The Olympics started this week!
I have put together some great ideas to correlate with the activities of the Summer Games! Lace up your sneakers and let’s get going!!
- Try an Olympic word search!
- Create a tea light Olympic torch
- Create a variety of backyard games!
- Try creating some Olympic crafts!
- Squirt gun water races
- Enjoy these Olympic graphs, math and charts!
- Race soap boats!
- Create a noodle throw or a balance beam!
- Nerf target practice
- Try a straw javelin throw!
- Have Olympic fun with chalk and photography!
- Olympic activities using pool noodles.
- How about creating your own bronze, silver & gold medals!
- Create a medal podium!
- When it’s snack time, learn how to make a variety of creative foods including an edible Olympic torch and medals!
- Check out the official Olympic website
- You can search the website by each sport
- Watch previous Olympic videos!
- Read about how the Olympics promote peace through sport
Books:
Check out this collection of book ideas about the Olympics!
- Hour of the Olympics: Book 16 (Magic Tree House)
No girls allowed at the Olympic Games! That”s the rule when the Magic Tree House whisks ack and Annie back to ancient Greece. But when Annie tells jack to go to the games without her, he knows she”s up to something. Will Annie find a way to see the games? Or will she get herself-and Jack-into Olympic-size trouble?
- Wilma Rudolph
Wilma was born into a family with 22 brothers and sisters, in the segregated South. She contracted polio in her early years and her doctors said she would never walk again. But Wilma persisted with treatment, and she recovered her strength by the age of 12. At school, Wilma showed a talent for basketball and sprinting, earning the nickname “Skeeter” (mosquito) as she ran so fast. Wilma was in college when she went to the 1960 Olympics. She not only won gold in sprint events, but also broke world records with her sprinting skill. She had beaten polio to become an Olympic champion. She is a huge inspiration to many women in sports around the world. This moving book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical photos and a detailed profile of the athlete’s life.
At sixteen years old, Laurie Hernandez has already made many of her dreams come true—and yet it’s only the beginning for this highly accomplished athlete. A Latina Jersey girl, Laurie saw her life take a dramatic turn in 2016 when she was chosen to be part of the US Olympic gymnastics team.
After winning gold in Rio as part of the Final Five, Laurie also earned an individual silver medal for her performance on the balance beam. She then danced her way into everyone’s hearts while competing on—and winning!—the hit reality TV show Dancing with the Stars.
Whatever activities you chose to do, there will be lots of fun going on!
Photo by: Vincent Angler {flickr}, Craig Maccubin {flickr}