How to Make an Indoor Obstacle Course at Home

If you’re looking for a way to keep your child active and entertained on a rainy day, you might run into some issues. One great option is to create an indoor obstacle course. Today, we’re going to walk through some steps on how to get that accomplished in a safe and still fun manner.

Step One: Gather Supplies

The first step to getting an indoor obstacle course set up is getting everything you will need. The sky’s the limit when it comes to things that you can use to create your obstacle course. Objects like toilet paper rolls, bouncy balls, kitchen spoons, or tongs can be used for dexterity challenges.  Flash cards, alphabet magnets, coins, dice, and pinners from board games are great for bringing in learning to the race. Finally, string, boxes, pillows, and chairs are great for bringing physical fitness into your obstacle course.

If you still need ideas, think about all the things that your child likes to do. Twister can be made into a station, a bed can be something to crawl under, and a cat can be something that has to be tiptoed past. It doesn’t just have to be objects or toys, bring in people, and furniture to the game too.

Step Two: Map Out a Course

Once you have the toys, objects, people, and furniture that will make up the game, think about where the game can take place. Do you have a simple path through the house that will allow you to go from start to finish at the same point, or will this be a point to point race through every room of the house?

Keep in mind that this will be something your kid will get excited about. Avoid any spaces where fragile items may lie. This will keep your obstacle course from taking on a dangerous path on accident.

Step Three: Create Obstacles

With the layout of items in mind, you can not get to work on the actual course. It’s a great idea to mix movement activities with mental activities. For instance, take a string and make a laser course right after allowing the child to do addition with dice. Mixing things up will allow them to have fun with all parts of their mind and body without things getting too boring.

Think about things that they can jump across, crawl under, dodge, and more. Use soft objects so that your child can have fun in the house in a safe manner, not only for their body but for the home as well.

Step Four: Choose Ways to Get Between Obstacles

Unless you have enough things so that they can go from one thing right to the next, you will have space for them to go from one thing to the next. Here, it’s important to think about how they will get there. If you let them, they will run.

However, if you don’t want them running through the house, then you should think about creative ways for them to get there. Use a game spinner to “let them decide” or post signs between each obstacle with things like bear crawl, skip, lunge, hop, backward walk, or slow motion to make things fun.

Step Five: Choose the Prizes

With the course laid out and ready to go, it’s time to think about what the kid will win at the end of the course. If you have more than one child, make sure you have prizes for them. Try making the first prize of extra time on the TV, the second prize of no dish duty time, and the third prize of no dog walking if you need somewhere to start.


After you have the prized that your children will obtain, it’s time to get the show on the road. Get some music and have a camera ready. It’s important to make your kids feel like you are involved so that they get the attention that they want on this indoor day.

As a bonus, get a timer and let your kid know how they did at the end. If you want extra time with this activity, tell them to try to beat their time and see them improve and stay happy until they can go back out.


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