It is during the early educational years that skills are developed, habits are formed, and values are shaped. The skills for a lifetime of physical activity are developed through quality teaching, deliberate practice, assessment and reflection. Research supports the importance of elementary physical education experiences and the importance of skill acquisition for continued participation and enjoyment of physical activity. This article focuses on the revised National Standards and grade-level outcomes, and their implications for the future of elementary physical education. The National Standards help to determine the goals that educators hope students will attain by the end of their educational journey, and the grade-level outcomes for elementary physical education provide the benchmarks for the attainment of maturing patterns of skill performance. With grade-level outcomes teachers now know what students should "know and be able to do" by the end of each grade level.