Indoor Olympics

Now that the Olympic games are a distant memory, keep that memory alive by holding your own indoor Olympics...perfect for these slightly more dreary autumn days!

Beanbag 'Race'
Place a beanbag on your toddler's back and have them crawl around until it falls off. Older children can balance the beanbag on their head and walk slowly.  Whoever keeps their bag steady the longest wins.

Indoor Hockey
Place some small toys on the floor and describe a route around them. Take a medium sized ball, such as a foam tennis ball, and have your little ones 'bat' the ball around the obstacle course using a straw. Can they do it without bumping the obstacles themselves?

Bowling Alley
Use teddies, dolls or any other suitable toys as 'pins'. Sit them up a few feet away and use a foam ball to try to knock them down. Make sure the ball is only rolled gently along the floor!

Fancy Dress Race
Collect together some fancy dress outfits and place them in front of your little ones. They must put on the first outfit, turn around once then take that outfit off and put on the next one. The first one to wear all the outfits is the winner.

Puzzle Marathon
Get out all your puzzles (sized according to ability) and see how quickly you can complete them all.  Use a timer to time each one and look at whether each puzzle is completed faster or slower than the one before.  Show how timers count seconds and explain the idea of timing.