One of the big focuses for many PE Teachers in Kindergarten and First Grade is working on performing the Locomotor Movements: Skip, Slide, Gallop, Leap, Hop, Jump (Shape America GLO S1:E1)

Usually this kind of activity or skills can also be combined with teaching students to move around safely in open space, which is an extremely useful and mandatory skill for the majority of games and sports that kids will be playing in future years.

So throughout Kindergarten and First Grade I am constantly reviewing, reminding and teaching Locomotor Movement’s and also working on finding open space and moving safely.

During my teaching experience, I’ve personally found that while it is important to teach the kids how to do the different locomotor movements, the best way for them to learn is simply by practicing and watching their friends and learning from those that know how to Slide, Skip, Gallop, Leap and others.

So for this reason you gotta practice, practice, practice and work different movements into all of your activities for your younger students. 

The “Call it Macaroni” Song

One of my favorite ways to review locomotors with my kids is to play the song “Call it Macaroni” as a warmup or as a reward at the end of class.  If you’re not familiar with it, you can check out below:

If you want the song, you can buy an OLD SCHOOL CD with the song above “Call it Macaroni” or download it digitally here: Download/Buy the Song 

The Locomotor License Test

At the end of the year in First Grade, I give my students a performance test to see if they know their Locomotor movements and can perform them correctly and safely.  I call the test “The Locomotor License Test”.  It’s a pretty big deal if you’re in First Grade.

Check out the details in the video below:

P.S. While I’ve seen this concept in a few different places, I did find this post on PE Central that inspired the way I run my test.

As you can imagine, there are sometimes a few tears from students that don’t receive their license on the first try.  However, those students always come back to the next class ready to go and get their license on their second try.

Honestly, I think it probably means more to the students who have to take the retest than the students who get it on the first try.  It’s the whole idea of the journey being more important than the destination.

The harder you work for something, the more it means to you.

During the “re-test” depending on how many students still haven’t received their license and which locomotor’s students need to show me, I might have them perform a follow the leader song like the “Call it Macaroni Song” as described in the video at the beginning of this post – it’s a little bit faster and still goes through most of the locomotor movements.

More Resources

Another cool free resource comes from Helena Baert – it’s got a ton of progressions, video examples and assessment ideas for different Locomotor Movements, check it out below:

• Locomotor Movement’s Assessment Resource 

Also, if you have questions about how I use assessment for my PE Grades, check out the “How I Do Grades in PE” video on my FAQ Page HERE

If you want to download the Lesson Plan and the Locomotor Licenses that I use to print/laminate for my kids – click the button below for a free download:

Have Fun and Teach On!

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