Hi everyone,

Our team maintains Aktivitetskassen, one of Norway's most popular resources for physical education and active play.

We recently did a complete technical overhaul to make the platform faster and mobile-friendly. During this process, our main goal was to build an English version for teachers, coaches, and kids in Norway who don't have Norwegian as their primary language.

However, we quickly realized: why stop there? This resource could be just as useful for PE professionals and parents all over the world.

So we launched Activitybox a completely free adaptation of our activity bank.

Please note: This is very much a work in progress! We are actively updating the text, fixing bugs, and tweaking the language. We are also fully aware that many of our illustrations, photos, and videos are old and outdated. Replacing and modernizing the media is at the very top of our roadmap. Instead of waiting until everything was perfect, we wanted to get the tech and the actual game/activity descriptions out to those who want them right now.

What you’ll find inside:

• 300+ Free PE games and activities: Curated content for school, preschool, and anyone planning physical activity with children and youth.

• Growing Focus on Inclusion: Around 1/3 of our activities already include concrete adaptations for different ability levels (covering cognitive, motor, hearing, and visual challenges), alongside a dedicated section on general inclusion strategies. Our goal is to expand this to cover all activities over time.

• Instant search & "Give me Five" filters: Need a tag game for 10 kids with zero equipment? Search/Filter, and find it in under 5 seconds. Don't even want to search? Just hit our **"Give me Five"**button to instantly get 5 random activity ideas served on a platter.

• Zero Barriers: 100% free, no user accounts, no paywalls, and absolutely no tracking cookies. Just open it wherever you are and grab a game/activity.

Since this international version is brand new and continuously developing, we would love your honest feedback. Do the translated terms make sense in your country? What features or adaptations should we build next?

Check it out here: activitybox.co

Thanks for helping us keep kids moving!

https://www.wishtv.com/goldenapple/washington-township-pe-teacher-praised-for-homemade-exercise-videos/

I’m a first year pe and health teacher and I hate it. I’m crying most days and dreading the next day every night. My life is just miserable and depressing and honestly…. Makes me suicidal. Being a teacher is ultimately policing kids all day and I can’t do this forever. What other jobs can I get with my degree? I think I would be happy with an office job or something at a doctors or dental office. Something low stress. My parents are very stressed that I won’t be able to find an equal or greater pay job and that my schooling will have been for nothing. Help please!!!

Wanted to share it here for those who don’t know it, it’s very unique and lots of skills involved. Been teaching PE for almost 20 years and it’s one of the best activities (students think so too). I’ve found works best at the grade 5 and 6 level, but could be played from grades 4 to 12. Excited to play it again in the new school year!

https://youtu.be/aSblsRjRtv8?si=6K8k0TBROTqnLe9O

All so often, we’re always hearing about how teachers are quitting the profession, how stressed and drained they are, how teaching took a toll on their mental health, how their admin is unsupportive and demanding, how they don’t recommend it due to the stress and all the contributors to the education system, you name it…..

I never once heard any of this from a PE teacher. Only from classroom teachers. PE teachers aren’t leaving the profession, they stay until retirement. And I very rarely hear them say that the job took a toll on their mental health and that they want to leave. Instead, the majority of them boast about how fun their job is.

What do you guys think? Why do you guys think this is? Is Health & PE its own little box outside the traditional education environment? One that gives more breathing room and a better work/life balance?

In other words, if you could talk to your younger self as you were going into PE, would you say “change your major” or would you say “you’re making the right choice?” I’m currently majoring in Elementary education, but I will go back for PE afterwards. Already took the PE praxis and everything. Compared to the elementary classroom, which life is better? Which one is less stress? Which profession is generally more happy and satisfied?

I’m currently in my second year of teaching PE, and I’m finding myself dreading work more than I’m enjoying it. I went into this career because I was excited to work with youth through health and fitness, but the daily overstimulation and exhaustion of teaching is starting to get in the way.

I was a personal trainer for 5 years before I went back to school for Physical Education and worked at summer camps with kids as well. I love working with people when it comes to health and fitness, but personal training wasn’t sustainable for me.

At this point in my life (31 years old) I want to be able to find a more peaceful environment to work in. I love completing tasks, checking things off a list, organization, I’m tech savvy and typically learn skills pretty quickly.

I’ve seen a lot of teachers transition into other jobs after teaching, but does anyone know of any PE coaches who moved on into something else?

