Outdoor Backyard Gross Motor Fun!

The kids are getting out of school, the weather is getting VERY warm, and many families are looking for things to do! Many people are starting to think about backyard barbecues and other fun, family friendly activities as we picture our summers! Don’t forget to include some gross motor fun into your next backyard barbecue extravaganza. These activities below are sure to keep your kids moving and having a blast!

Sack Races

Sack races are so much fun and allow kids to jump, jump, jump to the finish line in a way that engages their competitive side and gets all of their energy going! Jumping with your legs together is a great way to work on coordination and strength while getting a little bit of that extra energy OUT! If you think this would be a fun idea, you can buy sacks for outdoor racing here:

Movement Circle

Have all the children stand in a big circle, where they can all see each other! In a movement circle you can play fun games like “Pass the move” where every child does one move and then everyone repeats the move. These moves can be linked together to form a whole mini dance to keep kids moving and grooving in a funky way! In the circle, they can also move along to kids music specifically created for movement, like “Simon Says”, “The Hokey Pokey”, and “Animal Action”. Look for children’s movement songs on YouTube, Spotify, or other music Apps. There is also a whole YouTube channel of children’s movement songs through GoNoodle too, if your child loves silly characters! Here are a few links to some fun ones: 

Simon Says

Hokey Pokey Freeze

Animal action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30ePPeUbwSs

The Floor Is Lava Dance

GoNoodle’s YouTube Channel

Building an Obstacle Course

For this one, have each child choose one item they want to put in their obstacle course (so that no one is touching the same items). Have them make up a specific rule for how to use their part of the obstacle course and have each child explain that rule to their friends. By the end of all the explanations and the building process, they will have created a full obstacle course as a team! This will help them use their creativity and collaboration skills before each of them jumps into action to move through their creation, helping them to work on strength and coordination too!

Hopscotch

This old classic is great for working on jumping and hopping, and makes kids switch feet on every step, so it is also great for coordination. It can be set up with simple sidewalk chalk on a driveway or blacktop at the park. Jumping between numbers can be made even more fun and tricky if you ask the children to skip certain numbers, say their top ten favorite animals with every jump, or come up with their own wacky pattern for jumping through the squares.

Have fun out there everybody, keep moving, and enjoy the start to your SUMMER! Let us know @Kidpt on Instagram and @KidPTNJ on facebook or by emailing us at info@kidpt.com to tell us how these outdoor games worked out and if you want more fun ideas for how to keep your kids moving this summer!