Children Overcome Obstacles with Outdoor Obstacle Courses
Helping children stay physically active is essential to promoting healthy habits that last a lifetime. When you make physical activity fun, kids are likely to participate. That's where outdoor obstacle courses come in.
Parks, schools and other youth organizations choose GameTime Challenge Course outdoor obstacle courses to make exercise fun for kids and the whole family. Today, we are going to look at five ways obstacle courses benefit children.
Strength and Balance
When children encounter an obstacle course, they develop and enhance strength and balance. Outdoor obstacle courses like GameTime's Challenge Course are a great way for kids to get a full and fun workout. It makes them stronger and enhances their sense of balance at a young age.
The strength and balance skills developed on an obstacle course transfer effectively to other sports like soccer or gymnastics.
Memory and Problem Solving
In life and school, kids are expected to remember lots of information. They also need to know how to solve problems based on sequencing information. By running an outdoor obstacle course, children develop and enhance these skills.
Outdoor obstacle courses help children become problem solvers as they learn how to run, climb, and move through a course. They also learn how to adjust to changing conditions and memorize the faster and better ways to run a course. These skills help them throughout their life.
Sensory Processing
GameTime designs a lot of outdoor playground equipment to help children learn and experience sensory input. An obstacle course is a great opportunity for children to develop sensory processing skills.
Children experience deep pressure sensory input (also known as proprioception) as they pull themselves up a climbing wall. They encounter linear (up and down), sagittal (side to side), and rotary (spinning) inputs as they run through the obstacle course. Learning these senses, and how to adjust to them, helps develop motor skills, coordination, and adaptation.
Motor Skills
Fine and gross motor skill development is important during childhood development. Fine motor skills help children learn how to hold a pencil or grip small objects. Gross motor skills help children walk, run, jump, and climb.
Outdoor obstacle courses are the perfect environment for children to enhance these motor skills that benefit them for a lifetime.
Coordination
This is a skill children struggle with at an early age. Complex coordination involves moving separate body parts at the same time to complete a task. Think about the many muscle groups and body parts required to climb over a wall or weave through an agility obstacle.
An outdoor obstacle course provides opportunities for children to develop bilateral coordination. Developing these skills improves overall health and fitness and helps kids for years to come.
Challenge Your Kids
There are so many ways children benefit from running an obstacle course. From enhancing muscle strength and motor skills to improving memory and decision-making, courses like Challenge Course can make a positive and lasting impact in children of all ages.
Ready to challenge your kids to be their best? Get in touch with a GameTime obstacle course expert and plan the perfect course for your community!