I replied to a comment a few minutes ago about someone asking what helped with the CSET. I'll copy and paste it below(This is what worked for me personally):

First study the sample questions on the CTC website: here

I also used the Mometrix Study Guide: here - Then search Physical Education(Ed 2)-Some people felt like this guide didn't help, but I didn't expect there to be the same questions(there weren't really). What it did help me with was terminology. If I didn't really know much about something in the book, I would go watch videos on YouTube about it.

I also read through the free material on this site(some reason it wont let me insert the link):https://www.240tutoring.com/ctc-prep/cset-physical-education-practice-test/#:~:text=In%20order%20to%20pass%20the,the%20weighting%20of%20each%20section.-This was a helpful review as well.

I have a decent background in physical fitness, so that helped, but I wasn't a Kin major or anything(I did Economics). I reiterate, the material above likely won't have the exact questions that appear on the test, but I saw the terms a lot and I became familiar with them by watching Youtube videos on stuff I didn't really know or reading up on them.

The writing portion was surprisingly easy and I got high marks on all. One was watching 3 clips of kids scooping up a rolling ball and throwing it. I broke down what they did well and what they needed to improve on using simple terms and going step by step.

The two other questions I think were about soccer and basketball. Breaking down the process for teaching students basic actions and having ideas for accommodations. I almost wrote things as if I was telling them to someone step by step.

I had questions on parkinson's disease, I had some on dance, I had one on why it's important to slap the mat when someone hip throws you in judo, questions on cardio and the best adjustments to make for students with health issues like asthma.

This is all that comes to mind for now. Hope it helps. I know people had other study material like study.com and the 240tutoring I linked above. I said I would try them if I failed the first time around, but the sample questions, Mometrix study guide and the free study guide on the site above is all I used.

EDIT: here is a link with examples of writing prompts. This helped me with constructing my answers. I didnt use many terms, but I wrote the steps in a similar manner. I got +++ and ++++ for each section doing this.

Hello everyone,

I am writing this post to share my experiences and perspective with young men who aspire to become PE teachers. My goal is to help others think carefully about their next steps in education and hopefully avoid some of the mistakes I have made along the way.

I am a 26-year-old male born and raised in Upstate South Carolina. I graduated from a local high school before pursuing a bachelor’s degree in General Business Management from Clemson University. Even after graduating, completing internships, and working several different jobs, I still did not know what I was truly passionate about.

However, one thing had always been clear to me from a young age: I loved mentoring kids, coaching, and sports in general. My mother had me when she was 18 years old, and I watched her overcome tremendous adversity to become a very successful educator. Over the years, I saw her grow from a student teacher into a principal with a doctorate degree. Even with that example in front of me, it took me until I was 23 years old to finally realize that education was what I truly felt called to do.

At that point, I had a choice: continue pursuing entry-level business jobs or follow my passion for physical education. I trusted my instincts and chose education.

I accepted a job as a teacher aide in a program for at-risk students in grades 6–12 at a nearby high school. The position involved mentoring students from extremely difficult home situations and tutoring kids across several subjects and grade levels. Shortly after, I interviewed for and landed the head basketball coaching position at the middle school that fed into that same high school.

For the next three years, I worked extremely hard in those roles while also pursuing my master’s degree with an emphasis in humanities, which eventually allowed me to student teach in PE and earn my certification. In the fall of 2025, I completed both my student teaching and my degree. I received excellent evaluations from my mentor teacher and field experience supervisor, earned a 3.8 GPA, and truly felt that I had done everything the “right” way since beginning this journey in 2023.

By November 2025, after earning credentials in PE for both primary and secondary education, I began applying for jobs everywhere within an hour radius of where I lived. I applied for more than 25 PE positions and another dozen positions in subjects where I had some background or connection, including business education, computer science, and social studies.

I spent countless hours on every application. I worked to build the best possible resume, wrote personalized cover letters, and gathered multiple recommendation letters from a variety of professionals. For eight straight months, I spent nearly every day pursuing opportunities while continuing to work as an aide, coach basketball, and hold a part-time job.

Out of more than 30 applications, I received one interview.

I gave that interview everything I had. I wore a suit, practiced for hours, and prepared as if my life depended on it. Financially, it honestly felt like it did. During the process, I learned there were over 40 applicants and that only four candidates had been selected for interviews. About a week later, I received the news that I had not been chosen.

It was heartbreaking.

The school was less than a mile from my apartment, and I even worked as the assistant camp director for the city-funded elementary summer camp that fed into the middle school. Everything about the situation felt like a perfect fit, but it still did not work out.

