The annual school sports day is variously a rite of passage and a great British tradition. But rather than waiting for sports day to come round, why not take some of the events and have your own sporting fun in your garden or nearest park?
Sam Flatman, an educational consultant with Pentagon Sport, says you don’t need a lot of space to plan a day of competitive games with young children. In fact all you need is a safe area where children can run around, away from traffic.
“One thing my children love playing in our back garden is a throwing game. We’ve got some rubberised plastic rings – the ones shaped like a horseshoe. The kids have to try and throw the ring around a tent peg in the ground – if they do, they score a point,” he says.
But Flatman also has some ideas for outside the garden: “If you have a park near you, try and make a cross between a race and an orienteering track. Set some clues for the children, for example: third holly bush on left; the slide in the playground, and give them a map to follow. The first one back with all the clues is the winner. Use a battery-powered stopwatch to map their timings.”
Kids love to see who is the fastest so don’t forget the humble race. Add an element of teamwork by making it a baton relay – anything will do as an object to pass, you don’t need special equipment.
And of course there’s always a place for the sack race and the egg-and-spoon race. The egg-and-spoon race is good for coordination and children love the sack race as it contains that element of something out of the ordinary.
“And don’t forget rounders – it’s a great team game, and you can jazz it up a bit by using a Frisbee instead of a ball,” says Sam.
So many children have scooters nowadays, so why not set up a tournament? Bigger children can join in on their trikes or bikes. Or if you want to bring toys for them to play with – kids love playing with racing cars – there are some great battery powered ones on the market.
Flatman is convinced it is never too young to start children on an exercise campaign: “A recent report says that two-thirds of primary school age children are so unfit they are likely to suffer health problems. So encouraging exercise is vitally important. It has so many benefits: it gets their heart rate up, improves their cardiovascular fitness and is good for their hand-to-eye coordination.
“My niece is two and we are already getting her to do a catching game using beanbags. Those skills of catching and throwing wire up two important physical development skill sets in children – fine and gross motor skills, which are important in terms of development and general fitness.”
He also believes that exercise has psychological benefits too: “Everybody has some sort of competition in their job or life. You can’t win every time, but learning how you recover from a loss is important.”
And then of course there are the benefits of teamwork. “As more families are only having one child, it’s really important for them to learn to play and share together. Sport is a great way for children to learn to socialise, share resources, work together as a team and improve their skill sets as they grow and develop.”
If you do one thing ...
It’s great fun to liven up games with an Air Hogs Atmosphere (RRP £24.99). The battery-operated levitating sphere hovers above surfaces and bounces off walls and ceilings for non-stop flight. As Sam Flatman says: “It’s a really fun and versatile toy that kids can play with in an imaginative way.”
• This article was amended on 1 June 2015. An earlier version referred to Sam Flatman as she, rather than he.
