Continuing on with our Summer Olympics theme this month, I’m sharing our adventures in the Shot Put. Remember last week when I claimed that my children don’t generally like to throw things? Well, I may have to eat my words, as they certainly did have fun hurtling items towards their dad with this activity!
It doesn’t get much easier than this if you want to have a Backyard Olympics! All you need for supplies are bean bags (or rolled up socks if you don’t have bean bags), a tape measure, and a hula hoop (optional).
I placed the hoola hoop in the back corner of the garden for the kids to stand in when throwing their shots.
I gave the kids a quick lesson in how to throw (stretching my memory back to elementary school). Next time, I’ll be a little more accurate by showing them this video. It shows more detail about how to throw, as well as having realistic expectations about how far they’ll get their shots.
Then I set the children free!
Phil had fallen asleep on the lawn and didn’t want to wake up for our session….so we worked around him – until one bean bag hit him in the head….and the kids thought that was so funny that they then used him as a target!
Tristan wasn’t the best at our pool noodle hurdles, but he did much better at throwing (even without a slumbering target).
After the shots had been put, the kids used a measuring tape to see how far their shots had gone. This involved some math, as the measuring tape wasn’t long enough so the kids had to add the numbers together. Tristan did most of the math in his head, while Kallista used some chalk on the sidewalk.
The kids really enjoyed the shot put, and they are looking forward to doing it again. Next time we’ll add in the practice and the turns like the video and really have some fun with it!
Do you ever do sports with your kids at home? What works for you? Please let me know in the comments, as I’m always looking for new ways for the kids to keep active.
