Obstacle Activities for Children

Indoor Courses

• Make an indoor obstacle activity for children using pillows, chairs and tables. Have them crawl through a tunnel made from pillows, step on pieces of paper staggered on the floor, crawl under balloons that dangle from the ceiling and over or underneath chairs. String yarn from one wall to the other or from one piece of furniture to another and have children crawl over or under the yarn. Make the course more difficult for older children by having them wear a large hat while completing the course.

Outdoor Courses

• Use items such as lawn chairs, cardboard boxes, plastic cones, hula hoops and ladders to create an outdoor course. Ideas include crawling underneath lawn chairs, weaving around plastic cones, jumping over cardboard boxes and jumping through a series of hula hoops. Place a ladder flat on the ground that children must hop through. A backyard jungle gym or a slide are also perfect for obstacle course activities.

Water Courses

• Place several plastic swimming pools on the ground and fill them with water. Children can run or swim through each one during a water obstacle activity. Have them run through water sprinklers and over slip-n-slides. If you do not have a slip-n-slide, make your own by taping large, thick trash bags to one another in a straight line. Place large water balloons at different places in the course that players must sit on and pop.

Messy Courses

• Create a messy obstacle course using items such as cooked noodles, shaving cream, plastic swimming pools, buckets and balloons. Fill a pool full of cooked noodles and oil; children must get in the pool to find small rubber balls. Other ideas include popping shaving cream-filled balloons, crawling on a slip-n-slide that is covered in chocolate pudding and stepping into buckets filled with ice and water. Place water sprinklers at the end of the course to help the children wash off.