How To Help Your Child Plan And Create An Outdoor Obstacle Course

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After enjoying a “heat wave” in February I feel like warmer weather will be here to stay soon! With this in mind, I wanted to share a fun outdoor activity you can do with your kids this Spring. My boys and I went to Walmart to buy some outdoor toys and Goldfish® crackers (in the Cheddar flavor and the Xtra Cheddar flavor) and then we headed home for a fun afternoon.

Our outdoor activities usually consist of sports (because our children like to fit in practice however they can) but occasionally I like to switch things up a bit. Having taught preschool before Pinterest existed I had to come up with as many ways as possible to keep a classroom of kids busy and an obstacle course was one of their favorite activities. I thought it would be fun to make one with my boys as we spent time together outside.

The first thing you need to do to help your kids create an obstacle course is to gather all of the outdoor play items you have that your kids could use in creating an obstacle course. We used a few hula hoops, a little bowling set, flying discs, a football, cones, relay race batons, chalk and a tunnel. (If you don’t have much or it’s all packed away check out Walmart’s selection of outdoor toys!)

Don’t forget to bring your Goldfish® crackers outside because you know your kids are sure to get hungry while you all are playing. I buy Goldfish® crackers in the bulk boxes and then pour them into individual cups for easy serving outdoors.

After you bring everything you need outside, have the child plan their obstacle course by drawing it out on paper. Having children plan the activity before they set it up helps them develop critical thinking skills.

Jacob’s course involved jumping in hula hoops then going into a tunnel. Out of the tunnel he had put the relay batons down so that people would have to hop over each one. Next was a chalk drawn hopscotch and then a little bowling. After the person knocked all of the pins down he had cones set up and discs available to throw on each cone. The final obstacle was throwing a ball through a hula hoop someone was holding.

Jacob enjoyed drawing out the course he envisioned while Lucas preferred to sit in the shade and eat his favorite snack – Goldfish® crackers! {The Snack That Smiles Back®}

Jacob made sure to eat some of his snack as well before they headed out to the front yard to complete the next step of the process- creation of the obstacle course!

Jacob did great setting up the obstacle course just like he had drawn on his paper.

Lucas, meanwhile, loved being the obstacle course tester.

He also helped by changing around things he thought needed to be fixed :)

After an afternoon full of building their obstacle course and going through it numerous times they enjoyed some more Goldfish® crackers before it was time to head inside.

Have you ever created an obstacle course with your kids? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

12 thoughts on “How To Help Your Child Plan And Create An Outdoor Obstacle Course”

  1. Oh my gosh my child would love this! He is always trying to find ways to do creative things outside. I totally love it that he does. We may have to do something like this.

    Reply
  2. That’s such a great idea. My son would love to do this. He’s a big fan of obstacle courses. He watches American Ninja Warrior all the time. He’d get a kick out of this.

    Reply
  3. My kids would love this! So perfect for the spring weather coming! My daughter can eat a pack of goldfish a day!

    Reply
  4. I really love the fact that this is not only creative but creative outdoors. It gets kids off of the couch and outside enjoying the weather. I really think it is important that kids get some outdoor time.

    Reply

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