How to Create an Indoor Obstacle Course

Whether you̵7;re trying to keep your youngster occupied indoors on a rainy day or planning indoor activities for an afternoon with her friends, you can help your child and her pals work on developing their gross motor skills while having plenty of fun, too. All you need is a little creativity to provide your child with obstacles to keep her entertained, engaged and looking forward to the next rainy day.

Things You'll Need

  • Large blanket
  • Child̵7;s slide
  • Small storage bins
  • Tricycle (optional)
  • 4 chairs
  • Blanket or sheet
  • Hula hoop
  • Basketball
  • Yoga or foam mat
  • Couch cushions
  • Table
  • Ottoman
  • Plush toys
  • Laundry basket

Instructions

  1. Recreation Room Obstacle Course

    • 1

      Clear out the recreation room, moving all toys and activity centers out of the middle of the room. The more space you can create, the larger you can make the obstacle course and the longer it will keep your youngster entertained.

    • 2

      Fold a large blanket in half lengthwise and then continue folding to create a long, thin blanket beam. Lay the beam across the floor. Now your child can walk across the balance beam without having to worry about bumps and bruises if he falls.

    • 3

      Place a slide at the end of the balance beam for your child to climb and slide down into the next obstacle.

    • 4

      Empty a few of the small storage bins and arrange them in a zigzag pattern. Place a tricycle at one end of the zigzag. If you don̵7;t have room for a tricycle indoors, have your child hop around the storage bin cones.

    • 5

      Create a tunnel from four chairs. Arrange two of the chairs side by side and place the remaining two chairs side by side, parallel to the first set. Drape a blanket over the chairs to complete the tunnel.

    • 6

      Place a hula hoop at the end of the tunnel for your child to stop and see how long she can keep it twirling around her hips.

    • 7

      Place a basketball next to the hula hoop for your youngster to dribble to the next obstacle. Lay out a yoga or foam mat and have her somersault along the mat to the finish line.

    Living Room Obstacle Course

    • 8

      Remove the cushions from the couch and line them up for your child to walk across. Alternatively, pile them up for your child to climb over if you don̵7;t have a lot of room.

    • 9

      Leave an empty space and have your child bunny hop toward the coffee table or dining table. Next, have her crawl under the table. You can cover the table with a blanket to make the table more like a tunnel.

    • 10

      Have your child side step or skip over to an ottoman and climb over.

    • 11

      Place several plush toys on the other side of the ottoman and have her toss them into a laundry basket a few feet away before bunny hopping backward to the finish line.

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