This is a super fun thing to do with the kids this summer to keep them from uttering the most annoying words in the world “I’m Bored!”  Thanks to Sarah for this post!

Fun Obstacle Course

In celebration of the biggest sports event of 2012, why not encourage your kids to compete against each other in a self-made obstacle course, which would have professional athletes shaking in fear of it. Okay, the athletes’ bit is an exaggeration, but it will be a fun day and give the kids plenty to do both in preparation and while partaking.

The Course

To begin with the course will have to be planned. How many individual obstacles do you want to have, and what will they be made of? Once you’ve decided how big your course should be, and this is very much dependent on the space you have, it’s time to scavenge the house for material. Creativity is key when making the course and your kids should be the chief engineers of it all with you helping them along the way. They will need to referee the event, and as ref you’ll need a stopwatch. Here are some ideas for obstacles to give you inspiration:

Slalom

Find some tin cans empty or full is up to you, and place them in a row on the course. Be sure to leave enough space between them for a leg to get through, but not too much as this would make it too easy. The contestant must zig-zag through the row of cans as quickly as possible without knocking them over. If a tin gets knocked down, the contestant must start from the beginning and loses valuable time.

Beam

Next up is the balancing beam. To create this obstacle you’ll need a wooden plank or large and sturdy branch, which is balanced atop some crates, storage boxes or hardcover books. The beam needn’t be high off the ground. Contestants must balance across it as quickly as they can, and if they fall off, then they have to start the beam again.

Throwing Game

This game requires good aim and patience. Place a pair of wooden shutters across two crates or boxes with an open box beneath it. Make sure that the slats of the shutters are wide open. Contestants must throw a selection of objects through the holes of the shutters’ slats. Each object could grant you 5 milliseconds off the final time. These objects can be anything of any weight that can fit between the slats, for example marbles, pins, mini-action figures or Lego people, toy cars, or wooden spoons. The more you get through the better, and, of course, the clock is still ticking!

Bowling

Align some old cereal boxes filled with sand to give them a bit of weight, or use old milk cartons with some water in them, into a v-formation just like the pins at bowling. The difficult part of this game is that you never know what size ball you will get. Tennis balls, volley balls, and beach balls can all be used to knock as many pins down as possible. Contestants have three chances to knock over the pins.

Shape game

For the shape game you will need boxes and a blindfold. One box contains several different shaped objects. Ten of these objects have to be round, while the others can be anything but round. The contestant is blindfolded and must move all the round objects from the full box to the empty box as quickly as possible.

Once all obstacles are complete, contestants must sprint to the finish line. Whoever has the best time wins a gold medal, which is made out of a chocolate gold coin hanging from a ribbon. You can always invite friends over for extra competition.

Author Bio: This article was written by Sarah Oxley on behalf of Shutters Direct, providers of quality wooden shutters. Sarah is an experienced teacher and has created many games to keep her pupils amused during break time and as summer holiday inspiration to keep them from getting too bored.