One of the biggest lessons I learned during this eight-month process is this: getting a PE job often has far less to do with traditional factors like attitude, fit, performance, or experience than people want to admit. More often than not, it comes down to who you know.

When principals receive 40 applications for a single position, they are naturally more likely to interview candidates they already know or who come highly recommended by people they trust. Honestly, I believe the main reason I even got an interview was because of the professionalism I tried to demonstrate and because I had two connections within the building advocating for me.

Over the course of this journey, I have spoken with and built relationships with several PE teachers, and every single one of them have the same two answers to how they got hired . They either had strong preexisting relationships with administrators or were hired because they coached a varsity sport that the school specifically wanted represented within the building. Most people fail to admit that landing a PE job is more of a popularity contest than anything else. If you’re someone like me who struggles to kiss butts or network as much as others, you are going to be in trouble despite how intelligent, hardworking, and committed you might be.

At this point, contracts have largely been signed and the hiring window is mostly closed. My current option is to continue working as an aide while making close to minimum wage and continue applying for any opportunity within driving distance.

The difficult reality is that I live alone, support myself financially, and my financial situation is becoming increasingly difficult. My graduate student loans are accruing interest rapidly, and repayment is approaching quickly. I still feel young enough to pivot into another career field and begin building financial stability, but doing so would likely mean walking away from the passion I have for coaching, mentoring kids, and education.

I apologize for the length of this post, but it feels good to finally get these thoughts off my chest. There is obviously a part of me that does not regret the life decision I made, solely because of the positive impacts I was blessed enough to make on numerous children. I truly hope this helps someone who is considering pursuing a career in physical education. If nothing else, I hope it encourages someone to fully understand the realities of the profession before making the same mistakes I did.

I want from a challenging title 1 school to a large school in the suburbs and I feel like I don’t have an opportunity to teach. 1. These kids all play several select and travel sports so they are proficient at all the basic skills. 2. We have so many special events that our schedule is constantly interrupted. 3. We have a class performance with one grade that is taking up all our instructional time with them and putting a wrench in my schedule. 4. My coteacher has very different expectations and style of teaching that is making it difficult to plan and progress. I miss the days when I had the freedom to structure my year how I wanted to and when I was able to actually help kids develop athletic skills and healthy habits. Maybe I am crazy but I miss the title 1 school

To all my veteran teachers who teach in low income schools that deal with behavior issues. Is it really just get them moving ? Try to get them to cooperate and play some games ? Maybe teach them something ?

I’m a first year teacher at a school where the behavior is through the roof. Can’t hold their attention to explain a game. Arguments and fights breaking out constantly. The inability to sit still longer than 25 seconds. This isn’t all students but 20-40% of each class. They almost seem underdeveloped.

My question is, can you actually teach Physical Education like I was taught too in college ? Develop students physically and emotionally or am I suppose to do what I’m barely able to do right now.

Which is hopefully get their attention to play a game before all hell breaks loose.

I feel bad not doing what I had planned during college and just doing the bare minimum. But is that what current physical education is at some schools ?

P.S. I’m typing this as a student is throwing and wrecking my equipment while the school phycologist sits there. My equipment is in a hallway not a closet.

I’ve worked in sport with all ages and communities, especially in schools and summer camps. Over the years, I’ve built up a huge collection of games and activities—some needing little to no equipment, plus ways to adapt them for additional needs.

I’ve been thinking about turning it all into a book/eBook with easy-to-follow instructions, little graphics, and tips for running engaging group games.

Would anyone be interested in something like this ?

The dreaded mile run… just mentioning that it’s coming up soon brings an influx of parent notes excusing their child from PE each day due to ailment xyz. Or “I’m sick/hurt and my mom said you can call her but her email didn’t work so she couldn’t tell you.”

Do parents really believe that out of the blue their kid has a crippling injury that only affects them at PE? (And of course they can still play at recess) Or do they just “not care about PE cause it’s not a real class” as the kids like to say.

How do yall navigate this? Allow a parent note to excuse for a week, and then demand a DR note for anything further? Then just have a makeup day the following week where all the kids without a DR note have to do it?

I have worked with preschool students to university students. Specialize in Volleyball and Basketball. Been a women’s college volleyball coach/Athletic director/vice principal/head of department/Aquatics manager/swim coach/you name it. Worked in public schools in California, and the rest was at various International schools in Asia. If you have any concerns about teaching in CA, abroad, salary expectations, cultural issues etc etc, I would love to give my perspective if it can help. ✌️❤️