Parkour gym for kids
When parents hear the word “parkour” they almost always interpret it as “danger.” They believe it’s an extreme sport designed for brave or even reckless individuals who don’t mind getting hurt or injured.
But they couldn’t be more wrong.
Parkour makes a superior training method that even the children can use to develop their motor skills and have fun in the process. All it takes is to get creative and come up with interesting paths and obstacles that kids can use for running all over the place. The benefits of parkour are immense:
- Building strength and fitness
- Enhancing a kid’s eye-hand coordination
- Improving concentration and balance
- Strengthening kids’ problem-solving abilities
- Improving creativity, spatial skills, and confidence
Parkour has become a huge trend in urban environments because it’s the easiest way to design an entertaining activity for children and keep them outdoors rather than watching them in front of the TV screen. But how exactly do you create parkour gym for kids? We have a few practical tips for you!
How to find the right equipment?
One of the best details about parkour is that you can set the scene using all sorts of things. There is no fixed equipment that you have to use, so it essentially depends on what you got or can obtain easily.
Jake Gardner, a parkour-focused blogger at the essay writing service UK, explains that parkour equipment can be divided into several categories:
- Obstacles: Anything from sturdy furniture to tree stumps can serve as an obstacle that kids can jump on or over.
- Slopes: A slightly higher element with enough inclination can be used as a playing slope.
- Balance elements: Things like small tires and railroad ties make perfect balance elements that can help a child to develop coordination skills.
- Climbing elements: Trees and ropes are all kids need to learn how to climb. That way, they will improve arm strength and self-esteem.
- Hurdles: Barriers like tables or benches represent genuine hurdles for children. You can encourage kids to bend and crawl under the hurdle, so they can become more resilient.
- Swing sets: It would be great to have a swing set and allow kids to jump from one bar to another.
- Trampolines: Another thing you can do is make a trampoline. This parkour element improves coordination in children and also helps them to jump over certain obstacles.
The best parkour gym games for kids
Parkour allows you to use imagination and come up with totally new and unique games for children, but there some activities already proved to be very practical and easy to set up. We made a list of five games that you can organize almost anywhere, so let’s check them out here:
- Timed obstacle course
The most popular and by far the most versatile game is the timed obstacle course. The idea is simple – you need to create a course with various obstacles that require different physical skills.
Jacob Jacobsen, of the best paper writing services, organized this game for his children and shared his experiences with us: “Kids should complete the course as quickly as possible, but I don’t recommend comparing results among children. A better solution is to let everyone repeat the same course and try to break their personal best.”
- Musical chairs
This activity is a true gem among parkour games. You need to play some upbeat songs and let the kids revolve around a few precision trainers. When you stop the music, they ought to jump to the closest precision trainer, while the slowest kid goes out. Musical chairs teach children precision and concentration.
- Add-ons
If you want to organize add-ons, you need to design a simple parkour course with a few obstacles. The first kid makes a couple of moves, while others follow and add a new move in the process. The game demands excellent motor functions and full focus, which can be troublesome for younger kids.
- Ball chase
Although simple, ball chase is often the most loved parkour game among children. All it takes is to throw the ball and let the kids chase it. The child that gets to it first should throw the ball next time. If you play it indoor, you can make the game more entertaining and challenging simply by bouncing the ball of a wall and changing its direction.
- Frozen
Frozen is another oldie but goldie in the parkour domain. One kid is chasing the others with the goal to tag every player. A kid who gets tagged must remain still in a downward dog position until someone unfreezes him/her by crawling underneath.
The Bottom Line
Parkour is a relatively new type of sport, but it makes a perfect solution for children in urban areas with little to no playgrounds. In this post, we explain how to design an entertaining parkour gym for kids and what games to play. Do you have any other parkour training ideas for kids?
Justin is a teacher from Leicester, England, UK. When not teaching his little students and rooting for Leicester FC, he loves to share his thoughts and opinions about education, writing and blogging with other people on different blogs and forums. Currently, he is working as an editor at the best paper writing services and essay writing service UK.