Lovely childcare

Perfect for Sports Day! Obstacle Course Ideas Recommended for 2-Year-Olds

10 years as a kindergarten teacher / elementary school teacher / junior and senior high school teacher / childminderkepiko
Graduated from Kunitachi College of Music, Faculty of Music (now: Department of Music Culture and Education, Early Childhood Music Education major). In elementary school, my homeroom teacher was Jun Kusaba, a game researcher. After graduating from university, I worked as a kindergarten teacher for 10 years and as an after-school childcare instructor for 7 years, then took a position as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I engaged in activities that introduced Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational activities, working with many children. Later, through freelance writing, planning, and editing at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and sharing. Drawing on the perspective cultivated in the field of education and my experience as an editor, I provide practical information with an emphasis on both input and output, mainly in areas related to music and children. My hobbies include instruments, singing, handicrafts, toys, drawing, traditional games, the outdoors, and books. My special skill is spinning-top tricks.
9 years of experience as a nursery school teacherShibata Risa
I am an active nursery school teacher with 9 years of experience. After graduating from university, I worked at a daycare center. The time I spent happily with children—playing piano, singing songs, and doing finger-play—are priceless memories to me. Currently, while raising three children of my own, I work at an after-school day service, engaging with children and providing individualized developmental support. Drawing on my diverse experiences as a childcare worker and as a mother, I hope to express and convey my thoughts through writing.

Here are some of the most popular parent-child events for two-year-olds at nursery and kindergarten sports days.

Participating together with their beloved parents makes for fun, unforgettable moments for the children! There are plenty of activities with cute, familiar themes like sushi, ice cream, and vegetables.

From being carried in arms to piggyback rides, every event values parent-child bonding and is sure to bring smiles to everyone.

All activities are designed with safety in mind, so feel free to choose ones that suit your child’s stage of development.

Parent-Child Activities (11–20)

I caught a fish.

Nursery school sports day: parent-child event

I caught a fish.

Many kids love pretend fishing, right? So why not include a fish-themed parent–child event in your sports day? The child holds an inner tube and the parent holds a bucket, then at the starting signal they run to the blue tarp.

Lots of fish are “swimming” on the tarp, so the child catches a fish that matches the color of their inner tube and puts it in the bucket.

Run carefully so you don’t drop the fish, then place it into the box of the same color as the fish.

After that, return to the start and pass the baton to the next pair! Since the inner tube and bucket serve as the baton, be sure to hand them over securely.

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Cardboard kart circuit

[3-year-olds] We made carts and had a race!

Cardboard kart circuit

Let’s have fun with decorations too! Here are some ideas for a cardboard kart circuit.

What you’ll need: a kart made from cardboard, hats made from construction paper, crayons or colored pencils, coloring pages, double-sided tape, building blocks, and balloons.

Some kids may have played go-kart or racing kart games before, right? Hop into a cardboard kart and race along a course made from blocks! It’s also great to arrange it as a parent-child activity.

Since decorating the cardboard karts is part of the fun, the making process looks exciting too!

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playing horsey

Horsey play & balloon play

playing horsey

Incorporating Olympic equestrian events into a school sports day’s parent–child activities might seem difficult, but if the parent gets down on all fours as the “horse” and the child rides on their back, it instantly transforms into a proper equestrian event! You can adjust the difficulty by adding various obstacles along the course.

If you do it outdoors, using mats can enhance safety and reduce strain on the parent’s knees.

Wearing a horse mask or having the child wear a helmet can make it feel more realistic and safer as well.

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Kicking Sniper

Tried VS Arashi’s Kicking Sniper, part 2

Kicking Sniper

How about incorporating a “Kicking Sniper” event, modeled after soccer—one of the Olympic sports? In this game, you kick a ball at targets, and the person who knocks down the most wins.

You can use softer balls suited to the participants’ ages, and making the targets popular characters could add extra fun.

For infants, you might intentionally place the targets in an unstable way so they topple easily, while for preschoolers, adding mechanisms that make the targets move would make it even more exciting.

Give it a try together as a parent-child team!

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Fruit-Picking Drive Race

Legendary scene 🤣 #WednesdayDowntown #SuiDOW #Tsuda #DetectiveTsuda

Fruit-Picking Drive Race

This is a game that incorporates children’s favorite fruits and cars.

First, ask the parents/guardians to wait at the spot where the fruits are placed, and the children will dash off toward them at the signal.

Once the children safely reach their parents/guardians, they choose their favorite fruit together.

Then the chosen fruit and the child get into a car, and the parent/guardian pulls the car to the finish line—that’s the rule.

Because they participate together with a parent/guardian, children can join with confidence.

It’s also recommended to base the activity on picture books that feature fruits, such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

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Flag Race

Yusei Sports Day 2: Event Go! Anpanman

How about a flag race for your sports day? In the video, infants use flags featuring their favorite characters.

After starting, they choose the flag they like and head to the finish line.

It’s such a cute event, especially when they’re thinking, “Which one should I pick?” For preschoolers, you could adapt it to use a single flag like beach flags, with a clear win/lose rule—the first person to grab the flag wins—which would make it even more exciting.

It also works well as a parent–child activity, so please use it as a reference.

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Role-Playing Obstacle Course (1–10)

Cardboard Car Race

[2021 Sports Day] Candy: Parent–Child Competition (2021-10-09)

Cardboard Car Race

A cardboard car race where parents and children ride in cars made of cardboard and compete while overcoming obstacles.

Because you have to move in sync like playing “pretend train,” it’s a competition that tests parent-child teamwork.

Obstacles themed to match the cardboard cars—such as police cars and fire engines—also appear, so both children and adults are likely to enjoy it.

In addition, having the preschoolers make the cardboard cars themselves makes the preparation stage exciting, making it a fun event for kindergartens and nursery schools to organize.

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Hoshino Takashi

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