It is no secret how effective the role Physical Education plays in a child’s Elementary School journey, and the importance of developing Motor Competence between the ages of 3 and 8.  To help you achieve this with your students, we have developed our lower elementary PE Lesson Plans. These have increased focus on fundamental movement skills, more opportunity to progress… And, of course, fun Phys Ed lesson plans!

Fundamental Movement Skills

Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) form the building blocks for more complex movement skills.  FMS can be defined as a set of basic, learned motor patterns that do not occur naturally.  They are best developed between the ages of 3 and 8 and are the foundations needed for children to be able to lead physically active lives throughout their school years and beyond.

FMS can be split into three types of skills…

• Locomotor Skills such as running and jumping:

Track & Field, Soccer, Basketball, etc.

• Manipulation Skills such as throwing and catching:

Dodgeball, Handball, Volleyball, etc.

• Stability Skills such as twisting and balancing:

Dance, Gymnastics, Fitness, etc.

When looking for lower elementary Phys ed lessons plans, we recommend using the above 3 skill types to dictate the sports you might deliver to your class.  Delivering at least one sport from each skill type will ensure you have provided a range of Fundamental Movement Skills and developed those essential Motor Competences.

The ‘Rats and Rabbits’ game. Found in our Tag Rugby First Grade PE lesson plans, is fun, competitive, and develops both Locomotor and Stability Skills.

Basketball Second Grade PE lesson plans are perfect for developing manipulation skills.

Gymnastics Lower Elementary PE lesson plans are ideal for developing stability skills.  This activity is from our Gymnastics First Grade PE lesson plans.

Fun Activities

By giving your children motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and an understanding of the relationships between physical activity and its effect on the body, you are embedding a Physical Literacy and lifelong love for health and physical activity.

Try these Fitness Lower Elementary lesson plans to provide active, yet fun, PE lesson plans.  Delivered well, even your ‘non-sporty’ children will love these sessions.

Lower Elementary Phys Ed Lesson Plans

Whatever unit of work you are delivering to your Lower Elementary children, remember to keep your Phys Ed lessons fun, and focus on the Fundamental Movement Skills.  FMS may not be the main lesson theme, but they can be incorporated throughout each activity, from warm-up, right through to cool-down.

We would love to hear from you. Which of our Lower Elementary Phys Ed Lesson Plans are your favourite? We always welcome comments or feedback you have on the delivery and outcomes of the lessons.