Should bunny hops be part of your PE lessons?
Bunny hops are a simple activity for primary school PE lessons - easy, and endlessly fun. And, they’re a fantastic foundational gymnastics skill - building strength, coordination and confidence!
When we talk about bunny hops, we’re talking of course about the dynamic movement where children, jump forward on both feet, with feet together, using their hands to support themselves briefly when landing.
Should bunny hops be part of your PE lessons? Definitely!
Keep reading for a step-by-step guide to bunny hops in PE, along with why they’re important! Don’t forget you can subscribe to PE Planning for full access to our downloadable PE lesson plans—everything you need to deliver a complete and engaging PE Curriculum in your school!
How to ‘bunny hop’
Starting Position:
- Children stand with their feet together;
- Knees slightly bent;
- And with their arms down slightly in front.
The Jump:
To perform bunny hops, children should:
- Bend their knees deeper and swing arms back slightly;
- Push off the ground with both feet at the same time – swinging their arms forward to help with momentum and balance;
- Both feet should leave the ground together and land together.
It’s important to teach children the correct way to land when performing any jumping activity. Proper technique helps prevent injury and builds confidence in movement.
Here are the key points to emphasise:
- Land softly with knees bent to absorb the impact.
- Touch down on the balls of the feet first, then let the heels follow.
- Keep arms out in front to help maintain balance.
- Upon landing, briefly, and lightly, place hands on the floor in front of the body to maintain balance.
Repetition:
- To begin with, practise performing one bunny hop at a time.
- Once confident, children may be able to perform a series of bunny hops (like hopping across a room or playground).
- The rhythm might be irregular at first, especially for younger children – Reception or Year 1 children – but improves with age and practise.
- As the children progress, challenge them to jump in a sequence or pattern.
- Incorporate bunny hops into warm ups, movement activities and during PE lessons to boost confidence and engagement.
What are the benefits of bunny hops in primary PE?
We think bunny hops are a fantastic movement development exercise for younger children (for older children, check out these PE warm up exercises). There are many benefits…
- Strength and weight-bearing skills: The action of supporting some body weight through the hands develops upper body strength and prepares children for more advanced skills in PE.
- Improved coordination and motor control: Bunny hops require timing, balance and coordination. Children must coordinate feet pushing off, hands reaching down, knees tucking and soft landings!
- Core stability and body awareness: To perform a hop cleanly, children need to engage their core, maintain control through the body and feel where their limbs are in space.
- Injury prevention and soft landings: Learning how to land softly (knees bent, feet together, hands helping if needed) reduces impact on joints and lowers risk of slips or missteps.
- Fun, inclusive – and very little equipment needed! Bunny hops need almost no equipment – you may just want to use some gymnastics mats to begin with, but we don’t think they’re essential. Bunny hops can be adapted for varying ability levels, and because they are so easy, they will be easy for children to master – helping to build their confidence!
Teaching bunny hops
Teaching bunny hops is simple, and fun – but we recommend taking it slowly, and ensure all children know what they are doing, and are landing safely! Little and often is also important, to ensure children are getting the repetition without overdoing it in one lesson.
They’re a great warm-up exercise and there are plenty of core skills that can be learnt easily from regular bunny hop sessions each week… And children love them, too!
Bunny hops are great for all primary school age children. Introduce them to your PE lessons during any movement development activity, and let us know how you get on!
Of course, if you need any help or guidance on teaching PE, you can always speak to us. We’d love to hear from you!
