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!
- [For Preschoolers] Get Fired Up at the Sports Day! Fun Parent-Child Activity Ideas That Everyone Will Enjoy
- [Sports Day] Circuit Ideas for 5-Year-Olds
- Let’s get infants and one-year-olds excited at the sports day too! A collection of event ideas for parents and children to enjoy together.
- Fun Parent-Child Games! A Collection of Ideas to Liven Up Your Nursery School Sports Day
- [Sports Day] Let's Become Olympic Athletes! Parent-Child Events for 2-Year-Olds
- [Preschool] Fun event ideas to include in the sports day for the junior (younger) class
- [Senior Class Events] A collection of game ideas to liven up a sports day for 5-year-olds
- Exciting for 4-year-olds! A collection of sports day event ideas for preschoolers (middle class)
- [Childcare] Recommended circuit competition ideas for a sports day for 2-year-olds
- [Parent-Child Rec] Recreational activities and games for parents and children to enjoy together—also great for sports days.
- Parent–child interactive play. Fun activities popular in childcare settings and at parent–child observation days.
- [Childcare] Sports Day activity ideas. Let’s make the Sports Day exciting!
- For the daycare’s sports day! Fun and unique event ideas
[Parent-Child Events for Sports Day] Recommended Ideas for Nursery Schools and Kindergartens (91–100)
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.
the eye of a typhoon
Let me introduce “Typhoon’s Eye,” a team relay game played in pairs using a long rope or pole.
At the start signal, a parent and child hold the two ends of the rope and run toward the turnaround point.
There, one person becomes the center while the other swings out in a wide arc using centrifugal force, and they head back to the starting line.
Be careful not to panic and let go of the rope.
Teammates who are waiting jump over the rope as it passes.
The rope is handed to the next pair like a baton, and the pair that has finished moves to the back of the line.
The key is to sync your timing as a pair when you turn!
Become a firefighter!
It’s an obstacle course inspired by firefighters’ actions and jobs.
Kids cross a balance beam and vault over a box, but you can get creative by decorating the beam with flame illustrations and making the vault look like a house roof.
A challenge where children throw light-blue balls at a signboard depicting a fire to evoke firefighting would also be fun.
At the end, children ride with their parents in a vehicle made to look like a fire engine and head for the goal.
Watching the adorable little firefighters in action is sure to bring a smile to everyone’s face.
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!
