Gross motor play is easy to do outdoors, but when we’re stuck indoors, we have to get a little more creative.
This obstacle course took only a few minutes to set up and provided us with a whole morning of indoor fun on a rainy day.
A laser maze scene is a movie classic and was the inspiration for our gross motor game today.
There wasn’t a million dollar treasure waiting at the end of the maze, but can you really put a price on memories and fun?
How to Set Up the String Obstacle Course
Set up for this is easy.
I took a ball of yarn and taped the yarn at various heights in a hallway.
I didn’t even cut the yarn, so what you’re seeing is a single strand of yarn.
The easiest way for me to explain how to complete the obstacle course was by telling my daughter, Elena, that the strings were made of hot lava.
That’s where the name “hot lava strings” comes from.
She had to crawl under or step over each strand of yarn to get to the other side.
One thing that may frustrate younger kids is that the tape doesn’t hold too well when pressure is put on the connecting string.
But it’s alright. Just tape the string back onto the wall and keep going!
We worked on perseverance and staying calm while doing this maze, and after the first few tries, Elena was getting through the maze with no difficulty.
She even danced her way through it a few times!
Kids Under Two
My youngest is almost two, and she did well with crawling under the taller strings.
But the lower strings confused her.
She tried to go under it.
Sometimes she didn’t notice they were there and just barreled right through the strings.
When she figured out that she had to step over the strings, she tried stepping over some strings that were taped up pretty high.
She didn’t spend much time with this game as her older sister did, but she sure looked cute trying to do it!
Will You Try This String Obstacle Course at Home?
It was so much fun to set up and watch the girls do it.
I tried it out, too!
Do you think you’ll try making this obstacle course at home?