Physical Development Milestones: 2nd Grade

For many students second grade is a time of leaps and bounds in PE class. It 's easy to see that they are growing up and getting ready to take on bigger challenges, and it's oh so fun to watch them learn! Here's a checklist of new movement abilities that second graders are exploring:

Motor Skills

Second graders relish the challenge of new, more advanced movement patterns. Your child should now be able to:

• Put together two or three locomotor movements to form a pattern (skip, skip, gallop, gallop, jump, jump, repeat)
• Develop their own movement pattern using the locomotor movements
• Perform non-locomotor movements in a variety of situations (twisting, spinning, turning, balancing, weight transfer) and put them together to form a pattern
• Perform a variety of locomotor and non-locomotor movements to a rhythmic beat adjusting movement with the rhythm
• Understand terminology used to describe movement and movement patterns
• Adjust throwing, catching, striking, and kicking according to the situations that occur in a fluid environment

Fitness

Fitness must still be engaging and fun in order for second graders to really enjoy it. This is a crucial time, so keep it positive because some students may begin to dislike fitness activities during the second grade. Your child should be able to:

• Demonstrate proper warm up and cool down
• Engage in two to three minutes of moderate to intense physical activities leading to increased heart rate, breathing, and perspiration
• Identify and begin to understand the health related components of fitness: muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, and body composition
• Perform between 4 and 10 or 5 and 13 push ups depending on age
• While lying on stomach, raise the chest at least 6 inches off the floor
• Perform between 4 and 14 or 6 and 20 curl ups (crunches) depending on age

Social Development

The biggest jump between first and second graders may be in the area of social development. Your child should now be able to:

• Provide and respond positively to feedback from peers
• Display a desire to help others
• Participate cooperatively in team games with some prompting
• Cooperate with others to develop basic games or movement patterns
• Cooperate with a partner or small group to solve challenges (know when to present ideas and when to listen)

 In second grade, every movement is an adventure, as children run, jump, pivot, crouch, and stretch. Encourage their imaginations to run wild, and they will too! Second graders love to turn into galloping horses, hopping bunnies, slithering snakes and crawling bugs. They thrive on fun challenges, so keep exercise new and exciting and watch them blossom!