Cone Streets: Warm-Up with Traffic Signs

A small town of streets is marked out with cones, and students jog through it as pedestrians or cyclists, obeying the signs a leader holds up. It warms up the body and reviews the basic rules before a traffic safety or bike lesson.

How to play

1. Explain the grid, already set up: four 10-foot-wide streets with sidewalks on each side and two chalk crosswalks (1 min).
2. Half the class are pedestrians who walk on the sidewalks; the other half are cyclists who jog on the right side of the street, arms out like handlebars (2 min).
3. The leader shows signs: stop (full stop, look both ways), yield, crosswalk and red or green light (2 min).
4. Switch roles and pick up the pace: power walking for pedestrians, high knees for cyclists (2 min).
5. Two new students lead the last round, then the class names the violation they saw most (1 min).

Rules

• Cyclists always stay to the right, and pedestrians cross only at marked crosswalks.
• At a stop sign, come to a full one-second stop and look both ways.
• No passing inside a crosswalk.
• Jog, don't sprint, to avoid collisions at intersections.

Variations

Adaptations

• Visual impairment: moves with a guide partner who describes the sign and steers at intersections.
• Wheelchair user: rides as a cyclist on the widest street or leads by holding up the signs.
• Autism: starts as a pedestrian, the more predictable role, and learns the four signs ahead of time.

Learning goals

• Raise heart rate gradually.
• Review traffic signs and right-of-way for pedestrians and cyclists.
• Stay alert and make quick decisions on the move.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cones: 24
• cardboard traffic signs: 6
• chalk: 2

Teacher tip

Signs can be printed cards taped to cardboard or a stick. Set up the grid before class and leave it in place if a traffic course comes next.

More activities like this

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