Giant Pizza Chef Movement Story
The class becomes a pizzeria kitchen and makes a giant pizza step by step: kneading, stretching the dough, adding toppings and baking. Each step of the recipe is a warm-up move for a different part of the body.
How to play
- Everyone in a circle around the imaginary pizza. Wash your hands by rubbing your whole arms and legs (30 sec).
- Knead: feet wide and knees bent, push the dough forward and back with the whole body, 10 times (1 min).
- Stretch the dough: spin it over your head with arm circles, then toss it in the air with a jump, 6 times (1 min).
- Toppings: the teacher names one and everyone jogs to the end of the court to get it and back to the circle: tomato (tiptoes), cheese (jumping), olives (zigzag) (1 min 30 sec).
- Into the oven: everyone crouches together in the middle and the heat rises with little hops that get faster for 20 seconds (1 min).
- Serve it up: slice the pizza with your arms, take a slice and "eat" it with deep breaths (1 min).
Rules
- When getting toppings, everyone goes and comes back without bumping.
- Jump in place when tossing the dough.
- In the oven, stay close but don't push.
- Listen to the recipe: the teacher calls the next step.
Variations
Easier
Skip the jumps and walk to get the toppings.
Standard
Make the whole pizza with all five recipe steps.
Harder
Students suggest a new topping and a way to travel for it.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: kneads and stretches with arms and trunk, and a partner brings toppings while they direct the recipe.
- Autism: show the recipe with pictures in the order it will happen.
- Fitness level: in the oven, students who want more challenge jump higher.
Learning goals
- Warm up different body parts by following a sequence.
- Travel in different ways on a verbal cue.
- Take part cooperatively in a shared activity.
Teacher tip
With younger students, model each step yourself. You can connect it to healthy eating by asking which toppings are the healthiest.
PatioLab has "Giant Pizza Chef Movement Story" and 3999 more activities ready to drag into your lesson and run from your phone in the gym.
More activities like this
More warm-ups for Elementary
Across-the-Floor Gymnastics Steps
A gymnastics warm-up where students travel across the gym on the diagonal in small waves, using basic steps: tiptoe walk, side gallop, chassé, grapevine, and scissor…
Action Verbs and Adverbs Warm-Up
The teacher calls an action verb and students act it out in their spot; then an adverb is added that changes how it is done, like "row slowly" or "climb sneakily." It…
Active Blind Man's Bluff
A dynamic version of Blind Man's Bluff in which a guide uses only their voice to lead a blindfolded partner to tag classmates moving inside a small area.
Active Corners
Each corner of the space is marked with a cone and an exercise; the teacher calls a corner and students run to it to complete the exercise.
Add-On Dance Circle
In circles of 6, students take turns adding a four-count move, and the group repeats the whole sequence from the beginning with music, building a dance together.
Agility Ladder to the Beat
Quick-feet drills on the agility ladder following the beat of the music: every foot strike lands on a beat, and when the song's tempo goes up, the feet speed up.