ITunes

Are you looking for something for that physical education (PE) teacher in your life? Or are you a PE teacher looking for new ideas of gear to add to your equipment room? Here are the top 5 new toys I love, and I’m sure your #PEGeek (or class!) will too!

1. Garden Heroes Beanbags.

I first got to hear about Gopher through first hand experiences with the amazing things they are doing in giving at educator professional learning. At the last two conferences I have had the pleasure of presenting at, Gopher have provided me with all the equipment I needed to conduct the workshop, then donated it all to local schools. During one of these workshops I used the Garden Heroes Beanbag set for a game of Beanbag bocce, and while they didn’t “roll” as well as typical bocce balls, they adorableness translated into a very fun modified game. The beanbags can also be used to integrate connections from the healthy living strands into PE, or just be a cute way to engage your class in fun. Available online from Gopher here.

2. Yoga Alphabet Cards.

I love these cards, yes maybe I’m biased because they were my idea and I wrote them, but I love how they connect literacy in PE, How they connect the physical practice of yoga, with fundamental movement skills, and fun, and I love that they are bringing the mindfulness of yoga into the classroom. Perfect for daily physical activity, physical education, and literacy instruction, you’ll be engaging children’s bodies and minds as you help them develop health-related components of fitness. Available online from Ophea here.

3. Fingers Light.

The ladies from DancePl3y originally shared these sweet little lights with me and as a lover of dance and movement I knew that I needed them. They can turn that dance lesson from a fun time to a wild time! After teaching a dance, whether it’s novelty or creative, have students then perform the sequence with the gym lights low and finger lights on. See a dance in action here. You can buy them online from Amazon here, or in a 5 pack you can pick them up from your local Dollerama.

4. ITunes Gift Card.

This is a very practice gift idea. Whether buying music for their movement lesson, or the hottest app for their tablet, an ITunes gift card has so many useful applications in PE program. Many deals exist for purchasing cards, and even places like the Real Canadian Super Store are offering, buy a $15 gift card for $10. So search around and find a deal!

5. Super Sport Disc Packs (aka Hand Trampolines).

I first watched a class engaging with hand trampolines during a classroom visit of the PE Teacher extraordinaire Andrea Haefele. We were there watches how she integrates technology in the gym – Youtube video here – and these were part of her lesson. They make the list because they are a great way to modify your PE program when focusing on the strategies of Net/Wall games. Rather than worrying on badminton sending/receiving skills using fun equipment allows students to just focus on the strategies, and Andrea does this like the HPE rock star teacher she is. I purchased my set from my local Scholars Choice, but they can also be purchased online from Gopher here.