Obstacle courses are great fun for kids and can keep them occupied for hours, especially if you make them part of the planning and preparations. They absolutely love being involved in this process. Obstacle courses encourage problem solving and lots of physical movement which is often lacking in todays sedentary lifestyle. This is a great confidence booster for little ones and a number of different skills are developed like agility, speed and coordination.
Here are some of the things that were lying around the house that my husband used for our obstacle course.
- Old planks
- Old geysers
- Rope
- Tyre tubes
- Tyres
- Pool noodles
- Chopped up wood
- Paint
You can have so much fun searching for all the items to include in the obstacle course and really make this a family activity.
1.Climbing over the plank
Skills developed: visual perception, balancing, coordination of all 4 body sides and motor planning.
2.Walking on the wall
Skills developed: Balancing.
3.Stepping on the wooden circles
Skills developed: Balance, Eye-foot coordination.
4.Walking on the plank
Skills developed: Balance.
5.Climbing under the old geysers
Skill developed: Spatial awareness. Spatial awareness is the ability to be aware of oneself in space.
6.Swinging on the rope
Skill developed: Develops strong muscles in the shoulders, arms, hands and fingers. (upper body strength)
7.Walking over the plank on rollers
Skills developed: Balancing and motor planning.
8.Jumping over tubes
Skills developed: Depth perception. (The ability of the human eye to see in three dimensions and judge the distance of an object.) Jumping skills and eye-foot coordination.
9.Pool noodles
Skill developed: Jumping skills. Jumping stimulates the vestibular system, coordinates the two body sides and balance. It also promotes proprioception.
I am not sure who had more fun with this activity, my husband or our children!
Here are some more obstacle course ideas for you to do at home from the Clamber Club YouTube Channel:
Website: www.clamberclub.com