If you’ve ever coached a CrossFit Kids class, you know the chaos potential is high.
Shoes fly. Someone’s always upside down on the gymnastics rings. Jump ropes become tangled bottlenecks during the warm-up. The new kid arrives 7 minutes late, while a parent insists on watching the entire class and starts sideline coaching.
While this comes with the territory, it’s also an opportunity to perfect group management and develop your coaching presence. CrossFit Kids isn’t a scaled-down adult class; it’s a program that deserves structure, intentional layout, and undivided attention.
1. Create a Safe, Structured Environment
Kids push boundaries, not necessarily to misbehave, but to explore and learn. Teenagers push boundaries to test the limits of themselves, peers, and authority figures. Your space and coaching should anticipate this.
Key Safety Considerations
Remove blind spots: Clear tight corners of rowers, bikes, and storage areas where kids can hide or get hurt.
Secure rig attachments: Ensure rings are even and stored correctly. Put away unattended barbells. Keep J-hooks above the kid’s head height or remove them entirely. Tie up climbing ropes and any jump ropes left from adult classes.
Limit unsupervised equipment access: Control access to kettlebells, dodgeballs, bands, and any other items that can be thrown, dropped, or mishandled.
Walk your space from a child’s perspective: What can I climb, crawl under, throw, or walk into if I’m not paying attention?
2. Designate a Waiting Area for Parents and Siblings
Without clear boundaries, distractions multiply fast.
Create visual boundaries using cones, tape, boxes, dumbbell racks, or medicine-ball holders to separate adult space from kids’ space.
Keep siblings engaged with books, homework stations, or by involving them in warm-up/cool-down games. This builds community and grows future classes. That 6-year-old watching today might join because their sibling invited them to play “Farmers and Lumberjacks.”
Pro tip: Involve parents strategically. Turn them into allies rather than distractions. Have them judge competitions or help with measurements at the end of class. But don’t let them coach the deadlift setup mid-workout. To alleviate unwanted parent coaching, many CrossFit Kids coaches discuss parent expectations at sign-up time or send out information packets that may include “parent rules” such as where their designated area is, that they are only allowed to say “good job” to their kid, etc.
3. Avoid Adult Class Chaos Overlap
Adult classes feature loud music, dropping barbells, and various stimuli that can overwhelm younger kids or first-time teen athletes who are still figuring out their comfort zones.
Solutions:
- Stagger schedules by 10-15 minutes to allow different pacing.
- Consider shorter classes: 30-45 minutes often works better than full hours.
- Use setup time wisely: Spend the first part of your hour setting up and doing final walkthroughs.
- Turn down the music: Kids need more cues and fewer distractions.
- Create physical barriers: Use cones, boxes, tape, or equipment to divide zones. “Don’t cross that tape line; there’s lava on the other side!”
4. Plan for Movement Flow
Kids need organized transitions. Your layout should support:
- Stations with clear markings
- Quick access to equipment zones
- Game space for sharks and minnows, dodgeball, and relays
Avoid over-cluttering. Kids move fast and unpredictably, so clear pathways matter.
5. Prepare for the Little Things
Kids arrive with bags, bottles, and endless questions. Plan for it.
- Create designated storage: Cubbies or bag zones for water bottles, phones, watches, and school bags
- Establish bathroom protocol: Whether one-at-a-time or buddy system
- Budget extra briefing time: Kids ask more questions than adults and can derail with random stories
Final Thoughts: Layout Shapes Culture
A well-structured space doesn’t just prevent chaos; it fosters trust. When kids know where to go and what to do, they feel safer, more confident, and become more coachable.
Even a small gym can run a world-class CrossFit Kids program if it’s laid out with intention.
Regular space audit: Walk your space as a coach, parent, kid, and teen. Ask yourself: “Is this fun? Safe? Clear?”
If yes, you’re ahead of the game. If not, now you know what needs attention.
Read CrossFit Kids Part 3: Talking Nutrition With Kids Without Getting Weird or Breaking the Law
