Making an easy sidewalk chalk obstacle course in your own driveway or street is a great way to get kids outside, creative and moving. We have done this since our kids were young many times, and I love it because as they get older, they can build it themselves.
My kids are busy and active and drive me crazy if they don’t get out and move as much as humanly possible. I LOVE it, but I am also always trying to think of creative ways to challenge them.
They (separately and collectively) also happen to be full of grandeur plans and ideas (“let’s build a rocket ship that blasts off!”; “we could fly to the top of the shed!”; etc.) Sometimes a little redirection to activities that keep them moving saves us from some doctor visits.
Looking for more ideas of outdoor activities to do from home? Check out our full (ever-evolving) list here!
How to make an easy sidewalk chalk obstacle course
Sidewalks and paved streets and driveways right at home are a great place to build an obstacle course. One of the advantage of doing it in chalk is that you don’t have to move obstacles out of the way should a car come along.
The following are a few ways to make make an easy sidewalk chalk obstacle course for different ages of kids. See the video on how we made ours!
Obstacle Courses for Younger Kids
For the youngest kids, using lines they can follow that swerve and curve and have spaces for jumping are the easiest. It’s also fun to draw stick figure pictures of what they should do and how many times.
Examples:
- Stick figure jumping
- Stick figure spinning
- Arrows pointing directions
Build the course and then have them follow you through it. Let them improvise as they would like.
Obstacle Courses for Older Kids
As I mentioned above, older kids really get into making obstacle courses for each other or their younger siblings if you let them. Depending on the weather, chalk courses could change every day which allows for a different person to take the lead.
Obviously older kids have longer attention spans too so are challenged by longer and more intricite directions. AND they can read so you aren’t limited by stick figure drawings.
This school of our friends in Gardiner, MT did an awesome obstacle course for their students to do while maintaining social distancing. They have some great ideas for ways to get big kids moving. Check out the video below to see it in action!
This is a great idea to get kids twisting their bodies. If you look close you can see the next task is to spin switching directions.
Frog hops (like below) get them using their whole body, perfect on a smooth sidewalk-like surface.
But I do think having kids jump to spell a word may be my favorite! What a way to build some school/community pride during a super tough time for everyone.
Sidewalk chalk obstacle course stations ideas
- Run to the circle and jump 3 times
- Hop across the line back and forth
- Follow the arrow path and spin 4 times
- Jump into each shape and say them (triangle, square, etc.)
- Do a leap at the finish line
- Jump through the boxes
- Jump in and out of the circle
- Do a cartwheel through the drawn ladder (but don’t touch any lines)
- Dance party as you run around the circle
- Spell a word (like the “Bruins” in the photo above)
- Spin in different directions
- Frog hop
- Jump and twist with feet landing in the directions of the arrows
They insisted on me timing them and doing it over and over. Easy for me, energy-out for them. It’s a win-win.
How do you get your kids moving in creative ways? We’re always looking for new ideas!
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This is great! My kids are older so I think I’ll have them set the course up themselves too – we constantly have a gaggle of neighbourhood kids around and this could be a really fun activity for them. Sidwalk chalk drawing and hopscotch are already favourites.