Summer Olympics for Kids

We’ve been studying the countries of the world this year, so I’m super excited to catch at least a few of the Olympic Games with my kids this summer. I’m especially hoping to catch the opening ceremony–would you believe I’ve never seen one?! Here are a few ideas to get ready for the Olympic Games:

Play Some Sports!

Watching the games will be more interesting if kids know what’s going on! The games will feature 28 events–pick a few favorites or try to get a taste of as many as you can. What a summer that would be! It’s also a good chance to have conversations about good sportsmanship and self-discipline.

Read Some Books!

There are two big things that I remember about the Olympic games from my childhood: the kid’s book we had about the history of the games that had naked people in it (gasp!) and a map with flag stickers for each country in the games. That’s right–I do not remember the actual games. I do, however, remember it being an exciting time! Here are a couple of kids books to interest your kids in the Olympics (no promises for what the athletes are or are not wearing!):

G is for Gold Medal (https://www.amazon.com/Gold-Medal-Olympics-Alphabet-Sports/dp/1585364622/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1466094652&sr=1-12&keywords=olympics+kids)

What are the Summer Olympics? (https://www.amazon.com/What-Are-Summer-Olympics-Was/dp/0448488345/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1466094652&sr=1-1&keywords=olympics+kids)

For a look at the host country, try Living in Brazil (https://www.amazon.com/Living-Brazil/dp/1481452037/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466099205&sr=8-1&keywords=Brazil+kids)

Visit an Olympic Training Center

Sadly, not everyone will be able to do this. The US training centers are in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Chula Vista, California; and Lake Placid, New York. We are temporarily living in San Diego, so I hope to be able to take my kids the the training center here sometime before the games. This particular center gives walk-in tours every Saturday at 11 am. If you visit Lake Placid, make sure to see the ski jump–it’s wild!

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