Chore Obstacle Course

What You Need:

• Different chores that require different rooms, such as washing dishes, doing laundry, folding clothes, cleaning up their room, etc. 
• Some disposable water bottles or recyclables and a trash can/recycling bin
• Pen and paper
• Painter's tape or something to mark spots on the floor
• Stopwatch

What You Do: 

1. Come up with a list of chores for your child to complete. There should be one chore per room, so that your child has to move from room to room. These chores can be both ones your child is familiar with, and ones they’ve never done before. 
2. Designate a start point, end point, and the path in between. Ensure there is some clear open space between the rooms for your child to do physical activities in. Also, make sure the path is not around sharp edges or anything that could be a hazard if your child falls or runs into something. If necessary, make a "no running between stations" rule!
3. Walk your child through each chore station and physical activity station (you can mark the stations with painter's tape if you like). The actual chores and physical activities can be changed to fit you and your child best! You can use the suggestions here or come up with your own.
4. Here is a sample chore obstacle course to get your started:
   • Start in your child’s room. Begin the timer. Have your child start with 20 jumping jacks.
   • Then they will grab their hamper, go to the laundry room, put their dirty clothes in the laundry machine, and start the washer. Then they will move to an open space and balance on each leg for 15 seconds. They can’t leave that room until they do 15 seconds on each leg!
   • Next, have them go to the kitchen and put away the dishes from the dishwasher. They will then move to an open space and complete 10 push-ups! 
   • Then, have them hop on one leg to another room to fold laundry. If they put their other foot down on their way there, they have to go back to the kitchen and start their hopping again! Once they've folded the laundry, they will do 10 sit-ups!
   • Last, have them hop on the other leg back to the kitchen, and take out the trash! Once the trash can lids close, stop the timer. 
5. Record the time it took them to complete the chore obstacle course. See if your child can improve on their time each time they do the course!