Stump Jump Gross Motor Fun

I have been wanting to add tree stumps to our outside playspace for a few years now.  I got lucky and my inlaws had to cut down a tree.  They already knew I had been on the lookout for tree stumps.  They brought us 5!  Yay, I was so excited that we finally had tree stumps.  Well, I am just an everyday mom and life gets busy and we go through our days and some things just get put off.  And the the poor tree stumps just sat by the deck for way too long and we never used them.  I was not letting another year go by without getting out there and putting them to use.  Now we have a fun Stump Jump addition to our playspce.  We look forward to using them often to make up for lost time.

 

 

Stump Jump Gross Motor Fun

 

I had my husband roll the stumps up to one of our trees in the back yard and make a half circle with them.  This tree gives off the most shade in the summer so I chose it for that reason.  Then on our really hot days we can get out and play in the shade.

The weather got crazy and we had rain, and cold days… Finally we had a nice afternoon we could get out and jump.  Even though the pollen was out and my allergies in full swing I did not let it stop us from enjoy our stumps!  We had been waiting too long to play.

The kids walked across the stumps and when they got to the end they would jump as high and as far as they could.  I have high energy boys and this was perfect for them.  But I think all kids could enjoy this fun outside play area.

 

This activity is a great way to get the kids moving and working on those gross motor skills.  They can improve their balance and practice lots of jumps.  Working on the large muscle groups.  Once they jumped down they ran around the yard back to the tree stumps to start again.  This was a great time to work on being a team, playing and taking turns too.

 

 How I created our Tree Stump Jump Area.

What you need:

 

tree stumps

 

spray paint

 

lacquer

 

What to do:

 

I took spray paint and sprayed the tops of the stumps.  After applying a few coats I added spray paint lacquer.  The bright colors just added an extra fun aspect to the play areas.  We look forward to having lots of fun outside this year with them.