I Can Do This Obstacle Course - Activity Instructions

Tune In

Pose the question to children,

“Has there ever been a time that you missed out on something because of your size/age?”

Those with older siblings may have a lot more tales to tell of ‘missing out’ based on height or age. Then, turn this narrative to think of things that they have been able to do due to their size. Those taller than their peers may speak of times they could reach certain objects, younger siblings may speak of times they were called upon by their parents to help collect something from a small confined space, effectively saving the day thanks to their small stature! Celebrate the scenarios in which their differences have been their strengths!

Find Out

Remind children of the part of the story when all the gnomes were trying to reach the stars, and invite some problem-solving and imagination to unravel within your discussions.

What were all of the gnomes trying to do to reach the stars?
Instead of climbing the tree, how else could they have maybe reached the stars? (A rocket, a really big jump on a trampoline, let their tiny imaginations run wild!)
How did the gnomes eventually get to the star?

When children identify that Sylvie managed to get to the star by fitting through a small hollow in the tree, emphasise that the first way the gnomes thought of was not, in fact, the ‘correct’ way and because our bodies are all different, we can use our bodies in different ways to achieve our goals.

Take Action

Invite children to complete an obstacle course containing obstacles that can be traversed in more ways than one! Some examples could include:

a tunnel (smaller children can crawl through, whereas taller children/adults might need to wriggle through on their bellies)
a climbing frame (smaller children may be able to squeeze through the rungs, while taller children will need to climb over the top
scooter boards (depending on size, ability and confidence levels, some children may go on their bellies, some on their knees, some on their bottoms)
elastic between two poles to create a ‘spider web’ of varying openings (depending on the size of the child will depend on the size and height of the space they can move through)

Intrigue and discussion could be prompted by having a child and an adult complete the obstacle course first and then having the children observe the different ways in which each obstacle is tackled based on size.

Which way do you think was the ‘right’ way to complete the obstacle course?
Both people completed the obstacle course, even though their bodies look very different and they are both different heights.
Do you think you can complete the obstacle course? Why/Why not?
I wonder if there are any other ways the obstacle course could be completed…

I Can Do This Obstacle Course

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Summary

Activity Type

Target Age

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Activity Details

Skills

Curriculum Mapping

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