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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[Parent-Child Events for Sports Day] Recommended Ideas for Nursery Schools and Kindergartens (91–100)
Let’s complete the puzzle together as a parent and child
Work together with a partner to complete a giant puzzle.
This is a sports day event idea where you collaborate with parents or teachers to fit in one panel at a time, and when you finish assembling the large puzzle, you clear the game.
Teams are divided and complete the puzzle in a relay format.
Adults and children cooperate, think about where to place the panel they’re holding, then pass the baton to the next person.
The team that finishes the puzzle first wins.
For panels placed high up, have an adult lift the child so they can stick it on.
We can’t wait to see what picture appears at the end!
Balloon volleyball, balloon tennis
Let’s try an Olympic sport—volleyball—as a parent-child event! Two family members form a team and play volleyball with a balloon against another parent-child team.
It also sounds fun to split into parents versus kids! To add a handicap, guardians could return the balloon using their head instead of their hands, or blow it back with their breath.
You can also make it tennis-style using rolled-up newspaper and a balloon.
Feel free to adapt it to suit your school or class vibe!
Fruit-picking competition
This is a fruit-picking obstacle race.
You choose your favorite fruit, and the activity changes depending on what you pick—for example, you might cross a balance beam, crawl through a tunnel, or get lifted high.
Afterwards, you stick your fruit onto a tree the teacher is holding, and it’s fun to complete a tree full of fruit.
You can pick fruit based on the exercise you want to do, or choose your favorite fruit and then do the corresponding activity—either way, it will be an enjoyable obstacle race.
It can also be enjoyed as a parent-child event.
Crawling race
A recommended event for the 0-year-old class is the “Crawling Race.” It’s often held as an event at stores that sell baby products! Set up a short course and seat the babies at the starting line.
The mothers wait at the finish line, and at the start signal, they call their babies.
Some babies will crawl toward their mothers, while others may cry because they don’t want to be separated.
It’s a competition where you can enjoy plenty of adorable baby moments.
If some children can already walk, consider dividing them into teams: walkers and crawlers.
Parent and child race
Let’s add a few twists to simply holding hands and running to create a fun “parent–child dash.” You can get creative with things like hopping through hoops, jumping over small hurdles, and more.
Maybe in just this section the child gets carried, or in this part you run backward—adding two or three variations to a short course sounds fun! Center your ideas around “what kids will enjoy,” and incorporate different elements.
Making masks for the children so they can play roles like frogs or rabbits also sounds enjoyable.
It will become an event that creates lasting memories for both the children and their caregivers!
Parent-child relay
A parent-child relay where children and their guardians work together to pass the baton.
The child hands the baton to their guardian, the guardian passes it to the next child, and so on, with the guardian in between the children.
While the playground and course are familiar to the children, guardians might find the small track and the height difference when passing the baton to a child a bit challenging.
Still, children are sure to feel proud seeing their guardians run hard and pass the baton to the next runner.
Let’s have not only the children, but also the guardians, run their best so they don’t lose to the kids!
Card-flipping race
It’s a card-flipping race where players split into two teams and flip cards scattered on the floor! Once you’ve put on hats or sashes to show team colors, the game begins.
At the signal, flip the floor cards so that the face-up side shows your team’s color.
You can flip as many times as you want within the time limit.
When the end signal sounds, step away from the cards.
The team with more cards showing their color on top wins.
Kids can enjoy it on their own, but joining as parents and children makes for an even more exciting battle!
