How to Make an Obstacle Course

How to Make an Obstacle Course

By: Dr. Tiffany G. Showalter, OTD, OTR/L

Birds fly, fish swim, and children run, bounce, climb, jump, balance,
and spin. That’s just what they do. And whether we adults like it or not,
they are going to keep doing it because that is how they learn to live in and
interact with the great big world around them. In order to do this, children
use all of their senses. They observe their surroundings and what others
are doing in it; touch and grasp a variety of textured surfaces and items;
listen to sounds; smell scents; change body positions; maintain their balance;
and experiment with different movement patterns.

As this school years draws to an end, don’t be discouraged with what
you can do to tire those little busy bodies out. One way to not only
entertain children during those long summer months, but promote sensory
processing and motor planning skills is to build an obstacle course. Obstacle
courses can be both sensational and fun. They can take only a few minutes or
keep children busy for hours. They are inexpensive and do not depend on
the weather.

You and your child can build an obstacle course outdoors, where
everything is better, or indoors on those impossible rainy days. You don’t
need any special equipment – just a fresh way of looking at ordinary objects,
with an eye on how they can promote sensory processing.

WHAT TO DO

1. First, brainstorm with your kids. Make three bags, bowls, or boxes
with these headings: Ways to Move, Prepositions, and Objects. Take
index cards on which to write each of the ideas and place in their
respective locations. Suggest a few to get your child started, and then
encourage them to add their own ideas.

For example,

Ways to Move:

Step, walk, creep (on all fours), crawl (on belly), scoot (on bottom), roll, somersault, jump
(two feet), hop (one foot), leap, run, spin

Prepositions:

Up, upon, down, into, onto, between, beneath, beside, under, over, through, across, around

Objects:

Consumables: Construction paper shapes, shoeboxes, paper plates, bubble wrap, masking
tape, soda bottles

Kitchen: Stools, chairs, mixing bowls

Garage: Sawhorses, boards, inner tubes, tires, thick rope, flower pots, tarps, lawn chairs,
buckets

Household: Wastebaskets, couch cushions, mattress, bed pillows, T.V. table, exercise
bench, telephone books, wash tubs, rugs, carpet squares, and sheet to drape over chairs for
a tent

Kids’ equipment: Hula hoops, big blocks, gym mats, Crash Pad (duvet cover, stuffed with
pillows and foam blocks)

2. Second, plan the course. Let your child select one card from each
location to put together one task in the obstacle course.

For example,

Step / Into / Shoe boxes

Scoot / Around / Wastebaskets
Creep / Under / Table

Crawl / Through / Tunnel
Walk / Between / Lines of tape

Somersault / Across / Mattress
Roll / Over / Rug

Jump / On / Bubble wrap

Vary movements, prepositions and objects to reinforce children’s
ability to handle and discriminate different materials (tactile sense),
stretch muscles and develop body awareness (tactile/proprioceptive senses),
balance and move through space (vestibular sense), perceive spatial
relationships and negotiate around obstacles (visual-motor skills), and
improve motor planning, coordination and postural responses (sensory-based
motor skills).

3. Next, build the course. I would suggest one activity for every year of
age. So if your child is four, begin with four different activities. Make sure
you let the kids help put the course together. Kids with sensory problems
often “sense” what their systems need; honor their ideas and be flexible
about altering the plan. Also, remember that the heavy work of lifting,
carrying, pushing and pulling materials into place is like over-the-counter OT.

4. Finally, complete the course with your child. I would recommend
beginning slowly, step by step. Incorporate siblings or peers to encourage
turn taking. You might also try timing each run of the course to make it
more exciting. Don’t forget to have your child help clean-up.

So this summer keep your child on the move while stimulating his or
her creativity with constructing an obstacle course. It’s not only great for
the body and mind, but your sanity until they begin to stock those shelves
with school supplies for the fall.

