11 Olympics Themed Activities to Do With Your Kids

Kids can learn about the history of the Olympics through these fun and educational activities:

1. Explore Ancient Greek history through food.
Hana Khatib is a homeschooling mom of four who chronicles her family’s home education activities on her YouTube channel and blog. During an Ancient Greek unit course, she incorporated an Ancient Greek meal into their study. “What better way to learn about a time period in history than to eat your way through it,” she explained in her video. “That’s just what we did during our Ancient Greece main lesson block. With the help of Food and Cooking in Ancient Greece by Clive Gifford, we baked, cooked, and grilled an authentic and tasty Ancient Greek meal.”

2. Watch a short video on the history of The Olympics for kids.
As a homeschooling mom, I’ve learned that sometimes it’s easier to let someone else do the teaching. No need to reinvent the wheel. A quick and easy YouTube video always does the trick!

Besides cheering on the actual Olympic Games together, here are some movies and books to watch and read with your kids.

3. Take a deep-dive into the Summer Olympics with a family movie night.
Movies are a great way to come together as a family and learn something new or take a newfound interest a bit further. The following kid-friendly Olympics movies are a great way to extend the Olympic experience with your kids.

• Miracle, PG – While based around the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, Miracle is a great movie for hockey fans.
• Chariots of Fire, PG – This movie is based on a true story and takes place at the Paris Olymics in 1924 and addresses overcoming prejudice, class and faith
• American Anthem, PG-13 – This movie stars Olympic Gold Medalist Mitch Gaylord as character Steve Tevere and his quest to make the U.S. Olympics Gymnastics Team.

4. Follow along with the opening and closing ceremonies and everything in between.
The Kids Guide to the Tokyo Olympics is the perfect accompaniment to the Summer Games. With descriptions of all 41 sports, puzzles, trivia, and history, the whole family will learn something new with this one!

5. Read biographies of your favorite Olympic athletes.
Picture book biographies are a great way to introduce new notable people to our kids. The following books about athletes who made Olympic history are a great way to celebrate the Olympics for kids.

• Flying High: The Story of Gymnastics Champion Simone Biles by Michelle Meadows
• She’s Got This by American Gymnast Laurie Hernandez
• How to Train with a T-Rex and Win 8 Olympic Gold Medals by Michael Phelps
• Touch the Sky: Alice Coachman, Olympic High Jumper by Ann Malaspina
• Pele: King of Soccer by Monica Brown

Kirsten Gallagher is an educator and librarian who runs the blog, Children’s Library Lady. In a blog post about the benefits of picture books for older kids, she writes, “There is a perception that picture books are only for the young. Yet, many authors create picture books for older readers. Their message offers different levels of understanding with a more sophisticated message.”

If you’re looking for fun kids activity ideas to help bring The Olympics to life for your child, the following art projects, Olympics crafts, and hands-on activities are a great way to introduce both the history of The Olympics to kids and encourage them to delve further into learning about the modern Olympics. There’s even a way to recreate the Olympics at home!

6. Have your own DIY Olympics in your backyard.
Get the kids outside for some fresh air while also getting them into the Olympic spirit. With just a few props and a little imagination, your aspiring Olympians can have a little friendly competition. CafeMom has a some great ideas for your DIY Games, from fencing with pool noodles, to golf with fly swatters.

7. Paint an Ancient Greek drinking vessel.
Kids in the upper elementary grades and older may enjoy painting an oinochoai from Art in History. The ceramic kit comes with supplies that allow kids to create their own drinking vessel replica based on the type of pottery that would have been used in Greece from 900- 700 BC.

8. Create a chalk pastel drawing of The Olympic Torch.
Chalk pastels are a fun medium for kids in second grade and beyond. Because the chalk does get everywhere, this would be a great outdoor kids activity. This fun chalk pastel tutorial from You Are an Artist teaches kids how to draw an Olympic torch.

9. Recreate the Olympic Rings with Origami.
Tweens will enjoy this step-by-step online tutorial from Jenny W. Chan of an Origami Tree. The video demonstrates how to make the 5 interlocking Olympics rings with origami paper. This is perfect for a rainy day indoor kids activity for a variety of ages.

10. Download and print the Tokyo 2020 Mascots Miraitowa and Someity.
These fun Manga-style mascots can be found in coloring page and papercraft form on the official Olympics website.

11. These Olympic Torch ice cream cone cupcakes are a fun craft you can eat.
Preschoolers will love helping to mix and pour to create these fun Olympic torch treats. What’s great is that they’re portable, as the batter bakes in a cake cone to represent a torch.