Build a Roll-a-Station Obstacle Course

Work smarter, not harder. You do not need a therapy gym or a house full of equipment to build a playful activity circuit.

What you need

• One dice or numbered cards
• Sticky notes or paper station signs
• A safe, clear area
• 3-6 activities ( the child can help choose a couple to increase engagement)

Set up the stations

Make up to six activities and assign each a number.   Possible station activities include: a simple yoga pose, a puzzle, moving cotton balls with tongs, a dance break, tossing a soft ball into a basket, drawing one part of a picture, or animal walks.

Let the child shape the course

Ask the child to choose at least one activity, rule, or decide the music. Choice can support engagement, and it makes the course something you are building together rather than something the child has to do.Additionally, mixing in a child-led/preferred activity allows for breaks between the harder skills they need to work on.

Adjust the demand

If the activity is overwhelming, there are many ways to adjust the demand to your child and your child’s day. Just like adults, kids have harder days and sometimes you may need to adjust the demand even if they did it fine the day before. Some suggestions are as follows:

1. Use fewer stations. instead of 6, do 4 or 3 activities. If you are using a dice and reducing the number, you can assign 2 numbers to a station or just have the child reroll.
2.  Reduce repetitions or complexity of the activity itself at a station. For example, reduce yoga poses to 10 seconds, decrease the number of cotton balls to put into a jar with tongs, or decrease the distance the child needs to animal walk. You want the task to be challenging but not to the point the child shuts down and doesn’t want to try. Instead, start smaller and build up.
3. Allow “Partner Work”. Step in with some of the more challenging task and do it with them. Personally, I like to use this opportunity to also build up their confidence by showing them I need help too and they can guide me. Or if it’s something like a puzzle, coloring, or using tongs, I will “help” but go much slower than they are so they are still doing most of the task.

An example six-station course

Setting Options:A whole room with numbers in different corners with the activity items, OR a small corner of the room with a piece of paper stating what activities are what numbers.

1. Choose a song and dance for thirty seconds.
2. Move 10 soft objects into a bowl using fingers, tongs, or a scoop.
3. Add one piece to a puzzle.
4. Roll or pass a ball to a partner.
5. Color in one part of a coloring page.
6. Animal walk around the room or hold a yoga pose for 10 seconds.

The above list is just an example, not a prescription. Swap out anything that does not fit the child, space, or purpose (i.e., skills they need to work on).

Ways to include different participants

A station can be completed seated or standing, with a partner, through pointing or choosing, or with materials moved into reach. A child can roll the dice, announce the number, keep track of stations, select music, or demonstrate an action. Participation does not require every person to move in the same way.

Keep safety boring—in the best way

Clear tripping hazards, use stable furniture, supervise movement, and choose activities appropriate for the child. Stop for pain, dizziness, unusual shortness of breath, distress, or loss of safe control. Supervise your child during activities.

The course does not have to look impressive. If it gets a child moving, choosing, laughing, or joining in, it is doing useful work.