Growing up, my brother, sister, and I would spend hours and hours outside creating obstacle courses.  We'd take some usual household materials, such as broomsticks, mops, chairs, stools, ladders, and ropes and put together our obstacles.  Brooms or mops across chairs made excellent high jumps (or we would also have to crawl under the jump as another obstacle).  Ladders were for climbing or jumping, and ropes were great for tug-o-war if there was a tie at the end. The obstacles that a child can create are endless. 

Obstacle courses are a great way to get kids active with a fun purpose.  Even for adults, obstacle courses can be fun or a great way to get in a training, especially if you don't have the space or time to get in a long workout.  Obstacle courses can include push-ups, sit-ups, hopping on one foot, skipping, jumping, crawling, climbing, and just about anything.  They can also be done indoors or outdoors.

Remember the days when we pretended to be spies looking for a secret passageway? Well, obstacle courses are a great way to relive those memories and maybe prepare yourself for a real boobie trap!  Talk about the coordination, balance, and focus that are required with an obstacle course. Oh, and that's not all.  The fact that you are refining your gross motor skills and fine motor skills is a bonus-all without realizing it.  Just talking about this makes me want to rearrange my furniture into an obstacle course right now!