Hula Hoop Games for Kids

Whether you are a parent, OT, PT, PE teacher, or classroom teacher, hula hoop games are engaging and fun to get kids moving! Here are several hula hoop activities that you can play with your kids. You will need hula hoops. If you do not have hula hoops you could put painter’s tape on the ground in a circle shape for some of the games.

Where you can play the games will vary. Some are great hula hoop games for PE others are hula hoop activities for preschoolers. It really depends on the children. You can modify the games as well based on the children’s skill levels and ages.

Don’t forget that hula hoops can also be used as a visual support for personal space boundaries. They are great tangible items to make personal space more concrete for children. They can represent their personal space bubble.

Personal Space Journey is a collection of personal space worksheets and activities to teach children about personal space including body awareness exercises and a social story on personal space.

Hula Hoop Activities for Preschoolers

Let’s start with the little ones or easiest activities.

  • Simply place hula hoops on the floor and the kids can jump in and out of the hoops.
  • Turn on music and have the children dance around the room. When the music stops they have to run to a hula hoop and freeze.
  • Give each child a hula hoop. They have to move around the room holding their hula hoop around their waist and they are NOT allowed to bump into anyone. This is a great game to practice personal space and body awareness.

Hula Hoop Obstacle Course

This is a great game for indoor recess. Balance a few hula hoops across two desks. Place a few on the floor. Put a chair at the end of the course. The students can climb under the hula hoops on the desks, jump into the circles on the floor, sit in the chair, turn around and repeat the course back to start. How quickly can they complete the obstacle course?

Another option is to divide the group into a few teams.  Give each team one hula hoop.  Place a few chairs, cones or obstacles in a line.  On go, the first player on each team tries to roll the hula hoop around the chairs or cones back to the starting line.  Then the next player goes until each player has gone.  First team to complete the course is the winner.

Target Hula Hoop or Hula Hoop Ring Toss

Place a few classroom chairs or plastic cones about 5 feet from a starting line. The kids can practice trying to throw the hula hoops around the chair or cone. If you do not have chairs or cones, you can just put a book or bean bag on the floor and see if they can get the hoop around that object.

Hula Hoop Rock Paper Scissors

This is a twist on the classic game. There are many different ways to play this depending upon how many students you have or how many hoops you have. These directions are for a group of students with two hula hoops.

Place the two hula hoops about 10-20 feet from the starting line. Separate the group into two teams. On GO, the first players run to the hoops. They each stand in one hoop and meet each other. Play a round of Rock -Paper – Scissors with their hands. Whoever wins, earns a point for their team. They run back to start. The next players run to the hoops. The first team to 10 points wins the game!

Hula Hoop Games for PE

Circle Hoop – the group of children should stand in a circle all holding hands.  Have one pair of children unclasp hands and place a hoop on one child’s arm.  They should all hold hands again.  The goal is to move the hula hoop around the entire circle never breaking the chain of hands.  Children will have to bend over, squat down and stand on one leg to get the hoop over the head to pass the hoop to the next child.  This is a great activity to encourage balance practice and motor planning.

Through the Hoop – Break up the group into several small teams (about 3 children in each group).  Give each group one hula hoop.  Establish a starting line and another line about 10-20 feet away.  The first person in each group runs to the line that is 10-20 feet away and holds the hoop several inches off the ground.  Then the next person runs down, climbs through the hoop and back to the starting line.  The third person runs down, climbs through the hoop and back to the starting line.  The first person climbs through the hoop while holding it and runs back to start.  The first team with all three players through the hoop is the winner.

Hula Hoop Tic Tac Toe

There are plenty of hula hoop activities on You Tube but this game has gone viral there! Simply lay out 9 hula hoops on the floor in a 3 x 3 pattern – just like a tic tac toe board. Divide into two teams. Give each team different colored bean bags. On GO player one runs down and put their colored bean bag in a hoop and runs back. Player two goes and runs down with their color to mark their hoop. The first team to get three bean bags of their color in a row wins!

Hula Hoop Games – Jumping Patterns

If you have a lot of hoops, simply lay them out on the floor for the children to jump from one end of the room to another. Maybe create a hopscotch pattern or sideways jumping. Have the kids go through the course and change it up for the next group. The options are endless but you do need a lot of hoops.

Musical Games

This is one of my all time favorites. Scatter the hula hoops around the room. Inside each hoop place an exercise card or activity. Turn on the music and everyone dances around the room. When the music stops they must run to the closest hula hoop and perform that exercise. Turn back on the music and start again!

Games to Play with One Hula Hoop

If you have only ONE hula hoop, you still have options. Of course, there is the obvious – practice hula hooping around your waist. But here are a few suggestions that are not as obvious.

Hang the hoop from a tree to create a target hula hoop. Throw different balls through the hoop. Can you swing the hoop back and forth and still toss a ball through a moving target? Play catch with each other but you have to throw the ball through the hanging hoop each time.

Here is another hula hoop game for two players. Place the hula hoop on the floor in between the both of you. Player one creates a pattern such as step into the hoop and step out. Player two has to copy that pattern and add another one. For example – step into the hoop and step out, hop in on one foot. Player one now has to repeat both of those actions and add a third. Keep playing until you can not remember the pattern anymore.

This is more of a challenge than a game but still fun! Use your hula hoop like a jump rope. Can you hold it, bring it over your head and jump through it?

Need More Fun Group Games?

Need more hula hoop ideas? This PDF is great for hula hoop activities for preschoolers.

Need more ideas for groups?  Check out 25 Instant Sensory Motor Group Activities or  Sensory Motor Group Activities from A to Z.