Skill: Throw
Suggested age: 3-12 years
Requirements: Large hard surface such as driveway, sidewalk, garage, or basement room, large round ball such as basketball or soccer ball, old milk cartons or plastic drink bottles, small amount of sand or soil
Instructions: Collect a few empty milk cartons or plastic drink bottles and fill the bottoms with 2 cm of garden soil, sand or gravel. Set up the cartons or drink bottles as bowling targets at the top end of a driveway beside your house, inside your garage, or inside a large basement room without breakable objects. Choose a place where you and your child will bowl from. You might want to let your child bowl from a shorter distance than you. Show your child how to do a basic bowling action. If you are bowling right-handed, your left leg should step forward as you bowl. If you are bowling left-handed, your right leg should step forward. TIP: Your throwing hand should come from straight behind and under your shoulder, almost brushing your leg. Take turns bowling and trying to knock down the cartons or plastic bottles.
Variations: As your child’s throwing improves, try making a game where you keep score—each milk carton can be worth 1-3 points
Benefits: This activity develops coordination of arms and torso, fine motor control, and the ability to “read” distances. These skills transfer to sports and activities that involve throwing an object accurately over a perceived distance (e.g., balls, frisbees, ribbons, sticks, batons).
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Next: Bucket Toss Golf
You can find more ways to get your kids active at Active For Life.
Giant Tic Tac Toss
Bring Tic Tac Toe to life with this version with frisbees and beanbags. Help children learn how to 'read' distances and play this new take on a classic game.
Skill: Toss
Suggested age: 6-10 years old
Requirements: Large sheet or tarp, duct tape, eight beanbags or frisbees—need four of each of two colours
Instructions: On a flat surface, adhere strips of duct tape to a shower curtain liner: two horizontal strips and two vertical strips to create nine equal squares. Use more tape to make Xs on four flying disks or heavyweight plastic plates and four more disks or plates for Os. Set up a throw line, then follow the rules of tic-tac-toe. If disk lands off the board, in an already-claimed square, or centered on a line, have child throw it again. For older kids use frisbees, don’t give allowance to throw again, etc.
Benefits: This activity develops coordination of arms and torso, fine motor control, and the ability to “read” distances. These skills transfer to sports and activities that involve throwing an object accurately over a perceived distance (e.g., balls, javelins, frisbees, ribbons, sticks, batons)
Up Next: Bowling Milk Cartons
Previous: Bucket Toss Golf
You can find more ways to get your kids active at Active For Life.
I love reading/writing about ways to get active so when I received an email from Lara over at NKPR inviting me to an obstacle course event for kids, I was gungho to go! Unfortunately, it coincided with something else with my calendar but I persuaded her to send over fun ways you can get your kids moving courtesy of Active For Life!
Golf is not just a sport to be enjoyed by adults, this version is a great way to entertain children for hours as well as develop important skills like eye hand coordination and fine motor skills. This fun version of golf can be played both indoors and out!
Skill: Throw
Suggested age: 4-10 years old
Requirements: Beanbags, soft foam balls or balls of socks, buckets, laundry baskets or large cardboard boxes, pieces of cardboard, or paper to mark “golf tees”
Instructions: Create a series of “golf holes” by placing the buckets, baskets or boxes around your living room, hallways and other available spaces. Place scraps of cardboard or paper on the floor to mark “golf tees” where you throw from. With your child, take turns standing on each golf tee and tossing a beanbag or ball underhand into the bucket, basket or box. Continue tossing at each hole until each of you sinks one shot. Go around the circuit of “golf holes” and keep track of how many tosses each of you requires to sink a shot at each hole. If your child has too much difficulty sinking shots, consider having different tees with different distances for parent and child.
Variations: As your child masters the game using short distance tosses, challenge them by increasing the distances. After your child masters the underhand throw, play again using overhand throws.
Benefits: This activity develops coordination of arms and torso, fine motor control, and the ability to “read” distances. These skills transfer to sports and activities that involve throwing an object accurately over a perceived distance (e.g., balls, frisbees, ribbons, sticks, batons).
Previous: Giant Tic Tac Toss
Next: Bowling Milk Cartons
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