Speed and Agility Activities for PE: 16 Fun Stations to Get Students Moving
Updated: 21 hours ago
Speed and agility activities are a great way to help students improve their overall fitness, and kids love them! They work well as warm-ups, circuits, relays, games, and stations. Speed and agility are two of the skill-related components of fitness, and practicing them helps students build forward, backward, and sideways quickness along with full body coordination. When students work together on these activities, they also build teamwork and communication skills.
Quick Answer: Speed is how quickly the body can move from one point to another, and agility is the ability to change direction quickly and accurately. In PE, you can build both with agility stations like the Three Cone Shuffle and Four Corner Drill, and speed stations like obstacle courses, hoop step runs, and Spin and Run.
In this post, I'll explain what speed and agility are, why they matter for every student, and how they connect to the national standards. They help in PE class, in sports, and in all kinds of activities outside of school. You'll also find practical teaching tips and 16 fun speed and agility stations you can use in your classes. My Activities that Can Improve Agility poster is a great visual to go along with this post.
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What Is Speed?
Speed is the amount of time it takes the body to perform a specific task.
Speed is a skill-related component of fitness. It measures how quickly a person can move from one point to another. Speed is important in many sports and activities because it helps people move efficiently and complete tasks in less time. Building speed takes a combination of strength, coordination, and agility. Sprinting, running drills, jumping exercises, and plyometrics are all great speed-building activities. My Top 10 Speed Enhancing Movements poster shows students what this looks like.
What Is Agility?
Agility is the ability to rapidly and accurately change the direction of the whole body in space.
Agility is also a skill-related component of fitness. It lets a person quickly and accurately change their body position to react to what's happening around them. Agility is more complex than speed because it combines coordination, balance, power, and speed. Agility activities ask students to move quickly in several directions while staying in control of their bodies. Ladder drills, cone drills, and shuttle runs are all good examples.
Why Teach Speed and Agility in PE?
Speed and agility are two of the most important physical skills to work on in PE. Speed plays a big role in sports like track and field, football, soccer, lacrosse, and basketball. When students build speed, they move more efficiently and gain an edge on the field or court.
Agility helps students change direction quickly and react to an opponent's movements in a split second. Students with good agility can get around defenders, find open space, and create scoring chances for themselves and their teammates. Agility training builds forward, backward, and sideways quickness, along with reaction time.
Pics by Darcy Winkelman @TigerPEFitKids
Speed and agility are an important part of becoming physically literate, and every student can improve with practice and effort. These activities build foot coordination and balance, and many of the skills carry over to everyday life. They're one more reason why we need PE in our schools.
Do Speed and Agility Activities Meet PE Standards?
Yes! When students practice running, dodging, sliding, and changing direction, they're working on SHAPE America's Standard 1: Develops a variety of motor skills.* When they learn what speed and agility are, time their runs, and figure out how to improve, they're also working on Standard 2: Applies knowledge related to movement and fitness concepts.* The activities you choose can easily line up with your national, state, or district standards.
Tips for Teaching Speed and Agility Activities in PE
1. Plan Ahead
Speed and agility stations are easy to run when you plan ahead. Make sure you have the equipment and space you need and know exactly what you want students to do. Sketch out a map of your gym or field, and keep lines short so students spend more time moving.
Pic by Brian Hull @BrianHullPE
2. Start with a Warm-Up
Start every lesson with a warm-up, like high knees or lateral hops. This gets students' heart rates up and prepares their muscles for the quick movements to come. One of these instant activities is a great way to start class.
3. Use Stations or Circuits
Keep things interesting by using a variety of speed and agility activities in a station or circuit format. Mix in sprints, shuttle runs, cone drills, dot jumps, and more. My Speed and Agility Fitness Circuit Task Cards make it easy to set one up.
Pic by Mike Bohanon Mike Bohannon @mbohannon4
4. Make It Fun!
Speed and agility activities should be fun! When students enjoy what they're doing, they'll get more out of it. Encourage them to beat their own times instead of worrying about what everyone else is doing.
5. Give Clear Instructions and Feedback
Give clear instructions so students understand what to do and can move safely. Walk around to keep students on task as they move through the stations, and give specific, encouraging feedback, especially with younger students.
6. Demonstrate First
Show the activity yourself, or have a student model it, before the class tries it. Seeing it done helps students understand exactly how the activity should look.
7. Encourage Effort Over Perfection
The goal is for students to try their best, not to be perfect. Praise effort and hustle as much as results. Many of these activities are also great for track and field units.
8. Be Patient
Speed and agility activities can be challenging, so give students time to learn and improve at their own pace. Encourage them to keep trying, and celebrate their progress.
16 Speed and Agility Stations for PE
These 16 speed and agility stations use simple equipment and body weight movements, and they're a great way to make your lessons active and engaging. Students can work on their own, with a partner, or in small groups at each station. For extra fun, put stopwatches at the timed stations so students can time each other and try to beat their own records.
Agility Stations
Speed and Agility Indoor Stations
1. Three Cone Shuffle
Start behind cone 2. Slide step or grapevine step sideways to and around cone 3.
Move left, passing in front of cone 2.
Keep moving left to and around cone 1.
Switch your lead leg on each straightaway.
2. NFL Combine Drill
Start at cone 1 in an athletic stance.
Run to cone 2, then quickly turn and run back to cone 1.
Turn quickly, run around cone 2, and head to cone 3.
