Sack racing adventure

What you need

A sack (if you don't have a sack, an item such as an old pillowcase works well!)

Benefits

This activity will challenge your child, encouraging them to explore different ways of moving and keeping their balance. It is great exercise for all involved, and will promote discussion around distance, speed and time, bringing lots of mathematical language into your child’s play.

Adding obstacles will add a further challenge as your child will have to think about adjusting their speed and direction to avoid them.

The experience

Grab a sack for your child (and yourself and any other family members who want to join in!) Create a start and finish line by using an object as a marker, a piece of string or chalk lines drawn on the ground. Then get hopping!

You can include obstacles such as cones, sticks and stones to hop around or even your bag, pairs of shoes or other household items, to make more of a challenge for your child.

Older children may enjoy racing against other family members - you could use a stopwatch timer on your phone to record everybody’s speed. This is a great way to bring some mathematical language into the play. You could also repeat the race several times and compare finish times. If your child is the only participant, they could race each time to see if they can beat their previous score. Perhaps try three times, timing them each time, and work out together which is their personal best.