Animal moves
An evasion and footwork warm-up for U7 and up, with where the cones go, how it runs and what to say when it is not working.
Free to read with no account. It works at a pitch with no signal too.
- Age grades
- U7, U8, U9, U10, U11, U12
- Time
- 6 minutes
- Players
- 6 to 24
- Space
- 15 x 10 m
- Kit
- 8 cones
- Pitch
- Fine on hard ground
- Indoors
- Fits a small space
Setting it up
Four short lines with a cone ten metres in front of each one. No balls.
How it runs
Bear crawl down on hands and feet, jog back. Then crab walk down on your hands and heels with your tummy up. Then frog jumps, landing on two feet and holding it still for a second. Two lengths of each. It looks like messing about and it is the only part of the night where they load their shoulders, their hips and their landing, which is the whole point of the RFU's Activate work at this age.
What to watch for
- Bear crawl with your bottom down, not sticking up in the air
- Crab walk with your hips lifted off the grass
- Land your jumps on two feet and freeze. Wobbling means slow down
Make it easier
- Five metres instead of ten
- One length of each
Make it harder
- Race the lines against each other
- Crawl sideways as well as forwards
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Knees dragging on the grass in the bear crawl
- Knees off the floor. Hands and toes only
- Landing a frog jump on one foot then hopping to steady up
- Two feet at once, then hold still. Smaller jump if you have to
More like this
The grades that can do it
What U7 rugby allows is the rule this sits under. Regulation 15 is reissued every summer, so the RFU's own rules of play are the ones to read for this season rather than a copy on somebody else's website. Ours included. Read against the RFU's 2026/27 appendices in August 2026.