Go Around or Go Over
by Steve West on May 28, 2020

Because Olivia's school is closed we've been forced to do home schooling along with her teacher doing Zoom three times each week. So lesson plans are still happening but her special education also includes speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy. I don't do speech or occupational but I stepped in for physical. I built her an obstacle course in the backyard.
Each station is numbered and the object is to get to the finish line as quickly as possible. Station 1 starts inside the house. Our sliding door to the backyard is a little heavy (it's a really good door with double paned glass, built-in Venetian blinds, and heavy duty lock). She has to manage the lock and slide it open.
#2 is a tunnel of sorts I fashioned out of extra large pool noodles forming an arch. I combined two noodles together then staked them into the ground to form five adjacent arches that she has to crawl under although sometimes she sits and scoots along the ground. Either way, she's getting some exercise.
#3 is a series of hula hoops that crookedly lead to the next station, far enough apart that she has to take large strides to get from one to another while staying inside the circles.
#4 is a short ladder for which she climbs only two steps to slam dunk 3 balls through a small basketball hoop I secured to the side of the house.
#5 is walking a 12 foot long balance beam.
#6 is a sandbox at the end of the beam in which is buried a box with a message within. She just use a large wooden spoon to dig through the sand to get the box and open it to reveal the message, "You did it!"
#7 is a toy car that when rolled backward for a few inches and then released, it rolls forward on its own. The object is to see how far down the balance beam she can get the car to go.
#8 is to walk backward for about 15 feet to the next station.
#9 is to pick up some ivory dominoes with salad tongs and place them back into their container.
#10 is a kiddie pool filled with floating rubber ducks. On the bottom of each such I drew either a star (96) or the letter O (4). She needs to grab a duck and turn it over to reveal its symbol. She keeps searching until she finds an "O".
#11 is simply to kick a ball through a goal.
#12 is to crawl under a sawhorse with blue crepe paper draped heavily across it. I tell her she's going through a waterfall.
#13 is to drag a wagon loaded with enough bricks to make it heavy (but not too heavy) across the finish line marked with a waving checkered flag.
Olivia has been quite enthusiastic about it all and has modified a few tasks to meet her abilities. I'm very okay with that. She looks forward to doing it once each day when it's not raining. If anyone has a suggestion for another station, I'm all ears, thank you.
Two Replies to Go Around or Go Over
Kelly Lee | May 28, 2020
Watch out, Scott, I might do that.
Web Junkie
Steve West scours the Web searching for interest or absurdity and then shakes his head ruefully when he finds it. Read more »

Lost in Translation
Some ad slogans that had hilarious results when translated into other languages for international marketing. Go »
Differences That Make All The Difference
Recent discussion with Brenda: me: There's such a huge difference between how I interact with people at work and how I interact with the people in my home. Brenda: How so? me: At work, I spend all day talking about banking practices and domestic and international finance. Go »
Ice Cream That Would Make Homer Simpson Retch
In all honesty, I felt physically ill after about 1/3 of the way through this list. I could actually taste some of this nauseating stuff and it made my stomach churn. I don't even want to know what raw horseflesh flavor is like. Go »
Halloween Post #8: Geek-O'Lanterns
Happy Halloween! Celebrate this absurdly lovable holiday with a time-consuming habit of making a jack-o-lantern. Despite the inherent silliness of carving a gourd as an act of celebration, these pumpkins are very impressive. Go »
Is This A Country Song Or What?
Playing a country song backwards, as the old joke goes, and your wife comes back, your dog is alive again, and your trucks rolls over onto its wheels. The Mickster has got it bad in Oscar week as his beloved chihuahua died in his arms. Not to make fun of what must have been a horrible event, but did he really need to display his mourning by attending a New York fashion show the very next day? Go »
Scott Hardie | May 28, 2020
That sounds like fun -- to run and to build. :-) You did good, Steve.
Obstacle courses, matched to the player's ability level, are fun. I remember a Survivor contestant remarking how fun some of the show's challenges would be to play if there wasn't so much pressure to win them.
I see videos online of parents constructing obstacle courses at home for their bored kids, and I think, I wish someone would make an obstacle course for me. :-)