Parent-Child Events for Sports Day: Recommended Ideas for Nurseries and Kindergartens
Parent-child events at kindergarten and nursery school sports days are a great way for families to have fun together and get everyone excited! Here, we’ll share ideas for parent-child competitions at sports days.
From classics like sprints and beanbag tosses to obstacle courses and quirky games, there’s a wide variety to choose from.
It’s also wonderful for children to see their parents getting really into it.
You can easily adapt the activities to fit your space and number of participants, so use these as a reference and brainstorm fun ideas with your fellow teachers.
Imagine the children’s smiles as you prepare, and make it a joyful sports day!
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- [Senior Class Events] A collection of game ideas to liven up a sports day for 5-year-olds
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- [Parent-Child Rec] Recreational activities and games for parents and children to enjoy together—also great for sports days.
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[Parent-Child Events for Sports Day] Recommended Ideas for Nursery Schools and Kindergartens (71–80)
Cute fisherman
A cute fisherman whose appearance running with a big net is sure to excite the crowd.
Parent and child hold the fish-catching net together and run to the spot where the fish are.
The guardian holds the net, the child catches the fish and puts them into the net, then they hold the net together again and run to the next spot.
The next spot is the fish wholesale market—here, unload the fish you caught and line them up on the platform.
After that, carry the now-empty net and head for the finish line.
You could also split teams by net color—red team and white team—and make it a parent-child relay for even more excitement!
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.
Dekapan Torch Relay
Footraces and relays are the star events of a school sports day.
Watching children run their hearts out is adorable on its own, but let’s add a creative twist to make the event even more exciting.
If there’s a race where kids run in pairs with friends or parents, prepare an oversized pair of pants that both can wear at once.
If the pair runs wearing a handmade jumbo pair of pants, it’s sure to become a crowd-pleasing highlight of the sports day.
It’s like a pants version of a three-legged race.
Let’s steal the show with laughter and applause as pairs synchronize their steps and run together in one big pair of pants.
[Parent-Child Events for Sports Day] Recommended Ideas for Nurseries and Kindergartens (81–90)
Basketball ball-toss game
Speaking of sports days, tamaire (ball toss) is a classic, right? It’s one of those long-loved events that anyone can enjoy, regardless of age.
This time, let’s adapt it by imagining it as the Olympic sport of basketball! For two-year-olds, a real basketball hoop or a tall ball-toss basket is probably out of reach.
That’s where parents come in! Try lifting your child up to the hoop for a shot, or letting them shoot while riding on your shoulders—it sounds like great fun! Of course, adjusting the goal height to suit the children will really boost the excitement, so feel free to customize it to match your class’s theme colors.
Get into the hula hoop.
A game where hoops are laid out randomly on the ground, everyone walks around and around the hula hoops, and when the music stops, you jump into any hoop.
To put it simply, it’s the hoop version of musical chairs, played by parents and children together.
You can use hula hoops, but it’s more exciting if the hoops vary in size—big and small—so why not make your own with newspaper and vinyl tape? If you can’t get into a hoop, you’re out.
The last parent–child pair remaining wins!
Hula hoop relay
This is a relay where two people run together inside a hula hoop.
Mark the start line and the turnaround point, divide into several teams, and at the starting signal, each team’s first pair runs.
They go around the turnaround point, return to the start, and pass the hula hoop to the next pair.
The team whose last pair gets back to the start first wins! If you don’t match your speeds, you might lose balance and fall, so go at the fastest pace you can manage together.
At the turnaround point, it helps to have the person on the inside act as the pivot to turn smoothly!
Racquetball Balancing Relay
As an event that uses equipment, we also recommend a racket-and-ball relay.
In this activity, participants place a ball on a tennis or badminton racket and run straight to the finish line.
The fun part is that while you want to run fast, if you go too quickly you’ll drop the ball.
We hope participants enjoy not only the race itself but also the process of trying repeatedly and figuring out how to carry the ball well.
There’s no fixed type of ball, but something light and not too large works best.
