Backyard 'Amusement Parks' Help Families Overcome Boredom During COVID-19 Pandemic

Most theme parks around the country are still closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But some families have come up with ingenious ways to have fun and stay active in their own backyards.

One lucky kid's parents got creative and hung a 60-foot rope and harness from a tree. One family made a makeshift roller coaster. And another turned their backyard into their very own bowling alley.

For Karri Bowen-Poole, who transformed the garage into an American Ninja Warrior course, it was all about making sure her kids stayed active.

"All of a sudden there were five of us living in the home, and I thought, 'I really have to think outside the box and create a place where the kids could be physical where they could work out, we could continue some routines,'" Bowen-Poole told Inside Edition. 

The course features monkey bars, a rock climbing wall and a basketball hoop. 

"It's definitely nice when I'm consumed by screens and then I'm like, 'Oh I'll just go workout in our crazy garage,'" Bowen-Poole's son said.

For several months the obstacle course was the family's only means of real exercise. 

"We weren't going to the parks, we weren't going to the grocery store, we weren't going out at all so to have a separate place in our backyard to allow that has just been incredible," Bowen-Poole said.

In Fullerton, California, Steven Dobbs recreated Disneyland for his grandkids in his own backyard.

"We call it 'Dobbs Land,'" he told Inside Edition. "The kids love Disneyland. We've gone there many times and we thought, well it would be fun to have one in our backyard!"

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