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PE Programs for Your Frugal Family

© Teresa Higginbotham

The President's Physical Fitness Program! Do you remember climbing those dreaded ropes in school? I believe I made it all of two feet before falling onto the rubber mat in despair. Well now, your homeschooled kids can know the joys and frustrations of this physical challenge, but without thirty five other sweaty kids watching them. You can order their brochure by clicking here. I tried to download it several times but had troubles with it, so I had it sent to my home address.

Also there is a free downloadable Get Fit a Handbook for Youth Ages 6-17 to get your kids ready for the Presidential Challenge (How many pullups can Dubya do anyway?).

Down the same road there is the Presidential Sports award Family Program. According to their website: "To earn the Award: 1. Select your sport of fitness activity (or several). 2. Keep a record of your participation on the fitness log (if you need additional fitness logs, please make copies or attach separate sheets of paper). 3. When you have fulfilled the qualifying standards, send the completed and signed fitness log and $8 per award for US and APO/FPO delivery ($10 in Canada, $15 all other countries US currency only) to:
Presidential Sports Award/AAU
c/o Walt Disney World Resort
P. O. Box 10,000
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-1000
4. The fitness log(s) of all participants age 13 or younger must be signed and verified by an adult."
To read more about this go to
http://www.fitness.gov/sportsaward.html

If you would like to just have fun while staying physically fit try Fun Outdoor Games-Here is a listing of relay games, tag games, skill games, family games, etc. They also have a listing of "Homemade Supplies" which include recipes for playdough, etc. http://www.funattic.com/game_list.htm

Lesson Planz.com has several pe lesson plans in different grade levels. Some work well for homeschoolers and others start with phrases like..."Divide the class into two teams..."

Finally, my very favorite site for finding PE resources is a site called PE Central. They have warmup activities, some very creative games that can be adapted to homeschoolers, sports, dance and holiday activities. They even have ideas for setting up your own field day--(don't you think we need that day in the Spring to help the kids run off spring fever as much as the public schools?) If I was teaching PE to a large group somewhere I would be going to this site constantly.