A toddler sports day that gets everyone excited! A collection of fun parent-child game ideas
For one-year-olds, the sports day is their first big event! Even little ones who tend to feel nervous or anxious can enjoy it with peace of mind when they’re with their family.
So, here are some exciting parent-and-child activities you can enjoy together.
We’ve gathered events that let kids transform into popular anime characters or vegetables and that incorporate worlds they love.
There are lots of fun activities that will bring out smiles—even from children who were crying.
Create wonderful memories and fill the whole venue with smiles!
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Footrace / Race Events (1–10)
Found you, Mom!
“Found You, Mom!” is a cute parent–child activity with a dinosaur theme.
It’s easy to prepare—you only need two things.
First, make dinosaur eggs by wrapping cloth or similar material; prepare them in several different colors according to the number of children.
Second, make standing signs with dinosaur illustrations that correspond to those colors.
That’s all the prep.
During the event, a guardian starts at the starting line holding their child’s hand and picks up a dinosaur egg along the way.
If the egg is pink, for example, they clear the game by reaching the pink dinosaur sign at the finish line.
You can also tweak the difficulty—such as by mixing in trickier colors—based on the children’s ages, so give it a try!
Vehicle race
Many children love vehicles, right? So here’s an activity we’d like to introduce: the Vehicle Race.
In this event, parents and children ride together in cardboard fire engines or police cars and aim for the finish line.
Make the fire engines and police cars by decorating cardboard boxes with the top and bottom cut out.
When running, it goes more smoothly if the guardian holds the cardboard.
At the end, the event finishes by knocking down a stack of cardboard boxes at the goal.
If you draw flames or thieves on those boxes, it will make the activity even more exciting.
Penguin Race
Here’s a game where you walk while holding a balloon between your knees.
Since the way you walk looks like a penguin, it’s called the Penguin Race.
If you squeeze too hard, the balloon might slip out from between your knees and float away, making it hard to reach the finish line.
Split into teams and pass the balloon to the next runner like a baton.
You could also skip teams and run it as a tournament or round-robin for extra fun.
It’s a race that can be enjoyed as a parent–child activity too, so give it a try!
Sushi Restaurant Race
These days, it seems many children list sushi as their favorite food.
So here’s a game to introduce: the Sushi-Shop Relay.
Even kids who aren’t good at running might get excited if the theme is their beloved sushi.
First, a parent plays the role of a sushi chef.
Then you have the children, acting as the rice (shari), carry cardboard pieces that represent the toppings (neta) on their backs.
After that, the children run to the finish line and place their toppings into a lunch box there.
Not only is the activity itself fun, but it’s also highly recommended because you can enjoy how adorable the children look carrying the toppings.
What will it be? Dice Race
Some of you may be looking to create an event that’s original while still taking cues from existing competitions.
In that case, the “What Will It Be? Dice Race” is a perfect fit.
The rules are simple: just run according to the instruction shown on the dice.
By getting creative with the instructions written on the dice, you can invent a one-of-a-kind event.
Common examples include crawling or sliding down a slide.
You can also try variations like having guardians carry the children or dancing together.
It could be fun to come up with the dice prompts together with the children.
Fan ping-pong
Table tennis and tennis are Olympic events, but it seems a bit difficult to include them as sports day activities for one-year-olds.
So let’s turn the racket into a paper fan.
With a larger striking surface, even one-year-olds can enjoy participating.
Using ping-pong balls, soft foam balls, or even balloons would also be fun.
If you include this as a parent-child event, it could be exciting to have parents toss balls in a way that makes them easy for children to hit, or conversely, to have parents return balls thrown by their children.
Racing Anpanman
Anpanman Sprint: During the race, kids grab an Anpanman mask and dash to the finish.
Having the cute Anpanman character right in front of them is sure to boost their excitement.
If the mask is hard to take or they can’t run well, please have a parent or teacher assist.
This event lets children practice sprinting—a highlight of any sports day—so it’s perfect for their first sports festival.
Adjust the course to be as short as possible to make it easier for kids to run.
It’s an event where children can enjoy both the fun of wearing an Anpanman mask and the joy of running.
