Gross motor2–4 yrsOutdoors

Obstacle course

Whatever's lying around, in a line, with rules.

Prep

5 min

Mess

Low

How to play

Build the course together and walk it once slowly, naming each step. Then race it. Then let him rearrange it and tell you the new rules.

  1. a chair, a cushion and a box at different depths with a path weaving past
    1

    Chairs, cushions, a box, a length of rope.

  2. a path curving under a chair
    2

    A chair to crawl under.

  3. a path following a rope laid on the floor
    3

    A rope to walk along.

  4. a path arcing up over a box
    4

    A box to climb over.

  5. one path winding past all three obstacles
    5

    Then run the whole thing again, faster.

What you need

Anything: chairs to crawl under, a rope to walk, boxes to jump over, a bucket to run around.

What it secretly builds

Gross motor

Remembering the order of five steps and doing them in sequence is planning — the same skill behind getting dressed without help.

Safety first
Nothing he can pull down on himself, and stay close on anything raised.
Spin again