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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- Perfect for Sports Day! Obstacle Course Ideas Recommended for 2-Year-Olds
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- [Childcare] Sports Day activity ideas. Let’s make the Sports Day exciting!
Obstacle and Circuit Events (1–10)
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Do you know The Very Hungry Caterpillar? It’s a picture book featuring a caterpillar character.
In the story, the caterpillar nibbles on all sorts of foods.
Thanks to the character’s cuteness, many children love this book.
How about an obstacle course inspired by The Very Hungry Caterpillar? Make cardboard tunnels that look like different foods, and have children, pretending to be the caterpillar, crawl through them.
Adding a twist where they put on butterfly wings partway through sounds fun, too.
Ladybug Race
The ladybug race is an obstacle course where children pretend to be ladybugs.
Arrange the course so it feels ladybug-like.
For example, set up leaf-themed stepping platforms for them to cross.
You can also place taller obstacles so that parents can lift the children and help them soar over them as if they’re flying.
By the way, ladybugs are considered lucky, so they’re perfect for wishing for children’s health.
Please use this as a reference when planning your course!
Freshly picked fruit
Recommended from infant to preschool classes! Here’s an idea called “Freshly Picked Fruit.” How about incorporating familiar fruits—seen every day at lunch, in picture books, and in pretend play—into a game? Prepare a banana tree, a mandarin orange tree, an apple tree, and animal props (an elephant, a monkey, and a rabbit) with holes for mouths.
At the start signal, each child picks one fruit from any tree and moves forward.
Next, they choose an animal and place the fruit they’re holding into its mouth—then they reach the goal! Give it a try in your class.
Totoro and a Walk
You know the movie My Neighbor Totoro, right? There’s a game inspired by that well-known story, loved by both adults and children, called “Totoro Stroll.” First, the children crawl through a tunnel, then slide down a slide decorated to look like Totoro.
Next, they ride a Catbus made from wooden crates and head for the finish line.
Attach a rope to this wooden-crate Catbus so that, once a child gets on, a parent or guardian can pull it.
For background music during the event, the song “Sanpo” is recommended.
Chibi Ant’s Errand
“Little Ant’s Errand” is a recommended sports day activity for one-year-olds, themed around ants.
Preparation is simple: make pretend snacks like donuts and candy using fabric or colored tape.
Next, prepare a standing sign with an ant illustration and a basket; draw the prepared snacks on construction paper and attach the drawings to the basket area—that’s it.
During the event, children start from the starting line, pick up a snack along the way, and clear the challenge by placing it into the ant’s basket that has the matching picture.
It’s easy to set up, so give it a try!
Riding a Molcar
https://www.tiktok.com/@harukaa_402/video/7152018389798489346The guinea pig–shaped cars, Molcars, are a stop-motion animation made with needle-felted wool.
Some children might be big fans of Molcars.
Here, we put your child on a Molcar made of cardboard and pull it along to move.
A child who loves Molcars might be delighted to ride.
Partway through, set them down, then run to the finish line carrying them.
From that point on, instead of carrying, you could hold hands and run together or give them a piggyback.
Fire truck race
The fire truck race is an obstacle course adapted so that even one-year-olds can enjoy it.
The key point is that the children fully take on the role of firefighters.
First, the children put on firefighter uniforms and make their way over obstacles like slides toward the fire truck.
Make the fire truck out of cardboard so that a parent and child can ride in it together.
Then they head to the scene of the fire.
If you also make the fire scene out of cardboard, it will feel even more realistic! Finally, the children throw light-blue pom-poms, which represent water, to finish.
This way, it feels like an extension of play, making it easy and fun to take part.