Here are 10 of our favourite balancing activities in our backyard play space. Most of these can be balancing activities can be made for free using items you already have around your home and yard.
These fun and engaging outdoor activities provide kids with plenty of opportunities to develop their muscles, gross motor control and balancing skills.
Homemade Backyard Tightrope:
String 2 lengths of ropes between two trees, fence posts or deck rails to create a tight-rope. Our ropes are looped several times around a couple of trees and secured with a few good knots. Place one about a foot off the ground, and the other high enough up that your child can hold onto it while walking across or balancing on the bottom rope. They’ll be shaky at first, but you’ll be amazed at how quickly your kids will get the hang of it. Even our one year old loves balancing on our backyard tightrope.
If you’re looking for a TRUE tightrope experience for kids AND adults, Amazon.com has these awesome things called slacklines. Challenging at first, they’re supposed to be really fun and quite easy to catch on to, and they provide the real deal when it comes to walking and performing jumps and tricks on a tightrope.
See how we use pool noodles to turn our tightrope into a backyard abacus too!
Homemade Backyard Balance Beam:
A homemade balance beam is really easy to make. Our is just a 1×6 (or possibly a 1×8) piece of lumber with a couple of wider pieces of wood screwed to the bottom at each end of the beam. These bottom pieces give the beam stability so it doesn’t tip when the kids are balancing on it.
You wouldn’t believe how much enjoyment the toddlers and preschoolers get from this simple contraption.
A well positioned log would make a great natural balance beam in an outdoor play space as well. Alternatively, you can purchase balancing toys for indoors or outdoors here.
Play Logs:
When my Dad took down a large tree for a neighbour, I asked him to set aside a few pieces of the trunk so I could add them to our backyard play space.
I placed three of the stumps upright, close enough for the hooligans to step or jump from one to another. The 4th, I placed on its side. This sideways log is a little trickier to balance on, but even some of the toddlers have mastered it.
If you know anyone cutting down a tree, see if you can score a few pieces of the trunk. Dig them into the ground by about an inch or so, using sand to level and settle them. These are fantastic for balancing on, or for stepping from one to another. You might also ask a local Tree Removal Company, if they would consider parting with a few stumps or small logs.
Read more about our Play Logs here.
Large Play Rock:
This rock actually sits near the bus-stop in our neighbourhood, but if I ever had the opportunity to get one for my yard, I wouldn’t hesitate.
Not only is a rock like this great for standing and balancing on, it provides endless opportunity for imaginative play.
Over the years it’s been a pirate ship, airplane, rocket-ship, diving board, restaurant counter, horse, an elephant… It’s a gathering place, a podium for singing and speech-giving, a trading post where we examine and swap the treasures we find on our nature walks…
A rock like this is truly priceless.
Stepping Stones:
Smaller rocks in the form of “stepping stones” can help to develop a little one’s sense of balance.
The hooligans spend lots of time following this short path of stones from our porch to our front yard, and circling back to do it again. I’ve always found that there’s something quite magical about a stone path set into a garden or forested area.
Chalk or Rope Lines:
Lay down a long, winding piece of rope, or draw a curvy line with sidewalk chalk for your child to walk along. Have fun with different styles of lines: zig-zags, straight, winding, or a circular labyrinth for example.
In the photo above, our chalk line just happens to be drawn on our low brick wall, which also serves as a perfect place to practice a balancing act.
Climbing the slide:
Supervision and common sense are called for here, but as long as no one is waiting to go down the slide, I’m all for climbing up the slide.
Core strength, balance, risk assessment and decision-making skills are all challenged here.
By the end of June, our 1 year old (seen in this photo) could make it to the top of the slide and into the playhouse.
Standing on the Swings:
As with climbing on the slide, you need to exercise some common-sense and supervision here, but this is another activity that helps a child to develop his or her sense of balance. Standing on a moving object is tricky, but a steady and slow-moving tire swing is the perfect place to practice such a trick. One look at these faces gives you an idea of how proud these little ones are about their accomplishment.
Balance on a Bench:
Relax your rules a bit when you’re outside, and let your child climb on the “furniture”.
Remember the joy of walking along a picnic table bench when you were young? Just because a bench or stool wasn’t designed with standing in mind, it doesn’t mean a child can’t explore it that way when it’s not in use.
And last but not least…
This is not in our yard; it belongs to Jenny from Let the Children Play. I believe her old rickety bridge is one of the coolest backyard balancing contraptions ever.
Maybe, just maybe one day, I’ll make one of my own.
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
Romanianmum (@romanianmum)
Now I wish I was as inventive and to have such a big garden! Great all year long activities!
Thank you for linking with the #pinitparty
Pinned and tweeted
MsXpat
Oh I bet that was fun. The local park has some of those ‘action stations’. I must encourage my son do them too. He loves to climb. Lovely images, its wonderful to see the little ones enjoying the outdoors.
Ariadne - Positive Parenting Connection
Oh what a lovely set of balancing activities!! Outside my son’s playschool is a massive rock – it is by far one of the most played with things in the whole school and the teachers have shared that it has been played with since the school opened over 40 years ago!!
Lauren
I love these ideas! Thank you for sharing at our Pinteresting Party!
Sugar Aunts
I love the balance activities! SO great for gross motor and body awareness. We are featuring your post tomorrow on Share It Saturday over at Sugar Aunts. Thanks for linking up!
Colleen
happyhooligans
Thanks, Sugar Aunts!! I’m honoured!
Kierna
Love this post so much Jackie, such simple activities that any OT would advise for all young children.
happyhooligans
Thank you, Kierna! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Anna Meadows
What a beautiful collection of balancing ideas for kids! Every child should have the opportunity to explore every single one! Love it! Sharing now:-)
childrens nursery
What a cute post and pictures, Kids seems to be very refreshing and energetic while playing. Thanks for the sharing.
ManyLittleBlessings (@AngieKauffman)
All of those are so cool! I love the tight rope.
Claire
Thanks for sharing this post on our Facebook page for Movement Monday! We’ve featured your idea at The Inspired Treehouse today! 🙂
Mudpie Mama
This is such a fab post! I love rope play, we haven’t got any set up in our garden yet but I’m sure we will soon. Risky play is so important and you just show how easy it is. Thanks so much for sharing at the Outdoor Play Party 🙂
rhonda
What about tires for balancing? We use them. We also hung a chain from tree to tree and tied 6 tire swings up to it for the wipe out party my oldest had! It was a huge hit! And it was more complicated for the 9-10 year olds!
lindsey
What kind of rope for the tightrope? Would 550 Paracord work?
happyhooligans
What the heck is Paracord, Lindsey? lol I just used whatever we had in the shed. It’s just little kids playing on it. I’m sure any rope would be fine as long as it’s not the splintery kind if you know what I mean.