PE 2 the Max

J. D. Hughes. Human Kinetics 2005. 100 pages,11”x8½”, paperback, £12.00. ISBN 0-7360-5635-1

I belonged to that class of schoolkids who developed a dislike of football but loved PE. I enjoyed all of it – rope climbing, hanging from wall-bars, jumping up and down, you name it. Yes, I know that makes me sound rather sad, but I can live with your opinion. Not everyone was so keen.

Kids are unpredictable, as anyone knows who's ever tried to lead them in physical education activities. One day everything's boring; the next day something you'd never have thought of is a huge hit, and then they want to do only that forever.

It's true that our teachers weren't hamstrung by safety regulations – we did things on wall bars and ropes that merely thinking about nowadays would provoke legislation rash. At the same time everyone's trying to get away from the culture of fastest, strongest, biggest: when kids don't get to participate much, or when they don't have fun, they leave the field, reject all thought of exercise and settle for life as a couch potato.

This book is designed for anyone who has to lead kids up to age 13 or so, though we all know plenty of adults who'd be very happy to take part. It offers 30 activities involving any number of students, but based on large numbers – it's easier to modify down than up. Each has anything up to half a dozen variations. They require space (gym, yard, court) and a certain amount of equipment: balls, skittles, cones, blocks, hoops, flags and the like. After that, as Arthur Daley used to say, the world's your lobster.

Ramin Minovi