Obstacle courses are an ABSOLUTE BLAST! You can race through them, you can be timed, you can even use them for helping with academics. My daughter has begun the steps to learn to read. Her first mission was to memorize -AT words. So, we set up an obstacle course (one of her absolute favorite things) and stuck her -AT words all over it. She was reciting words and walking on the balance beam, jumping over words while reciting them, but more than anything, she was having fun and learning!
If you don’t have gymnastics equipment at home (typically people don’t), you can do this at a park or even with other things you do have at home! You can also make obstacle courses by setting up forts and using masking tape to create spots to jump on or over, even to create a balance beam! You can also use stuffed animals, toy cars or dolls as markers for racing from one point to another. Use pool noodles to jump over and you can even use crepe paper for a grand finale to break through! Place cards with questions throughout your course (or shout them out as your child is trying to get through each individual obstacle) and have fun!
*Make it more difficult by having your child return to the beginning for a wrong answer.
*Make it a family game by having siblings/cousins compete based on pop culture trivia.