Today children are a little bit spoilt by advanced technologies. Many prefer computer games to real sport activities. But every adult, especially, P.E. teacher, should understand that the pastime with computer won’t make healthier a child. So nowadays we have to interest our children in Physical Education, otherwise they will be up to their ears in Half-Life, Counter Strike and Quake.

The best way to make P.E. lessons attractive for children is to entertain them with various sport games. There are many of them but a few have become international and people all over the world play them. Here is the list of the world’s eternal favorite physical education games.

Badminton is a kind of sport when people should throw a playing apparatus called shuttlecock to each other with the help of rackets. Badminton is played by two people, standing one in front of another, or by two teams. It is played on the ground divided into 2 parts by the net. The adversaries stay at the opposite sides of the ground. The aim of the game is to throw the shuttlecock over the net in order to your adversary doesn’t catch it.
Badminton is one of the most ancient kinds of sports. It is an analogue to the games which were played in ancient Egypt, India and medieval Japan. In the 19th century English officers who served in India were carried away by the antique Indian game called puna, which can be considered the prototype of modern badminton. The English took with them that game to the native land.
Badminton World Association was organized in 1934 году. The largest man competition called Thomas Cup began its existence in 1947. Women’s Uber Cup has taken place since 1955.

Water polo is a team sport with a ball, with the help of which each team try to score a goal to the adversary’s gates. The game takes place in the swimming pool. Every team consists of 7 people. There are 4 periods in the game. The duration of the period is 8 minutes. Each team can own the ball only for 30 seconds. The ball is usually yellow.  The other rules are similar to traditional football ones. Water polo requires perfect physical skills because the players often swim 4 kilometers during 4 periods. Water polo was invented in 19th century in Britain by William Wilson. The prototype of the game was rugby. Today it is played in many countries but mostly in Hungary and former Yugoslavia. The men water polo Championship is played since 1973, the women one does since 1986.

Everybody knows about hockey but a few have ever heard about hockey on the grass – a summer sport, one of the popular types of hockey. This kind of hockey is very popular in Britain and former British colonies – India, Pakistan and Australia. In the USA and Canada summer hockey is popular among girls at colleges and universities.

The most interesting and unique game is gorodki – a Russian game similar to skittles. The aim of the game is to knock out from the ground an appointed number of figures with the help of bats. The main task is to use as less as one can throws to knock out 15 figures. The size of the ground is 2 square meters; the length of the bat is 1 meter. The competition can be among 2 people, and 2 teams. The game should be played on the flat ground, for example on the asphalt, lawn or earth. That game was the favorite one of Peter the I. With the beginning of the 21st century the interest to the game is rising. Gorodki tournament matches takes place annually in Europe.

These games are the least children can do at the P.E lessons. There are many others such as football, baseball, handball, rugby, volleyball and so on. And what is your favorite physical education game? Teach your children its rules and have a lot of healthy fun!