Go around the inside of cone 3 and head back to cone 2.
Go around the outside of cone 2 and finish at cone 1.
3. Beanbag Snatch
Run from the start line and drop a beanbag on spot 1.
Run back, grab the second beanbag, and drop it on spot 2.
Repeat with the third beanbag.
Then go back and pick them up in the same order.
4. Turn and Sprint
Start at cone 1 in an athletic stance.
Run forward to cone 2.
Turn quickly and run to cone 3.
Turn again and sprint past cone 2.
5. Four Corner Drill
Start at cone 1 and run forward to cone 2.
Slide step, facing out, to cone 3.
Backpedal to cone 4.
Grapevine step back to cone 1.
6. Two Foot Dot Jumps
Start with your feet on dots A and B.
Jump to dot C with both feet.
Keep jumping with both feet to dots D, E, C, A, and B.
Repeat the pattern.
7. Figure 8 Run
Start at cone 1.
Run forward to cone 2.
Backpedal around cones 3 and 4.
Run forward past cone 1 to cone 5.
Backpedal around cones 6 and 7.
Run forward to the start and finish area.
8. Oval Cone Drill
Start at cone 1 in an athletic stance.
Backpedal to and around cone 2.
Accelerate and sprint back to cone 1.
Repeat 5 to 8 times in a row.
The agility task card visuals shown above come from my 24 Agility Stations on TPT. If you'd like a full set of lessons, my Agility Movements Unit includes 10 ready-to-use K-5 lesson plans.
Speed Stations
Speed and Agility- Outdoor Obstacle Course
9. Obstacle Course
Run around the outside of a hula hoop.
Leap over a pool noodle or hurdle.
Jump rope 3 times.
Run around the end cone and back to the start.
10. Hoop Step Run
Start at a cone or poly spot.
Run through a line of hula hoops.
Step with 1 foot in each hoop as you travel to the end.
Repeat 5 to 10 times.
11. Run and Weave
Start at a poly spot or line.
Carry a football as you weave in and out of a line of cones.
Move quickly, but keep your body under control.
Time your runs and try to beat your record.
12. Spin and Run
Spin a hula hoop like a top.
Run and touch the closest wall before the hoop stops spinning.
Always spin first, then run.
Change your distance from the wall to make it easier or harder.
13. Run and Hurdle
Start at a line or poly spot.
Run and jump over each hurdle in your path.
Jog back along the side to the start.
Repeat.
14. Circle the Hoops
Start at a poly spot or line.
Run through a line of hula hoops, circling around each one.
Go around the end cone.
Run straight back to the start line.
15. Beach Ball Pickup
Start at a cone or line.
Run with a beach ball (or tennis ball) to a hula hoop.
Drop it in the hoop and run back to the cone.
Run back and pick up the ball.
Repeat.
16. Scoot and Carry
Start at a poly spot or line.
Ride a scooter board sitting down or lying on your stomach.
Carry a football as you go around a cone and back.
Time yourself and try to beat your record.
The speed task card visuals shown above come from my 24 Speed Movement Task Cards on TPT. For a full set of lessons, check out my Speed Movements Unit with 10 K-5 lesson plans.
Final Thoughts
Speed and agility belong in every PE program. Fun, age-appropriate activities keep students motivated while they build coordination, balance, strength, acceleration, reaction time, and quickness. As students improve, they become better movers, and that success builds confidence. Speed and agility activities also give students an exciting challenge that keeps them coming back to practice and improve. Tag games are another fun way to work on these skills.
I hope these 16 speed and agility stations give you some new ideas for your classes. Remember to warm students up before the fast-moving activities. Then get creative and design your own stations with cones, poly spots, and any other equipment you have. My Shuttle Run Agility Test Rubrics are a simple way to check progress, and my Skill-Related Fitness PE Bundle has 60 lesson plans covering speed, agility, and more. Which of these stations will you try first? Let me know in the comments below!
*National Physical Education Standards are used under license from SHAPE America. © 2024, SHAPE America, https://www.shapeamerica.org/. All rights reserved.
Need Resources?
Do you need PE Component of Fitness Task Cards with clear instructions and colorful graphics for your physical education program? Here's a set to help!
Fill in the form below to download 20 FREE Component of Fitness Task Cards. This PDF digital download includes two cards from each of these fitness component sets: 1. Cardiovascular Endurance, 2. Flexibility, 3. Muscular Endurance, 4. Muscular Strength, 5. Agility, 6. Balance, 7. Coordination, 8. Power, 9. Reaction Time, and 10. Speed.
These cards are simple to use and great for teaching fitness movements. Just print, laminate, cut them out, and place them around your learning area for students to use during PE lessons.
If you want to take your PE program to the next level, check out my PE Components of Fitness Task Card Series: 10 Set Super Bundle. It combines 10 of my health-related and skill-related fitness task card sets for use in schools and community settings. You'll get more than 240 self-guided fitness station cards (24 per component).
You can find this bundle in my TPT store: PE Fitness Components: Movement Task Cards 10 Set Visual Resource Super Bundle
About Pete Charrette
Pete Charrette is a National Board Certified physical education teacher and former Georgia PE Teacher of the Year with more than 30 years of experience teaching elementary PE. He is the creator of Cap'n Pete's Power PE and has developed more than 1,000 PE and health resources used by teachers around the world. Pete loves helping PE teachers build programs their students enjoy.
