Smart Scooting: Push, Turn and Rear Brake

Basic kick-scooter technique: push with both legs, turn with the body and use the rear brake. It ends with correct sidewalk behavior.

How to play

1. Set the handlebar at hip height and check the rear foot brake (3 min).
2. Push with your dominant leg and then the other; ten pushes each on a straight (5 min).
3. Turns: wide curves leaning your body, not just the handlebar, in a figure eight around two cones (6 min).
4. Brake by pressing the rear fender until you stop at a line; then use the hand brake if there is one (5 min).
5. Final route with a fake curb: step off and walk the scooter on the chalk sidewalk (6 min).

Rules

• Helmets are required on scooters too.
• Never two people on one scooter.
• On the chalk sidewalk, you walk and push the scooter.
• Keep two scooter lengths behind the rider ahead.

Variations

Adaptations

• Students with low vision: a route marked with tall cones and a partner who calls out turns.
• Students with one injured leg: push only with the healthy leg on short stretches, or act as brake judge.
• Unsure riders: start by gliding with one foot on the deck and the other on the ground, without pushing.

Learning goals

• Push effectively with both legs.
• Turn and stop with control.
• Know where to ride a scooter and where to walk it.

Equipment for a class of 25

• kick scooters: 15
• helmets: 30
• cones: 24
• chalk: 4

Teacher tip

Students' own kick scooters are enough; e-scooters are not used in class. Many cities ban scooters on sidewalks: look up your local rules together.

More main activities for Middle School