The spirit of the Rio 2016 Olympics can be created at home. Lauren offers some great activities to keep the little ones engaged (while you are madly cheering at the telly).
The Rio 2016 Olympics is nearly upon us, commencing on the 5th and concluding on the 21st of August. If your child is under 4, this would be their first exposure to the world wide sporting event (well honestly even if they are 5-6 they probably won’t remember much from the 2012 Olympics). My little one is 3, so here are some activities we’ll be doing at home this month!
Explore Rio
First up we need to establish an understanding of what and where Rio de Janeiro is! And the film Rio is the perfect way to do this. The adorable macaw named Blu has never learnt to fly, living quite happily with his human friend. Before long they’re off on a quest to find a female bird of his kind in Rio de Janeiro.
Here’s just a quick YouTube clip to give you an idea…
Follow up your movie night with some bird craft. Just one of my favourites is this one… simply paint a paper plate and fold in half when dry. Then stick on eyes, a beak and feathers.
Next up we’re going to examine the world map to figure out where Rio de Janeiro is and where these wonderful Olympic games are taking place. Start of by labeling your location on the map, and then show your child where Rio is. Explain the parts of the map that are countires and which parts are ocean (green/blue colours show this really well). Talk about how you could get from your house to Rio – would you go in a boat, fly in an aeroplane, drive a car? Draw a line from one to the other.
Source: http://tofewe.hol.es/coloring-maps-of-the-world)
For a little extension teach your child the names of the continents, and this will tie in perfectly for your next activity…
Olympic symbols
We all know that each Olympic ring represents one of the continents, so encourage your child to count each one. This printable from Tot Schooling is fantastic because it allows your child to colour, trace and then have a go at drawing the Olympic rings – an important symbol they’ll likely to see repeatedly if you’re watching the games on TV.
Make your own Olympic torch using this template from Twinkl complete with red/orange/yellow cellophane for the flames. Do laps around your house or yard carrying the special torch, and if you have more than one child they can pass it to one another.
Get active
The Rio 2016 Olympics are a fantastic time to encourage young children to put down their devices and do some more physical activity! They naturally have a lot of energy and need to be given positive outlets to burn it off throughout the day. This can be tricky in parts of the world (like us in Australia) where it’s currently the middle of winter!
Try this indoor obstacle course, practise balancing, jumping, hopping, throwing and catching a ball etc…
Or if you’re lucky enough to score a sunny winter’s day, head outside for running races! Maybe even with a gold medal for your little one.
