Running ABC: 20+ Exercise Cards for PE Class, Sports Clubs, and Home Use

These cards bring running ABC exercises into physical education, sports clubs, or homes. Children and adolescents can run on their toes, hop, cross over sideways, run backwards, or "pick cherries" while running. The coordination running and jumping exercises get the cardiovascular system going, mobilize the joints, and activate the muscles. The material can be used from primary school to upper secondary school.

What is included in the material

• Exercise cards with one exercise each, showing an illustration, the most important movement characteristics, and a brief note on what the exercise contributes to
• Overview poster with all exercises and their movement characteristics in brief form
• Exercise overview with an illustration and names of all exercises
• Introduction to the running ABC with suggestions for use in physical education and exercise variations

Tips for using the material

• As a running circuit: The cards can be used to set up a circuit where a different running ABC exercise is performed at each station.
• Draw a card and demonstrate: For warming up, the cards can be laid out face down. The learners draw a card one after another and demonstrate the exercise, and the others in the group follow along.
• Prepare a warm-up program: Alternatively, one or two learners can prepare a warm-up program for the whole group using the cards.
• Individual warm-up: Hung on the wall or laid out on the floor, the cards can serve as a selection: Everyone independently selects exercises and designs their own warm-up program, for example, with one round of each exercise.
• Memory aid for the teacher: Printed out, the overview poster can serve as a memory aid for the teacher, so that all exercises are always at hand.
• Start slowly: It is recommended to initially perform the exercises slowly and in a controlled manner on a level surface.
• Vary and combine: Pace, stride length, and stride frequency can be changed, and many exercises can also be done standing up. Exercises can be combined, for example, "pick cherries" and "touch the ground", or performed only on every second, third, or fourth step.

These competencies are promoted

• Running technique through work on foot strike, rolling technique, and knee lift, for example, with tip tap, skippings, and knee lever running
• Coordination in exercises such as bounding, backward running, pendulum running, and touching the ground
• Explosive power through skipping, side jumps, and alternating jumps
• Mobility in the jumping, knee, and hip joints, for example, with B-skip and sideways crossing over
• Speed through stride frequency and stride length in acceleration running

Organizational notes

All exercises can be performed in the sports hall, on the sports field, or on the playground.

To complement this, there are technique cards for running, jumping, and throwing, movement cards for footwork and running coordination, and material for sprint running technique.