This study was part of a larger project merging the need for more systematic and field-tested adventure education curriculum with recent calls for incorporating social objectives into school physical education. Our purpose was to develop and field-test elementary adventure physical education curriculum. Based on literature reviews, we developed a 30-lesson unit organized around social themes inherent in adventure content such as empathy, cooperation, trust, and communication. Each lesson had three parts; an introduction of the social theme of the lesson, an adventure activity that highlighted the theme, and an ending debriefing where the teacher helped students connect the lesson theme with their activity experiences and experiences in other areas of life. We then trained seven experienced elementary physical education teachers and field-tested the curriculum in their home schools. Each teacher taught six, 30-minute lessons to students in grades three and four. We used participant observation methodology to collect data through 24 field observations, 38 teacher interviews, and 82 elementary student interviews; and analyzed data and developed interpretations through constant comparison, negative case analysis, and member checks. Through this process, we identified three themes or principles related to effective implementation of the curriculum- the importance of the introduction for setting the stage for social learning, the need for continuity between social themes and adventure activities, and the need for deep and thorough debriefings. First, to prepare students for lessons, teachers’ introductions must identify a single social theme for the day, elicit students’ prior knowledge, define the theme, and encourage students to connect the up-coming adventure activity with the theme. Second, there must be conceptual continuity between the social theme of the lesson and the adventure activity. In other words, teachers must choose social themes that are embedded within particular adventure activities or vice versa. Third, for students to derive maximum learning, debriefings must be deep and substantial discussions of the complexities of the social theme and how the students experienced the theme during the activity and in other areas of their lives. Without these principles, students were often unable to describe themes in detail, identify instances during the activities in which the theme surfaced, and connect themes with everyday life. This study shows the inherent value of adventure content in addressing typically overlooked social objectives, points out valuable mechanisms to facilitate curriculum development, and offers initial, and long overdue, curriculum for school physical education aimed at moving beyond the status quo.