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Physical education activity

Animal Movement Relay

Move like different animals! Hop like a frog, stomp like an elephant, slither like a snake, and waddle like a penguin across the yard.

MovementAbout 35 minutesScreen-freeParent help expected

Materials and setup

Parent note

Accessibility adaptations: every physical activity in this app can be modified for children with different mobility needs. For animal movements, substitute seated/upper-body versions — e.g., 'frog arms' (clapping overhead), 'snake arms' (slithering arm waves), 'cheetah drumming' (fast hand taps), 'elephant trunk swings,' or 'penguin flipper claps.' Focus on the same goals (locomotor variety, heart rate, sequencing) using whatever movements work for your child. The scoring, timing, and strategy elements all translate to seated movement.

How this changes by age

Pre-K (ages 3–4)

Move like different animals! Hop like a frog, stomp like an elephant, slither like a snake, and waddle like a penguin across the yard.

Difficulty 1 of 3

Steps

  1. Set up a start line and a finish line in the yard or living room.
  2. Call out an animal: 'Move like a frog!' Child hops to the finish line.
  3. Try 5-6 animals: bear crawl, crab walk, kangaroo hop, snake slither, penguin waddle.
  4. Let the child choose animals too!
  5. End with a fun race: parent picks one animal, child picks another — who reaches the finish first?
  6. Trace your shoe on paper at the start; draw a star on it for every round you finished.

Learning objectives

  • Practice a variety of locomotor movements (hopping, crawling, sliding)
  • Develop gross motor coordination through animal-inspired movement
  • Follow movement instructions and take turns

Kindergarten (ages 5–6)

Animal movement relay race with added challenges! Move like animals through an obstacle course and time yourself. Try to beat your record!

Difficulty 2 of 3

Steps

  1. Set up a simple course with 4-5 stations in the yard.
  2. Assign an animal movement to each station: bear crawl to cone 1, crab walk to cone 2, frog hop to cone 3, penguin waddle to cone 4.
  3. Time the child completing the full course.
  4. Rest, then try again — can they beat their time?
  5. Add a challenge: carry a beanbag on your back while bear crawling!

Learning objectives

  • Combine multiple locomotor movements in a sequence
  • Build endurance through sustained physical activity
  • Set personal goals and work to improve performance times

Early elementary (ages 6–8)

Design a team relay race with animal movement stations. Create a course map, assign movements to teammates, track times, and calculate team averages. Add fitness challenges between stations.

Difficulty 2 of 3

Steps

  1. Draw a course map on paper with 6 stations, each assigned a different animal movement: inchworm walk, gorilla shuffle, flamingo balance hop, cheetah sprint, crab walk, and frog leap.
  2. Add a fitness challenge between each station: 5 jumping jacks, 3 burpees, or 10 high knees.
  3. Run the course individually and record each person's time with a stopwatch.
  4. Run it as a relay with family members: each person does 2 stations, then tags the next runner.
  5. Calculate individual times and team total times. Make a leaderboard.
  6. Discuss strategy: which animal movements are fastest? How would you rearrange the course to get the best team time?
  7. Fill in a 5-row progress chart across the week for the skill you're practicing.

Learning objectives

  • Design a multi-station physical course with strategic thinking about difficulty sequencing
  • Collect and compare time data, calculating totals and averages
  • Apply strategic reasoning to optimize team performance in a relay format

Upper elementary (ages 8–10)

Create a fitness boot camp with animal-movement intervals and heart rate tracking. Design a 20-minute workout program, monitor intensity using pulse checks, and log your results over multiple sessions.

Difficulty 3 of 3

Steps

  1. Research how to check your pulse at your wrist or neck. Practice counting heartbeats for 15 seconds and multiplying by 4 to get beats per minute (BPM).
  2. Design a 20-minute animal movement workout with timed intervals: 45 seconds of movement, 15 seconds rest. Include at least 8 different animal movements arranged from easier to harder.
  3. Before starting, take a resting heart rate. Record it.
  4. Complete the full workout. Take your heart rate after every 4th exercise and record it.
  5. Cool down with 3 minutes of slow stretching. Take a final heart rate 2 minutes after stopping.
  6. Create a workout log: record the date, exercises, times, and heart rate data. Repeat the workout 3 times over a week and compare your heart rate recovery between sessions.
  7. Research VO2 max and the difference between aerobic (long, steady) and anaerobic (short, explosive) exercise. Different animals use different energy systems: cheetahs sprint anaerobically; wolves jog aerobically. Design a 20-minute workout with 4 sections that train BOTH systems — sprint intervals (anaerobic), steady jogging (aerobic), bodyweight strength, and stretching. Track your heart rate at the end of each section.

Learning objectives

  • Monitor cardiovascular intensity using heart rate measurement and basic math
  • Design a structured fitness program with progressive difficulty and timed intervals
  • Track fitness data over multiple sessions and identify trends in physical performance

Safety and evidence note

Read the full activity before beginning. An adult should supervise tools, heat, food, outdoor work, movement, and experiments as appropriate. Completion records that the activity was done; the child’s explanation, work sample, photo, or demonstration is stronger evidence of learning than a completion check alone.

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