Challenging your children with an outside obstacle course during the winter is a great way to get them outside and develop their gross and fine motor skills, fires up their aerobic system to burn some energy and lift their mood whilst having some fun with you and getting dirty!
An obstacle course in your own yard can be as simple as gathering a few things like blankets, chairs, blocks ( for construction challenges), pool noodles, hula hoops, big empty boxes, and your phone to video.
If your kids are older they may want to create their own team headbands, add thinking challenges like scrabble blocks for spelling challenges, compete against their own times, or create their own courses – with your right of veto of course. Even make a course that requires kids to co-operate to get through it if you, and they, want a challenge.
If you don’t have a yard, bring a few things to the local park and create one there.
Theme it for things they love; make it a costumed event, pretend they are on Survivor, or doing a tough Mudder, or the kids equivalent like the TV show Scorpion Island. Video it on your smartphone or ipad, narrate it, get them to take turns doing that too, make it fun and watch it together later inside when it’s too cold to be outside..
An outside game can turn into a few hours of skills development, learning, creativity and great parent/child time together..providing you have a go too of course 🙂
Link to a simple backyard obstacle course site:http://simplekids.net/make-your-own-backyard-obstacle-course/