Adapted from: Sensations, Volume 3, Issue 2 (September 2005), a
Newsletter for the Benefactors and Friends of the Foundation for
Knowledge in Development (The KID Foundation)How to Make an Obstacle Course

By: Dr. Tiffany G. Showalter, OTD, OTR/L

Birds fly, fish swim, and children run, bounce, climb, jump, balance,
and spin. That’s just what they do. And whether we adults like it or not,
they are going to keep doing it because that is how they learn to live in and
interact with the great big world around them. In order to do this, children
use all of their senses. They observe their surroundings and what others
are doing in it; touch and grasp a variety of textured surfaces and items;
listen to sounds; smell scents; change body positions; maintain their balance;
and experiment with different movement patterns.

As this school years draws to an end, don’t be discouraged with what
you can do to tire those little busy bodies out. One way to not only
entertain children during those long summer months, but promote sensory
processing and motor planning skills is to build an obstacle course. Obstacle
courses can be both sensational and fun. They can take only a few minutes or
keep children busy for hours. They are inexpensive and do not depend on
the weather.

You and your child can build an obstacle course outdoors, where
everything is better, or indoors on those impossible rainy days. You don’t
need any special equipment – just a fresh way of looking at ordinary objects,
with an eye on how they can promote sensory processing.

WHAT TO DO

1. First, brainstorm with your kids. Make three bags, bowls, or boxes
with these headings: Ways to Move, Prepositions, and Objects. Take
index cards on which to write each of the ideas and place in their
respective locations. Suggest a few to get your child started, and then
encourage them to add their own ideas.

For example,

Ways to Move:

Step, walk, creep (on all fours), crawl (on belly), scoot (on bottom), roll, somersault, jump
(two feet), hop (one foot), leap, run, spin

Prepositions:

Up, upon, down, into, onto, between, beneath, beside, under, over, through, across, around

Objects:

Consumables: Construction paper shapes, shoeboxes, paper plates, bubble wrap, masking
tape, soda bottles

Kitchen: Stools, chairs, mixing bowls

Garage: Sawhorses, boards, inner tubes, tires, thick rope, flower pots, tarps, lawn chairs,
buckets

Household: Wastebaskets, couch cushions, mattress, bed pillows, T.V. table, exercise
bench, telephone books, wash tubs, rugs, carpet squares, and sheet to drape over chairs for
a tent

Kids’ equipment: Hula hoops, big blocks, gym mats, Crash Pad (duvet cover, stuffed with
pillows and foam blocks)

2. Second, plan the course. Let your child select one card from each
location to put together one task in the obstacle course.

For example,

Step / Into / Shoe boxes

Scoot / Around / Wastebaskets
Creep / Under / Table

Crawl / Through / Tunnel
Walk / Between / Lines of tape

Somersault / Across / Mattress
Roll / Over / Rug

Jump / On / Bubble wrap

Vary movements, prepositions and objects to reinforce children’s
ability to handle and discriminate different materials (tactile sense),
stretch muscles and develop body awareness (tactile/proprioceptive senses),
balance and move through space (vestibular sense), perceive spatial
relationships and negotiate around obstacles (visual-motor skills), and
improve motor planning, coordination and postural responses (sensory-based
motor skills).

3. Next, build the course. I would suggest one activity for every year of
age. So if your child is four, begin with four different activities. Make sure
you let the kids help put the course together. Kids with sensory problems
often “sense” what their systems need; honor their ideas and be flexible
about altering the plan. Also, remember that the heavy work of lifting,
carrying, pushing and pulling materials into place is like over-the-counter OT.

4. Finally, complete the course with your child. I would recommend
beginning slowly, step by step. Incorporate siblings or peers to encourage
turn taking. You might also try timing each run of the course to make it
more exciting. Don’t forget to have your child help clean-up.

So this summer keep your child on the move while stimulating his or
her creativity with constructing an obstacle course. It’s not only great for
the body and mind, but your sanity until they begin to stock those shelves
with school supplies for the fall.

Adapted from: Sensations, Volume 3, Issue 2 (September 2005), a
Newsletter for the Benefactors and Friends of the Foundation for
Knowledge in Development (The KID Foundation)