For all the P.E. teachers out there looking to spruce up their classes, we’ve got a list of the 7 best free physical education apps that you can start using today.
When I was in elementary school in the 90s, P.E. was one of my favorite classes. This was mainly because it was a free hour to run around and play.
I remember these hour sessions had some organized activities, but other days just seemed like chaos. In our current tech-forward world, there are so many apps and other helpful technology out there that can really enhance what we’re already doing.
If you’re a P.E. teacher who wants some new ideas, increased participation, and improved organization, consider incorporating one of these free physical education apps into your curriculum.
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7 best free physical education apps
1. Swork-It Kids
Swork-It Kids is the youth version of the popular Swork-It app originally designed for adults. The exercise routines in this app are aimed at students in elementary and middle school, but you can ultimately use it for all youth ages.
The app focuses on strength, agility, flexibility, and balance (I’m sure we all remember running through those different stations in our own P.E. classes).
Some of the favorites include the crab crawl, squats, jumping jacks, and agility courses.
Swork-It allows you to customize the workout length from 5-60 minutes, so it’s perfect for an entire class length or just a portion of it.
The app is available for both iOS and Android devices.
2. GoNoodle Kids
This app is quirky, engaging, and focused on getting kids to move. GoNoodle is an excellent option for P.E. teachers looking for more creative options that aren’t just focused on rote exercises.
The app provides educational videos that explore the following:
- Dance
- Sports
- Exercise
- Yoga
- Stretching
- Deep breathing
- Mindfulness
This app is mainly geared toward younger-aged kids (4-10). However, some middle schoolers may enjoy sports, yoga, and mindfulness videos.
GoNoodle posts new videos weekly, so you’ll never run out of content to share with students. They even boast that an average of 667 million “movement minutes” are used each month on the app.
If you’re looking to incorporate some different types of movements and activities into your P.E. classes, GoNoodle could be a great option.
The app is available for both iOS and Android devices.
3. 7-Minute Workout for Kids
Who doesn’t love a quick and efficient workout? The 7-Minute Workout app for kids does just that!
The app utilizes only bodyweight exercises (safer for young kids) and has engaging animations of kids demonstrating the workouts.
The program builds its workouts around three different features: endurance, strength, and flexibility.
These are all important aspects of healthy growth and development when choosing exercises appropriate for kids aged 5-11, which is the app’s primary audience.
As a P.E. teacher, having a shorter, seven-minute option is excellent if you’re looking to incorporate multiple types of physical activity during your class.
The 7-Minute Workout for Kids app is currently only available for iOS devices.
4. Skipping Skills
If there’s one thing I remember from my P.E. class, it’s the amount of time we spent jumping rope.
Whether doing double dutch with the large jump ropes or mastering the “double-under” with your own personal rope, elementary school P.E. was heavy on the jump rope culture.
And to be honest, jumping rope is an excellent form of cardiovascular exercise if used for endurance purposes. It also improves coordination and is used in many CrossFit programs.
When kids are just learning to jump rope, some are more gifted (e.g., coordinated) than others. The Skipping Skills app provides clear and easy video demonstrations of just the basics for new learners.
It also has options to progress in difficulty by learning more advanced jumping rope patterns and tricks.
It makes this skill fun to learn and keeps students engaged during P.E. I genuinely think it’s one of the best free physical education apps out there.
Skipping Skills is currently only available for iOS devices.
5. Interval Timer
Good ole’ interval workouts. I distinctly remember these days in my P.E. classes.
It usually involved multiple workout stations spread across the gym (calisthenics and circuit training). You’d complete them as fast as you could before getting to rest.
The sooner you get done, the more time you rest before sprinting to the next station.
Interval workouts are pretty effective and, when done well (especially for kids), can also be quite fun.
We love this particular interval timer app for its fun color-coding that easily distinguishes between the countdown, the actual work, and the rest.
If a phone or tablet is set up at one end of the gym, you can still easily see the screens from afar as they guide you through the intervals.
You can customize each session depending on how many seconds or minutes you want each phase to be.
It’s a simple app, but it does the work for you and keeps everyone on pace.
This particular app is available for Android devices only, but there are many free interval apps out there. This one is just one of our favorites.
6. Sweat Deck
Sweat Deck combines exercise with a game, which all know is the perfect combination for school-aged kids.
The app is essentially a virtual deck of cards where you can assign certain exercises or movements to each suit. For example, if you assign burpees to the suit of spades and a 10 of spades pops up, guess who’s doing ten burpees!
The combinations are endless, so your workout never is the same. It’s an excellent way to get conditioned and always keeps the body guessing.
You can choose to run through the entire deck (see if you can make it!) or designate a certain timeframe or several cards if getting through 52 different options is a bit tough.
Here are some key features of Sweat Deck:
- The built-in list of exercises to choose from
- Demonstration videos of all exercises
- Audio cues of each card, so you don’t have to be attached to looking at the screen
- Offers workout stats and sharing capabilities
- Allows for adding custom exercises to your deck
The app comes highly rated, and overall, it’s a great physical education app to be used within schools.
Sweat Deck is currently only available for iOS devices.
7. J & J Official 7-Minute Workout
The J&J app is backed by scientific research making it one of the best physical education apps.
This is another high-intensity type of workout app, and for a good reason! As we know, HIIT workouts are highly effective, but they take very little time (7 minutes, to be exact).
Each exercise is only 30 seconds long, requires no gym equipment, and provides a video demonstration if needed.
The app is highly customizable, where you can build a workout based on the amount of time you have for your P.E. class or based on the skill level of your students.
You can also choose the number of circuits and how long a rest period is. This is super helpful, especially if you have stations set up throughout the gym.
Students may need a little longer to transition between stations, but that’s no problem with the app. It’s a simple yet effective app that you should consider incorporating into any P.E. class!
Check it out today, as it’s available for iOS and Android devices.
Final thoughts
Being a great teacher, no matter the subject, should mean keeping your students engaged and fulfilled.
These apps provide great options for any physical education teacher trying to spruce up their class activities.
Whether you want to incorporate quick, 7-minute HIIT workouts, focus on perfecting jumping rope skills or introduce yoga to your students, there’s an app for that!
Which app on this list would you like to try with your kids?
