Indiana Custom Homes: How to Build a Backyard Obstacle Course

Indiana custom homes can be anything you want them to be. They can mirror an Italian villa or even a colonial style home. But, as you pick out the style of home you want, it’s important to think about your backyard. How will your family use it? Do you entertain a lot? Are your kids adventurous? One thing to consider adding is an obstacle course for your kids and their friends.

An obstacle course goes one step beyond the traditional playset found in many Indiana custom homes. It provides a challenge to kids of any age, depending on how difficult you design the course. To help you think about the different elements you can add, here are few obstacle challenges you can include:

Balance Beams

Balance beams are one of the most common backyard obstacle course challenges. These challenges come standard on some playgrounds and playsets, but they are perfect obstacles for smaller children and novice obstacle course runners. Indiana custom homes can make the beams challenging by installing them at various heights, widths, and lengths. Just make sure your kids aren’t balancing on higher and more difficult beams without supervision.

Cargo Nets

What kid doesn’t love climbing over and up cargo nets. Whether you make this a horizontal or a vertical challenge, cargo nets are great fun. While they can be a little difficult, cargo nets are a standard obstacle course challenge. Depending on how you set up the cargo net, you can make it lead to the top of a tree house, tower or even the top of a hill. If you don’t have the space for a vertical climbing challenge, then make the cargo net a horizontal challenge. Your custom home builder in Indianapolis will be able to help you determine the best place for your cargo net.

Stepping Stones

We aren’t talking about the stones leading from your patio to your pool. Obstacle course stepping stones are elevated and have a large enough gap between them that course runners have to jump from one to the next. Don’t space them out so far that your kids are in danger of falling, but if they are only a few inches apart, then it’ll be too easy. You can also make it more challenging by varying the height of each stone so course runners have to jump up and down throughout the challenge.

Tunnel

Another great challenge that you can incorporate into your backyard and your landscaping is a tunnel. Whether the tunnel goes underground or just runs through a section of your yard, it’ll keep kids entertained for a while. The tunnel can zig-zag through the yard, slope down and then up, or it can just snake through another section of the obstacle course. It really just depends on how difficult you want to make it and how much room you have.

Apex Ladder

Another common obstacle course challenge that you can easily include in your backyard is the apex ladder. This slightly angled wooden ladder features rungs that are spaced further apart than normal ladder rungs, making it difficult for climbers to reach the top and climb down the other side. Again, this challenge is more appropriate for older kids and more experienced obstacle course runners.
At G&G Custom Homes, we love hearing unique ideas for the backyard and for custom homes. We’d love to sit down with you and discuss the different ideas you have and how we can help you incorporate them into your dream home.