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 for 10 years as a kindergarten teacher and for 7 years as an after-school childcare instructor, then took a post as a music teacher at an international school in Singapore. In addition to music education, I also engaged in activities that shared Japanese culture, traditional games, and recreational play, working with many children. Afterwards, through freelance writing, planning, and editing work at Shogakukan, I met many delightful adults and experienced the joy of communicating and conveying ideas. Leveraging the perspective cultivated in educational settings and my experience as an editor, I aim to deliver practical information—focusing on fields related to music and children—that values both input and output. Hobbies include instruments, singing, handcrafts, toys, drawing, traditional play, the outdoors, books, DIY, and crafts. Special skill: 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)

Challenge a big puzzle!

@fujikidstok
A parent-child event for the 2-year-old class ♪ Parents and children thought it through together and took on the challenge! It turned into an exciting and fun activity ☺️Sports Day infants under nursery age Childcare #Nursery school #Toddler care (age 2)
Original song – kids fun world – kids fun world

Discover the fun of working together! Here are ideas for taking on a big puzzle challenge.

Many teachers may be planning this as a parent-child activity where guardians participate together.

This time, let’s try a puzzle that a 2-year-old child and their guardian can complete cooperatively.

You’ll need: cards with animals drawn at random, animal headpieces, and a puzzle made from cardboard.

If children try it for the first time on the day of the sports festival, they may feel anxious, so it’s best to incorporate it into regular activities and practice beforehand.

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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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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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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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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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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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Role-Playing Obstacle Course (1–10)

Shopping Competition

Chihiro Nursery School Sports Day: Shopping Race

Shopping Competition

The shopping race is an event where you aim for the finish line while doing some shopping! You push a cart to a designated area, do a bit of shopping… so it might be a little challenging.

It’s recommended for children aged two and up.

To prevent carts from bumping into each other, adjust the number of participants in each race.

Preparing the equipment can be a bit of work, but it’s a competition that excites both kids and parents!

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