DIY Backyard Obstacle Course for Your Kids
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Get kids active and outdoors with a do-it-yourself (DIY) backyard obstacle course.
Obstacle courses build important gross motor skills, develop muscles, develop coordination, help motor planning, increase endurance, increase confidence, basically, all the benefits of outdoor play and physical activity that you already know about.
Let each of your kids (or their friends) invent a course for others to try.
Run through the course. Then time how fast everyone is.
Try silly animal walks, skipping, or going backward.
ACTIONS FOR YOUR OBSTACLE COURSE
What other things can you obstacle course include? How about one of these actions:
Stop and start.
Throw.
Hop.
Run.
Bounce on a bouncy ball.
Jump.
Skip.
Kick.
Skip.
Slide.
Crawl.
Crab walk.
Zig-zag.
Balance.
Backyard Obstacle Course
Go outside and find things you already own in your toy storage box. (Do you have one? – if you don’t I highly recommend something like this one from Target. It’s a great way to store supplies, toys and games for outside. AND, you can raid it to create your obstacle course!)
You can use anything you have for your obstacle course. Here’s a list of what we use most frequently for our backyard obstacle courses:
Obstacle Course Ideas
Jump Rope – these work for running while jumping or as a line on the ground
Cones – these are the BEST for your course since you can arrange in lots of interesting ways
Jumpy Ball – races anyone?
Horse Shoes – we use these to throw, to hop over, and as stepping stones
Hula Hoops – these can be on the ground or for when you get somewhere and need to “hoop” as an activity
Frisbees – these are the best! Use to throw at a target or as stepping stones.
other supply ideas: buckets, chalk, boxes, flags, chairs.
What do you think? Doesn’t this look FUN!?
More Backyard Obstacle Course Ideas
Watch a video – Make an Obstacle Course Indoors
Urban Kids Outside Obstacle Course
Love this Melissa (same name lol). Can’t wait for my son to grow big and do this in our backyard. He is 2 now and will be able to do this hopefully when he turns 3.
yes, and it’s great for gross motor planning and coordination!