My Grown-Up Is My Obstacle Course

Grown-ups become the obstacle course: a bridge to crawl under, a river of stretched-out legs to jump, a log lying on the floor to crawl around, and a mountain to climb carefully. Kids crawl, jump and climb over their own family's bodies in a game full of trust and laughter.

How to play

1. Each pair sets up on a mat; the teacher shows the four shapes with a volunteer grown-up: bridge, river, log and mountain (2 min).
2. Bridge: the grown-up gets on hands and knees and the child army-crawls underneath, side to side, several times (3 min).
3. River: the grown-up sits with legs stretched out and the child jumps over them with feet together, there and back (3 min).
4. Log and mountain: the grown-up lies face down and the child crawls around them; then the grown-up gets on hands and knees and the child climbs over their back and down the other side with help (3 min).
5. With the tambourine, the teacher calls out an obstacle and the grown-up changes shape; the child gets past it the right way (2 min).
6. Switch roles: the child makes a small bridge and their grown-up crawls around or steps over them with a big stride (2 min).

Rules

• My grown-up is the obstacle: I go past carefully, without stepping on them.
• To climb the mountain, go slowly and hold on tight.
• When the teacher calls a new obstacle, my grown-up changes and I adjust.
• If my grown-up says "Stop!", I stop.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the grown-up makes a tunnel with their arms and the child goes through in a wheelchair or crawling; replace the mountain with touching the grown-up's knees.
• Grown-ups with back or knee problems: they do only the seated river, and the bridge with arms on a table or chair.
• Visual impairment: the grown-up calls out and claps to show where to go, and the child explores the shape by touch first.

Learning goals

• Crawl, jump and climb while adapting to changing obstacles.
• Trust the grown-up and take care of them while moving over them.
• Enjoy closeness and teamwork as a family.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Mats: 12
• Tambourine

Teacher tip

Before starting, ask grown-ups to empty their pockets and take off watches or chunky bracelets. The mountain is the trickiest part: the grown-up's hands and knees must be firmly on the mat, and the child climbs on slowly, never jumping on.

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