Last week, I shared with you the lesson I came up with to teach my co-op class about the Olympics. {Olympics for Kids – A Lesson Plan (Part 1)} This week I want to share with you our Mini-Olympic Games.
Mini-Olympic Games for Kids
My one ‘clever’ idea for our Olympic games was to use crepe paper as our finish line. The kids could then break through the finish line when they won. You can see this in various pictures below.
I will list all sources for these games together at the bottom of this post.
- Torch Relay
This was funny to me. We ran the torch relay two times because the first time the kids treated the torch as though it was a hot potato and did the torch relay so fast, I couldn’t get any pictures. While they were running the torch relay, I had the Olympic Fanfare Medley
playing.
- Opening Ceremony
This was nothing fancy, I just had the kids take a super simple “Olympic Oath.” I think I had them promise to play fair and be good sports – it was very simple. I had the Olympic Fanfare Medley
playing again.
playing again.- Shot Put
Use a bit of aluminum foil made into a ball. Teach the kids how to put the ‘shot put’ on their shoulder and throw it upward and outward. (You may want to make sure they know not to throw it directly forward if you have someone in the field marking their throws…otherwise the person in the field could get hit hard by the shot put. I’m just saying, not that any child in our co-op needs to be signed up for Major League Baseball and not that my sweet helper got hit by a shot put!)
- Discus Throw
This was supposed to be fun, but umm, I may have ruined it in a super funny (only to the adults) way. I was showing the kids how the discus throwers actually throw the discus. Of course, I was being just a bit dramatic and I have absolutely no aim with any type of Frisbee. Add to that the wind and you can see in the picture below what happened to our ‘discus.’ No one got to play this game, but myself and my adult helper sure had a big laugh at that one.
- Balloon Between the Knee Race
The kids each got a balloon and held it between their knees, then raced to the end. The only thing to know about this game is that where we were if the balloon touched the ground it immediately popped. With the age range I work with, there were quite a few popped balloons, so make sure you have lots of extra balloons.
- 100″ Dash
We did a longer course than 100″. This game is simple. The kids inch their way toward the finish line. Kid’s being kid’s, some of them didn’t really inch forward.
- Hug-the-Balloon Buddy Race
Pair the kid’s up. They place a balloon between them and hug the balloon to keep it up off the ground. They race this way to the end of the course.
- Backwards Dash
Just as it sounds, they run to the finish line, but backward. This one was fun but did involve a bit of falling.
- Birdie Feather Race
I thought this was a cute game. It seemed to me like it would be a challenge and when I demonstrated it, the feather fell right out of my toes. The kids, not so much, not one of them had any trouble keeping the feather between their toes and racing to the finish line. All you do for this one, is have the kids take off one sock and shoe. Give them a featherto place between their toes and race.
to place between their toes and race.
- Award Ceremony
We gave each child a medal.
- Closing Ceremony
We played the Olympic theme music, lowered our ‘Olympic flag,’ and extinguished our flame.
Sources:
The Olympic Values Educational Toolkit – This is a 136 page downloadable resource. It has tons of information and activities. A lot of them are geared toward older children than my age group. Page 49 of this book contains the map I used during our lesson. It shows all the host cities.
Olympic Symbols – Brief discussion of all the Olympic symbols.
The kid’s and I had such a great time at our Olympics! I hope you give it a try and have an amazing time as well!
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Such cute ideas! I want to play in your Olympic games competition! Thank you for sharing this at our Summer BBQ Bash!
So glad I could be some inspiration! I hope you enjoy whatever activities you try.
Found this post via Uncommon’s summer fun party. Definitely want to do some of these activities with my son. Thanks for the inspiration.
You are welcome! Thanks for hosting Whimsy Wednesday’s.
I will be teaching a PE class at our co-op next year…so there may be more posts your husband will enjoy. We will have to see if I remember the camera for those days and/or if I am able to make some more fun days…wish me luck!
This is such a cute idea. My husband appreciated this post being a phys Ed teacher. Thanks so much for sharing at Whimsy Wednesdays.
Thanks! My co-op kids had so much fun. I just shared part 1 and part 2 of this post on your link party. Thanks for the invite.
So creative! I know a lot of kids who would love some of these! 🙂 I’d love to invite you to join our Saturday Show & Tell on Cheerios and Lattes. I know my readers will love your ideas! Happy Weekend! Mackenzie 🙂 https://www.cheeriosandlattes.com/saturday-show-tell-14-1st-week-of-summer/
We did have so much fun. I hope if you try some of them, you have a great time as well!
I am so glad that it can be of help to you! We had so much fun learning about the Olympics. I hope you enjoy your unit on the Olympics…wish I could join in! lol! So glad that I can help another Mom relax, too.
This looks like so much fun! I am having a mini-olympics with my Rainbows and think I’ll try out some of these ideas! Thanks for sharing!
Rebecca @ heronscrafts.blogspot.com
Bless you for these lesson plans! We plan to start back to school “officially” on July 23rd with our first unit study of The Olympics! I have bookmarked both of your posts and will be using lots of your resources! Thank you so much! You just made my summer much more relaxed since I won’t have to re-invent the wheel.
just thought I would drop a note, I am not sure if you are aware but your “brought to you by” advertisement is for a video game. While I was attempting to read your blog the advertisement began to play, and it was a video of an avatar undressing and being extremely inappropriate. I just thought I would let you know, it is highly offensive.
How fun! These are such great ideas! Thank you for linking up to Family Joy Blog Link-Up Party this week.
Thanks so much!