Winter Olympics 2018

Well, in case you have had your head in the sand like me, the Winter Olympics have started. Of course opening ceremonies are not until Friday but according to the official website, competitions have already begun.

I remember one year when my kids were young, we watched the olympics a lot! We put socks on our feet and “skated” across the kitchen floor. I don’t know if my kids remember that or not but I do, especially since I bent over to open the bottom drawer in the kitchen and swung my leg up behind me in the air and pulled something. )

As homeschoolers, we have the opportunity to turn everything into a learning event, so we could even binge on the Olympics and it was educational. We learned a lot about the different sports and were introduced to curling that year.

Want to take advantage of a learning opportunity?

Have the children pick a sport and find out the rules, history, and how much time is spent practicing it.
Have the children pick a country and learn about that culture, history, and people.
Learn about the history of the olympics

You could keep a medals count. Here is a printable to help you do that. They also have a word search. It’s a couple years old but should still be relevant.

I’m not going to overwhelm you with links, because hey! there are olympics to watch but here are a few websites I found with some good links for an olympic unit study.

This one is aimed at 3-9yo with a Montessori approach–very cool.
Sonlight has a free download available to aid in your South Korea study (because that is where the winter olympics are this time).
Here’s a good compilation of free unit studies and printables.
This one has some good ideas and good points about not trying to do it all too . . . it is worth reading, just take a few minutes and head over . . . includes ideas for the night of the opening ceremony.

I will close with sharing this fun idea that was used for a summer olympics but really looks like it could be used now too: Hosting an Olympic Games Event with games like stacking styrofoam cups and a hula hoop slide. Looks like it was a lot of fun.

I hope you will make some good memories with your children during the Olympics. Oh! and don’t hurt yourself.