Many physical educators argue that physical education prepares students to live physically active lives by fostering the appropriate acquisition of motor skills (Gallahue, 1996; Gallahue & Cleland, 2003; Pettifor, 1999). Unfortunately, minimal data is available concerning the acquisition of motor skills and the impact on physical activity behavior (McKenzie et al., 2002). It would seem logical that skillful movers are more physically active than lesser skilled individuals. A cross-sectional study conducted by Saaslahti et al. (1999) revealed that fundamental movement skills were not strongly related to physical activity behavior among 3 to 4 year old Finnish children, signifying that motor skill acquisition may not be a predictor of children’s future physical activity. The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports in 2002 recommended that males and females age six through 17 accumulate 13,000 and 11,000 daily steps respectively. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between physical activity (via pedometer steps) and three motor skill tests. A secondary purpose of this study was to determine if middle school children are meeting the daily pedometer step recommendation. A sample of (N = 79) male and female 6th graders participated in this study. Each subject wore a Digi-Walker SW407 pedometer for three consecutive days. Subjects additionally recorded their pedometer steps in two 45 minute physical education classes. Each participant performed the Bass Stick Balance Test, AAHPERD Passing Test, and the Side-Step Agility Test. Reliability and validity of these tests has been established. Males and females both had negative correlations between daily steps taken, pedometer steps during physical education class and the AAHPERD Passing Test and the Bass Stick Balance Test (right and left leg) ranging from (r = -.115 to -.400). However, both males and females daily pedometer steps were positively correlated (r = .271; r = .153) with the Side-Step Agility Test. Pedometer steps taken during physical education were negatively correlated (r = -.229) with the Side-Step Agility Test for females. Males and females averaged 12,289 and 10,138 daily steps respectively. Only ten males (53%) and 16 (50%) females accumulated enough daily pedometer steps during the three day period to meet the current recommendation. During physical education males averaged 1,369 steps while females averaged only 715 steps. Further understanding of motor skill development may assist researchers to design interventions to promote physical activity among middle school children (McKenzie et al., 2002).Keyword(s): middle school issues, physical activity, research