Rainy Day PE: As a primary school teacher, you may be no stranger to wet weather causing havoc during the school day! Wet play at break and lunchtime often means children cannot go outside, leading to disruption in the classroom.
Rainy days also often affect your lessons, especially when it comes to outdoor activities like PE. However, with some creativity and flexibility, you can still give the children high-quality PE, even with limited space. Here are some ideas to help you navigate rainy-day PE sessions:
Plan Ahead for Rainy Day PE Lessons
It's always wise to have a solid plan for indoor PE sessions when the weather takes a turn. Start by gathering a variety of soft, versatile equipment like foam balls or bean bags, which are safe for indoor spaces. A multi-skills teaching bag can also be a great resource, offering a range of tools to keep pupils engaged and ready to go as and when needed.
Consider preparing a set of adaptable games that are easy to set up in a gym or hall, such as bench ball or dodgeball. These types of games work well in smaller spaces and help children develop valuable skills like teamwork, strategy, and coordination, which can transfer to other sports and activities.
Having these activities ready to go will reduce the stress of last-minute planning and ensure your PE lessons remain productive and enjoyable, no matter the weather.
Utilise Indoor Spaces
Finding a suitable indoor space for rainy day PE lessons can be challenging, as the availability and size of indoor spaces vary from one school to another. Every school needs to come up with its own solutions to this problem. Indoor spaces that can be used for PE include school halls and classrooms. Regardless of the available space, making the most of it is crucial.
In larger areas like school halls, adapting the activity, e.g. basketball, to work indoors, you can use the STEP principle, i.e. change the Equipment; instead of shooting into a basketball hoop, can you score by hitting a target in the ground? Or change the Task; instead of being able to dribble the entire length of the court, restrict dribbling to half a court before having to pass the ball. Check out our Benchball rules with adaptations and variation ideas for your wet PE lesson.
In contrast, smaller areas like classrooms provide an opportunity to focus on fundamental skills like jumping, balancing, and throwing. These skills form the building blocks of physical literacy and can be practised indoors with simple, equipment-free activities. A great activity to try in a small space is fitness, utilising body weight activities such as air squats or jumping jacks, with fun competition built in.
Foster Creativity and Imagination
Wet weather lessons provide an excellent opportunity for children to express their creativity through imaginative play. You can set up activity stations with various tasks to complete or give groups of children different equipment and ask them to create their own game or challenge. These activities can be tailored to suit the available space and help promote critical thinking and problem-solving skills in the class while also developing fine and gross motor skills.
OAA (Outdoor and Adventurous Activities) is an activity that can work well in a classroom setting. Why not check out our free Year 6 OAA lesson and see if you could adapt it to work in your classroom?
Conclusion
Rainy days can create challenges, but they also offer opportunities for creativity, innovation, and fun. To make a wet-weather lesson work, it's essential to be prepared to adapt and modify your lesson plans based on the space, resources, and abilities of your children. Check our blog on STEP which helps you to adapt your lessons and activities.
By embracing indoor PE activities and thinking outside the box, you can ensure that children remain active, engaged, and energised regardless of the weather outside. Therefore, don't let a little rain dampen your spirits—get ready to make a splash with rainy-day PE!
✨ Don’t miss out! Start your FREE trial today and bring The PE Hub to your school for two weeks. Explore engaging resources and easy-to-use lessons and see the impact firsthand. Sign up now!