Want fun gross motor activities with something as simple as pool rings? This blog post is all about different ways to work on gross motor skills using pool rings. They are good for more than just the pool. Stock up on these in the summer and use them all year long. They are an excellent Winter Olympics gross motor activity or Summer Olympics gross motor activity as well!
Pool Rings Gross Motor Activity Equipment
There are so many different ways that you can incorporate pool rings into gross motor skills. The following videos are just scratching the surface, but should help get the creative juices flowing.
There are a handful of other pieces of equipment included in the videos. I’ve put together a list with my affiliate links of those pieces of equipment. I like to try to keep it simple and even use things around the house.
- Pool Rings (This is an Amazon link, but I usually pick mine up at Target)
- Peanut Ball
- Cones (Could even use plastic cups instead of cones)
Olympic Gross Motor Activities
Considering that these activities use rings, they are perfect to use as Winter Olympics gross motor activities or Summer Olympics gross motor activities as well.
You could have an entire area set-up as Olympic rings activities instead of calling them pool rings. Pink Oatmeal also has several other ideas for the Olympics so be sure to check out the winter games gross motor ideas, winter sports fine motor activities, winter sports stations, and the Summer Sports Movement Pack.
Pool Ring Gross Motor Activity Videos
Without any further delay, here are your gross motor activities using pool rings.
Peanut Ball and Pool Rings
The following exercises incorporate pool rings with a peanut ball.
Seated on the Peanut Ball
In this exercise you sit on the peanut ball and work on moving the rings with your feet to the cone. Be sure to give each foot a turn. Move to the ring on the same side and work on moving toward the ring on the opposite side. Rings may also be placed directly on the foot with your hands if it proves to be to hard to place them on your feet without your hands.
Peanut Ball Walk Outs
In this exercise, the kiddo lays over the peanut ball and uses their hands to walk out to the cone and place the ring on the cone. The further out the cone, the more challenging the exercise.
If walk outs are too difficult, this same activity can be done prone over the peanut ball without adding the walk out component.
Pool Ring Gross Motor With Cones
The following exercises are done with cones only. There are several different variations that can be done with each of these exercises.
Cone Shuffle
This can be done with lateral shuffles, forward shuffle, backward shuffle, grapevines and more.
Locomotor Work
You can also work on locomotor skills like gallop, skipping etc. and move the rings between different cones.
Rings + Balance
The following exercises work on balance with the pool rings. There are different variations you can do with each exercise.
Standing Reach
The following exercise works on standing on an unsupportive surface (in this case a pillow) and reaching outside of a comfortable base of support to place the rings on the cones. The further away the cones, the greater the challenge. Change up the unsupportive surface to make it feel like a different exercise, for example using a balance board or (affiliate link) Bosu ball. You can also remove the unstable surface and stand in tandem, with feet together, or with feet hip width apart.
Single Leg Balance With Rings
This challenging activity has you placing and moving the rings with your foot to a cone. If it is too difficult to get the rings on your feet without the use of your hands, use your hands to assist. Make sure to try it with both feet and change up the cone placements.
In the next video, single leg stance is performed while all the rings are placed on the cone. It’s challenging as the foot can’t be placed on the ground until all the rings are off!
These activities are a great start to working on gross motor skills with pool rings.
If you love the pool ring ideas, but want even more pool exercises, check out the pool exercises for kids post from Pink Oatmeal.