Everyone in the family can join in with the sports and activities to strengthen and support relationships between parents and siblings. Holding a home sports day can also help the children develop skills in other areas. The children can use maths measurement skills to keep a record of timing and lengths for a range of different sporting activities. They can design and make objects needed to complete different races such as making some hurdles using garden canes and rope. The children can develop computing skills by producing a multimedia presentation about the races and winners.

Preparation
You need to ensure that the children are fully prepared before getting them to participate in a home sports day. In the run-up to your sports day, get the children to practise each of the different sports that they will compete in during the event. You can model the correct ways to run, jump, throw and catch which the children can then practise so that they have a chance of winning each event. Encourage the children to look for ways to improve their performance such as selecting the correct stance to use when catching a ball or how to use their hands to propel themselves when jumping. Allow each member of the family to keep a record of their progress in different events so that they can monitor improvements over a number of weeks.

Location and Competitors
If you have access to a large garden then your family can participate in a range of sports together. Arrange for some members in the family to be in charge of setting out and collecting equipment needed for specific events. If you have a smaller garden then you will need to choose a range of activities to match the size of the area. For example, instead of getting the children to perform a running long jump they can measure the distance that they can jump from a standing position. If you don’t have access to a garden then the home sports day can take place in a local park or open grassy area. Try and encourage all members of the family to participate in each event. If you have strong links with another family in the local area then you can contact each other using a video conferencing application to watch each other perform different events and share the results.

Warm Up
It is important that the children are fully warmed up before participating in any physical activity. You can use a remote control to get the children to move about the garden when warming up. Tell the children to begin jogging slowly around the garden changing direction after every ten steps. You can then name remote control commands for the children to respond to as they move around the garden such as pause, fast forward, slow rewind etc. Time should also be allocated for the children to preform a number of stretches. Get them to practise washing the air to the front, below, above their heads and to the left and right. After stretching, get the children to continue running around the garden until they are out of breath and ready to participate in the sporting events.

Running
Select some running events for the family to participate in at home. The children can time themselves individually to see how long it takes them to perform a number of laps in the garden. You can set out some skipping ropes or cones to indicate the path for the children to follow around the garden. Try and include a number of changes in direction for the children to follow as they run about the garden. The children can also make some hurdles using cardboard boxes for everyone to jump over during a race. You can also get the children to participate in a longer run around the local area. Try not to select an area where the children can run safely away from traffic and other families. They can try using a stopwatch to keep a record of everyone’s timing.

Jumping
Get the children to participate in some jumping events during the home sports day. The jumps can either take the form of a running jump from a distance in the garden or by preforming a standing jump. Select a grassy area in the garden for the activities so that everyone can land safely after jumping. Place some cushions for the children to land on when jumping. The children can also develop their measurement skills by recording the lengths of their different jumps so that they can monitor improvements over a number of weeks before participating in the home sports day.

Throwing and Catching
You can also get the children to participate in a number of throwing and catching activities. Get the children to set out some boxes and buckets at different lengths from a starting line. They can then practise throwing small balls or bean bags into each box and bucket to win points. You can also set out a number of cones at the end of the garden and time the children to see how many cones they can knock down within one minute. The children can also practise their catching skills by throwing and catching a ball with another member of their family. They can take a step back when the ball is successfully caught to see how far apart they can move and throw in the garden.

Obstacle Courses
You can also get the children to design and practise some of their own fun sports and activities. Help the children set out an obstacle course in the garden such as creating tunnels using chairs and jumps through sets of hoops. Each member of the family can then try completing the obstacle courses as quickly as possible. The children in the family can time each other to see how quickly they can complete the courses.