6 Playground Activities For Your Young Superheros

As a child, I loved immersing myself in fantasy tales and comic books. There was something extraordinary and endearing about an alternate universe where anything is possible.

The astonishing lure of strength, good vs evil, incomparable technology and incredible abilities to conquer the world, in the bat of an eye.

Superhero playground challenges are a brilliant way to spark children’s imagination and to build their gross motor skills. All the running, skipping, jumping and climbing will burn off pent up energy.

Similarly, they can progress their social and emotional skills, whilst pretending to be part of the Avengers or Justice League.

We have highlighted 6 exciting playground activities to prepare your superheroes-in-training to develop their own amazing skills and master the universe.

1. Marvel Avengers Superhero Obstacle Course

This challenge is a great way for children to develop a profound understanding of bravery and co-operation.

To create an action-packed, superhero obstacle course and to assist them to reach the security of their hideaway, for nursery and pre-schoolers, the Get Set, Go! Blocks can be arranged to get them crawling, climbing and leaping their way to their hideout.

For the older school children, the adventure Trim Trails are perfect as they present a variety of daring challenges and much like superheroes, they need to know how to react in each situation.

The Trim Trails encourage group-work, creativity and heroic problem-solving skills. They are effective in building overall muscle strength and coordination to assist them in the direction of safety!

2. Climb The Sticky Spiders Web

With the imminent release of the new Spiderman movie, what better way to get children ready than to introduce this climbing challenge?

As you know strength is a big deal for superheroes, without, how could they possibly beat the bad guys?  The Web Explorer Climbing Frame is guaranteed to get children in the mood, presenting 6 courageous spider’s web climbing challenges for children to overcome. 

They will be transformed into their very own strong version of Spiderman in no time!

3. Hulk Bash!

The incredible Hulk would be proud of these smashing games. For variety, I’ve added a couple of options below.

Option 1: Mighty Green Splash

By adding a couple of drops of green food colouring to the Water Table, little ones can take-turns to see who can create the largest, green and mighty splash.

Not only will this generate all round laughter and fun, it will encourage healthy competition, communication and boost social skills, too.

Option 2: Hulk In The Sand

Using the incredible Sand Table and integrating its many wonderful sensory benefits, children can dip, scoop and manipulate sand to draw their very own Hulk, or build their own structures. Then much like Hulk, destroy the structure with an almighty smash and growl.

This type of play will encourage children to talk to each other, discuss their ideas and spend longer indulging in sensory play at the same time as letting their imaginations run wild!

4. Read a Justice League Comic Together

What’s not to love about comic books? Superheroes are cool and comic books are quite literally visual masterpieces! They help to develop a love for reading and encourage a higher level of thinking. 

Research has found that stories have a noticeable influence on brain function and how we think (Berns et al 2013). Using the Story Telling Circle, children can huddle together to read a comic book and discuss what they have learnt with one another.

After all, there is truth to the age-old wisdom, the more you read, the better the reader you become.

5. The Infinity Stone Treasure Hunt

Our young superheroes must work together and go on an adventurous quest, with a mission to find and collect the infinity stones around the playground and bring them to shelter.

This is a great way for children to make new friends and interact with each other, whilst working towards a common goal.

All six gems in the infinity gauntlet will be hidden around the playground. The hunt will begin in the Outdoor Gazebo, where children will be split into teams. On the giant whiteboard, all six gems to be collected, will be highlighted. For example:

• The Reality Stone
• The Soul Stone
• The Mind Stone
• The Space Stone
• The Power Stone
• The Time Stone

Children will then be given a card with a puzzle to solve with their friends, this can be a literacy or numeracy problem, to combine classroom learning to the game.

Once solved, the location of the first gem will be revealed. Then the next clue will be found at that location, revealing the next problem to be solved and therefore location of the second stone and so on…

The first team to find and collect all 6 stones will be the champions!

6. Catch the Villain

Superheroes and villains go together like macaroni and cheese, shoes and socks, bat and ball, Tom and Jerry. I’m getting a tad carried away, but I’m sure you get the picture!

Simply put, a superhero cannot be without a bad guy to catch!  A large open space like the MUGA is ideal, whilst a game of chase is nothing original, sometimes old games are the best.

Lots of physical activity, running and laughter can’t be a bad thing can it? Also, children can take turns to play the role of the villain, too.

To help children to get into the character’s and help role play, the villain can sport a hand-made mask or a cape made out of a bin liner, for instance.

View our full range of Educational Playground Equipment designed to meet the needs of schools and nurseries. Our Playground Consultants will work with your school to design a playground environment that suits your children and schools needs. Contact Us for free, expert advice.