8 Awesome Movement Games for Kids

These are a fun and challenging series of exercises that functionally hit just about every part of the body. Youth athletes love the rough-and-tumble nature of Kings and Pawns. For athletes who aspire to play contact sports, this is a great game for getting used to the pushing-pulling and tackling nature of those sports. Contact sports involve players having to be comfortable in each other’s personal space. They have to be able to keep their balance and learn how to react to an opponent’s movements. Adding team tag to sessions with youth athletes is perfect as it removes the skill demands of sports and gets to the heart of learning to move properly.

• Two athletes race the boulder (stability ball) to the crash mat.
• You could also pick a movement leader to do the movement and everyone mimics the leader.
• The simple act of being outside in the fresh air and running around in nature is a necessary movement activity.
• Try these activities to give kids a break, build skills, or enjoy some bonding time.

In my facility, we practice a variety of fundamental movements like sprinting, jumping, catching, and throwing. These basic movements are foundational to many sports skills, so it’s important that young athletes have a decent understanding of how to do these movements. With young athletes, we don’t look for complete mastery here, but basic Movement games competency. We often introduce and practice these movements during the warm-up period/skill development period of our training session.

Balloon Ball

This simple activity pits your kiddo against mom or dad in a battle of physical strength. To play, create a circle using painter’s tape or something that will easily peel off your floors. Plant yourself firmly in the middle before motioning to your sidekick Matrix-style to try and wrestle you out of the circle. Set a timer for each round, or keep it going until you finally get pushed out.

Indoor Games Featuring Pretend Play

This activity promotes fantasy play and thinking skills, along with building gross motor skills. Here are some ideas for fun kids’ activities to try at home or at school. You don’t need any fancy equipment and you can improvise with many household or outdoor items.

I Am Walking

Finally, let’s not forget how engaging games are for young athletes. If they find an activity enjoyable, they are much more likely to put forth an honest effort and continue with that activity. These days, far too many young athletes are quitting sports because it’s not enjoyable for them. We need to find creative ways to get more kids to like movement. The more enjoyable they find an activity, they longer they stay.