Obstacle course
Age
3-5 years
Child Development
Vocabulary: location words (e.g. through, over, under, on, beside); map drawing and labelling; pretend play
Equipment
Cushions
Rope
Chair
Hoop
Cardboard box
Stool
Towels
Pool noodle
Physical Activity
Vigorous play (building strong bones and muscles); developing movement skills (body and spatial awareness)
How to Play
- Set up an obstacle course with the children and talk about all the ways of moving through it (e.g. crawl under a chair, jump over cushions, log roll along a towel, stand on and jump off a low bench, walk backwards along a rope, move around a toy box, crab walk across a rug, etc.).
- Read “Comin’ Through,” then invite the children to create an obstacle course and have them describe the movements needed to get through it.
- COMIN’ THROUGH by Anonymous
Over, under,
between, around,
Lots of ways
to cover the ground.
Crawling, creeping,
leaping, too
Watch out now,
I’m coming through.
- COMIN’ THROUGH by Anonymous
- Have the children draw a map of the course and trace with their finger: a) their favourite, b) the easiest, c) the hardest, etc. route through it.
Excerpt from the HOP Early Learning Practitioners Resource (Decoda Literacy Solutions)