bodyweight fitness techniques with resources that encourage equipment-free physical activity in physical education class.

PE Fitness Games Bundle | 4 Activities | Distance Learning | Virtual PE
Gore-PE Coach
Grade: Pre-kindergarten to 12th grade

These fitness games allow students to practice important physical skills in creative ways. Through games that test the mind and body, they master lunges, jump squats, crab walks, mountain climbers, burpees and more!

21 Equipment-Free Sports Games for Elementary, Middle and High School
Unique ideological education
Grade: 1-10

Need some simple everyday sports games? These no-prep, no-equipment games include fun options such as octopus tag, sit-stand and plank challenges for students to practice individual skills and national sporting standards.

Classic Middle School Sports Games

In between your skills days and creative activities, remember to include the classics! These traditional sports games for middle schoolers are favorites for generations of students who love running, playing sports, and playing outside with friends.

• capture the flag
• Freeze tags
• Horse (Basketball)
• relay race
• three legged race
• jumping frog
• kick a ball
• dodgeball

Let middle school students know about sports foundation

Whether you teach basketball, soccer, lacrosse, or another classic sport, you need to meet the needs of all your students. Meet them with a Sports Fundamentals course that teaches beginners the fundamentals and helps experts hone their skills.

Physical Education Hockey Unit and Lesson Plans | Grades 6 – 12
Professor Park
Grade: 7-10

Nine lesson plans and more than 50 learning activities help middle school students learn the basics of floor hockey. This resource includes modified games, relays, and drills to keep students active and interested, making this floor hockey unit a quick favorite with students and teachers alike!

TPT makes healthy lifestyle fun and suitable

When students are having fun, they don’t notice they are learning! Use additional middle school PE resources to prepare for rainy weather, cloudy days, or those PE periods when tag seems to be the best option for everyone. For more advanced physical education learners, try high school physical education games to keep students on their toes (and in some cases, literally!).