Hobbies And Interests
Home Obstacle Course
Use sheets, chairs, tables, large toys and permanent structures to create a home obstacle course inside or outdoors. Create things to crawl over, under, run around and climb. For example, a sheet draped between two chairs forms a tunnel and hazard cones create zigzag courses to run through. Use a timer to determine who best finishes the course. In children with a range of ages and abilities, award handicap points to make the competition more balanced and fair. Specify how a kid must traverse the course, such as in a duck walk or in a relay. Change the course each time you play the game to keep it fresh and challenging.
"Jump, Skip, Hop, Sit"
Sit the kids on the floor or ground in a circle. Roll dice or draw a card that explains how the child traverses the circle. Options for making the circuit include jumping, skipping, hopping, crawling, walking, rolling, cartwheeling and running. The child who begins starts outside the circle. She tags another child as she begins her circuit. The second child gets up and races the first child using the same method of movement. The child who arrives back at the empty spot sits down and the other child is it for the next round.
Junior Olympics
Set up a junior Olympics field and divide the kids into groups to represent different countries. Include activities such as track and field events or other individual competitive sport. Also include team sports such as volleyball, soccer, basketball and football. Add some creativity to your games by altering them some. For example, your cycle event could use tricycles instead of bicycles or use a beach ball for your shot put. Use a few adults to rate the competitors and award points to teams. Give out awards at the end of the competition. The game stresses teamwork and individual abilities as it motivates the kids to move.
"Soaring Towers"
Provide different sizes and shapes of boxes and challenge the kids to build towers with them. Create teams and give each team the same collection of boxes, awarding the victory to the fastest team to build the tower. Alternatively, allow teams to compete one at a time and keep account of the speed, height and stability of the tower. Award points based on how well each team succeeds in each of the three areas.