If there is one thing I know about us – and by ‘us’ I mean you, me, and the other fabulous Mamas in this space – it is that we have active kids!

Wonderfully busy little people who love to run, jump, and play. This active nature is truly a beautiful thing – but sometimes it needs a little directing. A little bit of a focus for that energy is sometimes a good thing. Most of the time a good thing. Pretty much always a good thing.

My friend Adelaide came up with some crazy fun and creative race ideas for kids and I thought they were great ideas for focusing that energy.

Depending on your space, your children’s ages and your comfort level, you could have any kind of race almost anywhere imaginable! Here are some really fun race ideas for kids:

An outdoor running race. Sometimes it is the simple things my friends! A good old fashioned race from one side of a fence to the other is a great race for starters.

A crabwalk race. Lay on your back then out your feet on the floor and your hands underneath you. Walk like a crab as quick as you can from one side to the next. This is a great race for the whole family as older children are often quicker than adults at this walk.

A jumping race. Start at one side of the yard and hop all the way to the other lickety split. The bunny hop is perfect for very little children and older ones can try hoping on just one foot.

A potato sack, chicken feed or pillow case race. I’m not sure about you, but we don’t often have potato sacks laying around. But being the chicken enthusiasts (I mean farmers) we are, we do often have chicken feed bags. If you don’t happen to be chicken obsessed (I mean farmers) you could also use a pillowcase for this race. Pop both feet into a sack and hold the front hopping all the way to the other side. Fun!

(What’s that? You would like to see a picture of one of our pretty ladies wearing a red sweater? If you insist…)

A skipping race (by foot). I remember reading somewhere that skipping is a fabulous activity for young children. It really takes a lot of brain power to skip! So gear up with your little one and practice a bunch with ‘Skip to my Lou’. Afterwards it makes a great race idea for kids!

A human wheelbarrow race. This one is good, silly fun. One partner lays on the ground on her belly while the other partner grabs her ankles. She pushes herself up onto her hands and hand-walks to the finish line. I remember this being so easy as a child! Then I tried it as an adult …

A front roll race. Dizzying fun. Somersault and somersault from one line to the next!

A log roll race.  Lay down and roll away! Make sure everyone has lots of room fir this one, or use a timer and go one at a time.

A pillow race. You can have your children use a pillow like a scooter board and slide across your floor in a race!  Can he do it while sitting on the pillow? What about laying on his belly?

A balloon waddle race. Pop (well actually try not to POP it) that balloon between your knees and try to get fron one side to the next. If you drop the balloon start again!

A balancing race. This fun race idea for kids involves racing while carrying an egg on a spoon, or holding a stuffy on their heads!

A backwards race. Simply do any of the race ideas above, backwards!

But that’s not all my friends, no that’s not all. You can race objects too!

Use a straw to have a pom-pom race! Emma Owl Blog shares this awesome race idea for kids that strengthens little lungs and helps children learn to control their breath.

Have a classic paper airplane race . Everyday Chaos and Calm shares this great race idea for kids.

Or Inspired by Family shows us how to crank that paper airplane race up a notch with one that utilizes straw technology

Finally, why not end the race play with a clean-up or a chore race? I mean we have to capitalize on that fabulous energy as well, don’t we?  Who can tidy an area of toys the fastest?  Who can make their beds the fastest? Let’s put that racing fun to some good use.

There you have them friends! Loads of race ideas for those busy kids of ours. I hope you have found one or two that are just perfect for you and yours.

Thank you for reading!

xo

Sarah