Fall Program Recap: Family Outdoor Fun

It was our unfortunate luck that the day of our Family Outdoor Fun program was met with less-than-pleasant weather. This meant that, the morning of, we scrambled a bit to adapt our plans for an afternoon of indoor fun instead. Unfortunately, with the weather, we didn't get the turnout we'd hoped for. Here's what we did.

Obstacle Course: participants had to jump over a hurdle, walk across a balance beam, jump another hurdle, crawl through a tunnel, jump a third hurdle, and then leap on the safe spots to complete the course. Several kids went through the course multiple times - I think our tunnel has been one of our best investments. Kids of all ages love it.

Ladybug toss: tossing games are always a big hit. We made this one with three buckets on a stepladder and the kids had ladybug beanbags that they attempted to throw into the buckets. The highest bucket was, of course, the most difficult.

Football toss: as we were indoors, the football toss became a bird toss. We hung a hula hoop from the ceiling and had teen volunteers spin the hoop as kids tried to toss a stuffed bird through it. Would have been more exciting outside.

Coloring sheets and puzzles: a last minute addition as we had to scrap several of our original plans due to space/logistics constraints. Coloring sheets are always a hit and it was a nice breather from the more active parts of the program.

Scavenger hunt: our original scavenger hunt consisted of items that could be found in nature around our library. When we moved the program inside, we adapted the scavenger hunt to fit with our usual template: photos of things (like birds and flowers) hidden around the children's department. We gave away gliders as a prize for finishing the hunt.

We had so many cool outdoor fun activities planned and just happened to hit upon bad weather on program day. We still had a few families show up, but we would have had many more if the weather had cooperated. Have you had to adapt a program at the last minute due to circumstances beyond your control?