Help wanted: Anyone got good ideas for elementary school track practices (4th and 5th grade)?

Relays worked to get them running sprints for a long time and you can make them out and back so that they run farther each time--vary the teams and # per team.

Long jump was always popular, as were homemade hurdles.

If you have access to a track and high jump pit, etc. it'll be a lot more fun. Let them try the different events. For the girls, the idea of running a relay and running together was very motivating as the camaraderie was particularly important to them. Intervals are effective but can be unpopular with the kids and the girls dropped when I started having them do them.

I made up games to get them running, games like the predator/prey game--basically tag of different sorts.

Twice a week practice can be very ineffective because they probably won't do anything between practices and at my kids' school they often had half days on one of the set practice days, so that was very disruptive.

If you really want them to improve, besides having them lead drills of their choosing among the good ones, help the school start a morning mile where the kids get a popsicle stick for every lap from parent volunteers and then you total up their laps every day and they eventually can win various prizes from the lap totals. If you sometimes run with the kids, they'll try to outsprint you and that'll be like shorter intervals for them. They'll run far and weather's good usually before school at this time of year.

The number 1 mistake that I see people make coaching elementary school kids is to let them choose their events for practice. Have every kid do basically all the events at practice. Do 3 events every practice that are different from each other. For example HJ, sprints, and shotput one day, then discus, distance, and lj the next.

"Distance practice" should just be like a mile at their own pace followed by a 4x4 relay. Sprints practice should be like some sprint drills and then a relay across the football field. Long jump practice should be limited to a few drills like standing broad jump, then a 3 or 4 stride LJ, and maybe jumping off of a box.

Basically keep it really simple, but constantly changing so they don't get bored, and don't actually "train" even remotely hard at anything. Turn any workouts you can into a game, like relays, or moving objects from one side of the track to the other as fast as possible and see who can do it fastest. Instead of core, do wheelbarrows. Do piggyback rides as a stand in for strength training.

Let the kids choose their favorite 2 to 4 events for the actual meet. Encourage them to try a new event at each meet, but let them keep the others the same if they want.

Also, is the shotput an actual shotput? I usually see a softball toss at that age.

This is pretty good advice. I'd basically forget distance at meets unless you have a kid that already runs with mom or dad or runs XC in the fall. There is no time to create distance runners in a month.

And yes, SP is contested at youth meets routinely. Even 7/8 year olds throw a 2kg shot. 4th and 5th grade (9-10 age) are 6# I think.

I'm more surprised high jump is a thing. Thats also contested of course at usatf/aau meets but for local leagues/schools its tough to get the gear.

keep it light, keep it fun, BUT do TEACH them what each event is and explain some of the basics, like staggered starts ("Why does he get a head start?") stuff like that.

I hate to be the one to bring this to your attention but at this age you aren't coaching, you're babysitting

I hate to be the one to bring this to your attention but at this age you aren't coaching, you're babysitting

Cone drill games like red light green light or tag games with limited areas to force speed and creativity. We use this on 6 year olds and even high schoolers and it works.

also make the warm up drills fun or like a game. 9-12 year olds love showing off so turning stuff into games or special tricks helps keep them interested.

This will not be popular but I will only say that at 5th grade you will possible have a runner or two that is actually very good and wants to compete. Nothing wrong with that. AAU and USATF runs 1-2mile at that age and nobody has died. As many as 300 kids at a meet (XC) enthusiastically going into the hurt locker and loving it. Ive seen it up close for a decade. Keep em well rounded and yes, its OK to teach them what "an easy run" is on the weekend. Practice can be pseodo Qualtiy work- kid actaully like some speed work, maybe sneaky intervals to build some strength. I would avoid the adage of "keep it fun and play games all the time" at least not 100% of the time. Relays yes, field events yes, all fun. A rare capture the flag as anaerobic work, but allow yourself to be open to the fact that a few kids actually like running and dont have to run 2 miles a week and play tag to be happy. As I always say, we dont criticize people for having 5th graders play soccer or hockey or swimming seriously. But with Track, you're abusive if you let any runner take it a little seriously? You will burn them all out!?? As long as its their decision and they get satisfaction, running is a fine sport to excel at at any age. And, if you dont provide an outlet, the ones that love it and want to compete...will go elsewhere.

