Backyard Obstacle Course

Building a backyard obstacle course for your kids is much more than just a way to keep your kids entertained on a summer afternoon. Obstacle courses can help your children to develop essential skills and abilities, including: endurance, strength, motor skills, motor planning, spatial awareness, confidence, agility, coordination, and balance. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money or even be complicated, for that matter. Your preschoolers and young children will be thrilled to go through an obstacle course with objects found around the house – think skipping ropes, folding chairs, hula hoops, and other toys. The types of activities you include will depend on the age of your participants. Read on to find out what kinds of activities and materials can be used with each age group.

Toddlers and Preschoolers

Toddlers and preschoolers are very tactile. They also love to use their imagination. It’s up to you to put a spin on it that you know your kids will enjoy – maybe they’re making their way through a jungle or they’re divers encountering underwater obstacles. You can use objects that you already have around the house to create the course, for instance:

  • Use a skipping rope to create a path that children have to walk on their tip-toes, pretending it’s a tightrope.
  • Have children roll a hula hoop from one predetermined point to another.
  • Use sports balls for physical challenges, such as throwing the ball into a basket.
  • A large cardboard box can be used to create a tunnel.
  • Bikes, wagons, and tricycles can be used for races.

obstacle3.740x303Elementary School Kids

Kids who are six or older will be able to complete more precise challenges. You will have to raise the difficulty of your obstacle course but that doesn’t mean you need a set of new supplies. The same household items can be used to challenge children. For instance:

  • Balancing tasks might include asking children to walk with a bean bag on their head or an egg on a spoon in their mouth. You can make obstacles for them to weave through using lawn chairs or pylons, if you have them.
  • Ask children to complete a challenge while hopping or jumping, for instance using chalk to draw the places where they can hop to and from. Hula hoops can also be used to create zones they must hop to.
  • Older children can also do strength challenges. Ask them to complete a specified number of sit-ups or jumping jacks.
  • If you have monkey bars in your backyard, incorporate them as part of the obstacle course.
  • Teamwork activities can also be used for older children. Challenge them to complete steps of an activity, for instance using a sponge to empty water from the bucket. One child can fill the sponge and another can squeeze.

obstacle1.740x303Fun Ideas

Obstacle courses can be modified to suit any occasion. If you have a family with a lot of kids, why not keep them busy during family reunions with an obstacle course? A birthday party is another great occasion to build a backyard obstacle course to keep kids occupied. The goal can be to compete with other kids or simply just to enjoy going through it for fun. As a parent, you can use your creativity to build the perfect obstacle course to suit the occasion.