Y1 > English > Language_Literacy_Communication > Oracy > Positional language – Obstacle course

Lesson by Kelly Mathias

Learning Intentions:

  • To move safely, with control and co-ordination.
  • To move in different ways e.g. run, walk, skip, jump and hop.
  • To demonstrate understanding of behind, underneath, below, over, under and around.

Step 1: Activity overview for parent, carers and pupils

This is an outdoors activity although it could be modified for indoor. There is a short video (approximately two minutes long) to introduce the activity. This activity will require some adult support to set up but encourage your child to suggest their own ideas.

Step 2: Introduction to the activity and additional information

Begin by watching the short video ‘My Petsaurus – Obstacle course’ (iPlayer). It gives an example of a simple obstacle course. MY PETSAURUS

Discuss with your child the different ways of moving (over, under, around etc) that you saw in the video.

  • Over the dominoes
  • Around the beanbag
  • In and out of the plastic cups
  • Jump into the hoops
  • Crawl through the tunnel

To check that your child understands these movement words you could do this by asking them to crawl under a chair or walk around the table etc.

Look at the plan below for a garden obstacle course.

Garden-obstacle-course-ideas

Discuss with your child ideas about what they could use to make their own obstacle course. Will it be inside like the one in the video or outside like the example above?

Decide what obstacles you could use for your own obstacle course, you could use things like cardboard boxes, old sheets, skipping ropes. You may like to draw a simple plan for your obstacle course.

Step 3: Tasks to carry out for this activity

Activity 1 – Making your obstacle course

  • Gather the equipment you are going to use for your obstacle course.
  • Decide on a start and finish point.
  • Set out your obstacles.
  • You could time yourself. How quickly can you complete the obstacle course? You could have a family contest and record everyone’s times. Who was the quickest/ slowest?

Variations that you can add to your obstacle course:

  • Maths challenge obstacle course – at the challenge stations have a maths activity, for example, write even numbers to 20/ count back from 20/ throw two beanbags at numbers that make 10.
  • Literacy challenge obstacle course – at the challenge stations have a literacy activity, for example, throw a beanbag at a given word/ say the alphabet/ spell the word.

Once you have completed the task you can email anything you create (photos, documents, screenshots etc.) directly to your teacher or directly upload it to any of the available places in Step 5.

Step 4: Look over the success criteria for this activity:

Success criteria #1: I can travel around the obstacle course safely.
Success criteria #2: I can run, walk, skip, jump, climb and hop.
Success criteria #3: I can show I understand ‘behind, underneath, below, over, under and on top of’ in the way I move.

Look at the learning intentions ‘how well do you think you have done?’

Step 5: Upload your work

Click on the relevant link below if you have any work to upload to your online areas J2e   Google Drive   OneDrive   Seesaw