Animal Movement - 1st and 2nd Grade PE Game

With kids as young as 1st and 2nd grade, this animal movement game for PE will keep them active, and creative at the same time!

This week I tried a fun new activity with 1st and 2nd grades.

I placed poly-spots all around the gym floor.
Each child stood on a spot.
I then held up a card with an animal movement.
When the music started, they had to move around the gym like that animal.
When the music stopped, they froze on a poly-spot in a pose like that animal.
I would walk around and comment on their poses (they loved that — trying to come up with a unique way to show the animal).

It was a very active game with lots of different muscle use. They loved pretending to be the different animals.

Here are some of the animals we tried:

Kangaroo: long, big jumps
Puppy walk: on hands and feet, keep head up to see where you are going
Cat walk: like puppy, but try and arch back
Bear walk: heavy and slow on hands and feet
Frog jump: use hands to push off the floor, try and go high
Seal walk: bellies and legs on the floor, pull body with hands (flippers)
Elephant walk: stomp feet and use arms to make a trunk, slow and heavy
Donkey kick: kick back feet in the air (make sure and stay in your own space)
Inchworm: on hands and feet — walk feet to hands, then walk hands out, repeat
Crab walk: belly up using hands and feet

animal movement 1st and 2nd grade pe game thumbnail

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I let them make animal noises while they were moving. When the music stopped they had to completely freeze (voices too). It was perfect for this cold winter week when they haven’t even been able to go outside for recess!