I like the idea of making training more difficult but it should be only for those who chose to like it. At that age, it should be about having fun so later in high school they still run track and field and can treat it seriously because they like it. The whole goal of the program should be to show track and field to kids and try to get them to like it so you get the number of track runners in high school to increase. TLDR: Hard training could be offered to those who want it but the whole focus of the program should be to let kids have fun so they continue to run in high school.

I credit some of my fitness to playing tag a lot at recess.

Maybe do some drills and warmups and whatnot and then a chunk at the end after structured stuff you can play tag. If you have a lot of kids you can make two groups.

I Agree. I just get nervous with all the "make it fun" talk because there are kids that run hard and fast for fun. We have MS programs that have their kids run around the gym for a mile every day and big surprise...nobody likes it. I have MS runners that the only limitation I have put on them is total miles/week (15-20, one runner that insists on 25 a week). For the very reason you hit on, make sure they are still excited and fresh for HS.

Form some 4x400 teams (sprinter group) and have them race the distance runners, who'll do the 1600m. If the distance runners don't get lapped, they can skip the final lap if they want and get treats afterward. If the 4x400 runners fail to lap 2 distance runners, they'll have to do 2 push ups, if they fail to lap 10 distance runners, they'll have to do 10 push ups, and so on.

The times roughly match for middle school kids (a good 4x400 team would finish in around 4:00, and a good miler would also go through 1200 in around 4:00 en route to the 1600). I suspect it'll also work for younger kids, and if you don't have access to a 400m track, a 300m - 400m loop would work as well.

Are they still called "indian runs"?

get them in groups and give each group a frisbee. The first person in line throws the frisbee and the last kid chases it down and runs to the front of the line and throws the frisbee.

We actually did this in highschool and some joker would always throw the frisbee over the hallway connecting two buildings and the last kid would have to sprint about a half mile to catch the group.

+1 on this.

Took over a "game-playing" middle school XC program a few years ago. Starting treating them like real distance runners (20-25 MPW, + threshold workouts), and the results were great.

Program nearly doubled in size, kids ran fast, and many of them have gone on to have great HS careers.

We still did everything we could to keep it fun and “age-appropriate”, but we found that the assumption kids just want to play games and not train was wrong. Running fast and building an identity as a hard worker is important at that age, and showing up and winning meets was much more fun than playing tag every day.

Obviously elementary school is different, and you prbably shouldn't be running more than 10-15 miles a week. Still, give them a taste of the distance runner's life and I think you'll be surprised how many like it.

If you're using a track, first and foremost teach the kids some track/running etiquette. Too many kids at the local track acting like idiots because the coaches aren't teaching them simple things like not to walk out in front of people doing workouts, not to stand in lane 1, not to leave trash everywhere, etc. Don't take a poop on the track.

I coached the City of Rockville youth program (not too far from DC) for a few years, both track and cross-country. A typical day for the elementary school group was 800m warm-up on arrival, form drills, 800m at 90% effort, water break, 4*200 meters (waterfall start, groups of 15), then a game of sharks and minnows. Each meet covered exactly half the events in alternating fashion (i.e. Format A: 100, 200, 1600 ; Format B: 50, 400, 800) and every kid did every event. That really simplifies the logistics and helps keep kids from ducking events. We didn't have equipment for field events, but the kids did these events at meets as best they could. No high jump for elementary school though--too dangerous.

I should also add that this was a twice a week program. If I were coaching the days between, I would probably add easy running and more relay practice.

Your number 1 priority is to make sure they have fun and come away with a positive experience. Period. That should be your only goal.