The Summer Olympics: Are You Ready?

The Summer Olympics 2021 is happening in Tokyo, Japan. Did you watch the opening ceremony? Take time to view some of the events with your little athletes at home as this is history in the making. Below are a few activities to do with the children to enhance these global games.

Olympic Ring Art

The Olympic symbol of five rings is displayed everywhere. The ring colors of blue, black, red, yellow and green represent the colors of all the flags of the world. Show the kids a picture of this flag on the Internet or in books, and then proceed to this craft. Pour paints of the colors above in shallow containers. Give each child an empty cardboard toilet tube (you will need five) and invite them to dip the end into the paint and then print a circle shape onto a piece of white construction paper. Have your kids copy the Olympic flag with this technique overlapping the circles to make the rings. Younger children will just enjoy making the circle prints with these art tools.

To make the bow and arrow craft (that I made) check this site.

Let Your Home Games Begin

Young children have a hard time understanding the idea of teams, winners and losers. So, in your games, make sure that everyone is a winner. You can invite your children to try some of the following Olympic activities:

 • Discus throw: use paper plates and see how far the children can toss them.

 • Javelin: let the kids throw plastic straws and measure where they land.

 • Shot Put: throw ping-pong balls or paper balls.

 • Relay race: invite the kids to run a distance passing off a stick (it’s safer to use an empty paper towel tube). For younger children, there is no need to have teams.

 • Bicycle or tricycle races: create an obstacle course at your home where children can ride safely. Use plastic cones if available. If you have a stopwatch, the kids may want to know how many seconds it took them to finish the course.

Olympic Music

Enjoy singing this song with your kids to the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat."

Run, run, run so fast

Fast as you can go.

I’m running in the Olympics now,

I’m going for the gold.

Jump, jump, jump so far

Mark where I land.

I’m jumping in the Olympics now,

I’m going for the gold. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Change the verses to sing about other events in the Summer Olympics such as throwing, swimming and gymnastics. Conduct your closing ceremonies with lots of praise and award colorful homemade ribbons! Remember everyone is a winner in your own Olympics!

Enjoy the next weeks of the Olympic games. Until my next blog post.

Happy Parenting,

Tania

Photos courtesy of Tania Cowling, all rights reserved
Article text by Tania Cowling may not be duplicated without permission of this author.
Ideas in this article have been published in parenting magazines during previous summer Olympics.

Fish-Themed Activities For Children

It's summer and many families spend these days fishing, boating, at the beach and maybe visiting an aquarium. Here are ways to help children develop knowledge about the creatures that live under the sea.

Fish Stories

Cut out fish shapes from construction paper. From old magazines, cut out interesting pictures and glue these onto the fish. Place all fish into a box. Invite the children to pick a "fish" from the box. Look at the picture and try to incorporate it into a fish story they make up. This is a fun game for a group of children or with the family.

Pick Up Fish (A fine motor game)

Remember the game of pick-up-sticks? Here is a fish version. You will need two containers, one empty and the other filled with fish shaped crackers. Invite the children to use tweezers to move the crackers from one container to the other.

Fish Dramatic Play

Have the children pretend to be fish swimming in the water. Ask, "What type of fish do you want to be?" Tell them to lie on their stomach with their arms close to their side. Now, have them wiggle their body and try to move. Ask, "How would you rest when you are tired? How would you eat? Where would you hide if there were danger?" Have the children describe what they imagine in their underwater world. Act out the following verse.

There is so much activity beneath the sea.

The crab crawls, the eel wiggles,

The octopus swims, the jellyfish jiggles.

Dramatize the creature you want to be!

Fish Net Mobile

Save one of those net bags that oranges or potatoes are sold in. Hang this in a favorite spot. Invite the children to make colorful paper fish cut from construction paper and decorated with art materials. Punch a hole at the top of each fish. Attach the fish to the net with hooks made by opening paper clips.

Going Fishing (Snack)

Give each child two paper cups. One with fish shaped crackers and the other with peanut butter. Give the children a carrot stick and tell them to dip the end of the veggie stick (fishing pole) into the peanut butter and then go fishing into the crackers. The peanut butter makes the crackers stick to the carrot stick. Kids love to see how many fish they can catch!

Children love fish themes and you can enhance these ideas with books, songs and even movies like the movie Finding Dory. There is a mysterious and beautiful world down under the sea, so as you are having fun with fish activities, children are learning through play.

Photo courtesy of Flickr