OLYMPIC RINGS PAPER CHAIN:

Materials: Coloured paper (Blue, Yellow, Black, Green and red), child safe scissors, glue stick (an or tape), (optional) pins to hang it.

Step 1: Cut out strips of the same length and width using the coloured paper. The more strips you make the longer your paper chain will be.

Step 2: Take one end of an individual strip and glue it to the other end with a little glue stick. Hold and count to ten.

Step 3: Repeat the above but thread the paper through the first paper circle so that once glued it is chained to it.

Step 3: Continue using all your paper strips.

Step 4: Hang to decorate!

GOLD MEDALS:

Craft 1

NOTE: This craft only creates gold medals. I have some competitive boys and thought they both (and their friends who were with us that day) deserved gold for their efforts during our Olympic Theme Day! You could always make Silver and Bronze using different coloured paint.

Materials: Jar lids, golden yellow paint, gold glitter paint, ribbon, metal tabs from the top of soda pop cans, sharp scissors (adult use only), glue gun (adult use only), paint clothes or art smock, paper towels for clean up and newspaper to cover work space.

Step 1: Have your kids paint the jar lids using the golden yellow paint and then allow them to dry.
Step 2: Once the lids are dry let your children paint the lids with the gold glitter paint (glitter glue would work as would white glue and dry glitter) if you desire. You could just leave them yellow or golden yellow without the glitter.
Step 3: (Parent step) Take each tab (one per medal) and press it in the middle to slightly bend it.
Step 4: Cut the ribbon to an appropriate length to fit over your child’s head. Loop each piece of ribbon through a pop can tab (through the smaller end, near the part where it was ripped off the pop can).
Step 5: (Adult step) Once the paint has dried on the lids turn each lid over and carefully apply a large blob of hot glue from the glue gun to the back of the lid. Carefully place the pop tab into the hot glue burying the end of the tab that the ribbon is not threaded through into the glue. Warning: the glue is very very hot so do this step without kids around and please be careful! You can look at the photo of the medals on the right to see one of the lids flipped over.
Step 6: Once every ribbon is glued to the jar lid let them dry and once the hot glue has dried you will have a sturdy medal to award your children. We made four because we had a Backyard Olympic party with some family friends on the day of the Opening Ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics. I awarded all the children with the ribbons at the end of the party!

OLYMPIC RINGS PRINTS:

Materials: Blue paint, black paint, red paint, yellow paint and green paint, paint brushes (Optional), wax paper, white paper, a clean glass jar, paper to cover your work area, an art smock or old clothes to wear when painting, paper towel.

Step 1: Use a piece of wax paper as a paint pallet and put a blob of each colour of paint on the paper.
Step 2: Using either a paintbrush or just by dipping the jar, covered the edge of the jar with one of the Olympic colours. Then press the jar gently down on the white paper. The Olympic rings have three rings at the top and two at the bottom. We started with blue paint, then wiped the paint off with a paper towel before painting the rim black, followed by red and then yellow and lastly green.

Celebrate the Olympic Games by making some crafts and learning about the Symbols of the Olympics. You could then decorate your house for the Opening Ceremonies .

Did you know? The colours of the rings together with the white of the flag background include colors from every competing nation's flag in 1912 when the symbol was first created!

OLYMPIC TORCH CRAFT:

Materials: Empty paper towel roll, paper cup, tin foil, coloured tissue paper (we used yellow, orange, red and a golden colour), child safe scissors, clear packing tape.

Step 1: Tape a paper cup onto the end of a paper towel roll. Make sure the cup is open at the top.
Step 2: Cover the paper roll with tin foil, bending the foil to stay in place and then taping it at the seams. Then cover the cup with another piece of tin foil, again bending the foil to stay in place and then taping any seams. Make sure the cup is still open (covered or not covered in foil).
Step 3: Cut each piece of coloured tissue paper in half (optional but because we used four different colours and hence four pieces of tissue paper that helped cut down the size) and then pinch each piece in the middle, gently fluffing the upward tissue paper to make a flame like appearance. Tape each colour of tissue paper together at the pinched middle to create a bouquet of sorts.
Step 4: fold a piece of packing tape with the sticky side out until it makes a double sided piece of tape. Stick the tape to the bottom of the cup and then press the pinched end of the flame bouquet into the sticky tape to stay in place!

For more information about the Olympic Rings check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_rings#Olympic_rings

OLYMPIC SYMBOLS:

For information about the history of Olympic medals check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_medals

THE OLYMPIC TORCH and FLAME:

SPORTS BOTTLE:

NOTE: Water is the most important nutrient for life but sometimes it is hard to get kids to drink it but maybe, just maybe, a bright and fun water bottle will encourage more sugar free hydration. Use this craft to highlight water’s importance by telling your kids about the value of water and focusing on how athletes sweat and need to replenish the water in their bodies.

Materials: Plastic water bottle (we found ours at Walmart), foam stickers, permanent markers.

Step 1: Set out the craft supplies and plastic bottles and let your child decorate however he/she wants!

MORE OLYMPIC INSPIRED CRAFTS:

Gold, Silver and Bronze medals are awarded to the top 3 finishers in a particular event at each Olympic Games!

NOTE: This craft can be made in many ways and even simpler than I have done.

For instance, you can simply used cardboard or construction paper instead of a jar lid and can hole punch a place for the ribbon to slide through.

I don’t generally like to create crafts for this web site that use materials most families don't have on hand. For instance, most families won’t have a glue gun (although you can buy one at a craft store or a dollar store for cheap if you are interested). I tried to make this craft without the glue gun and found that it would have worked with white glue and tape but was not as sturdy. I opted for the glue gun and the pop tabs to make the medals longer lasting.

VARIATION 1: We used this same technique to decorate our journal page since I couldn’t find any Olympic stickers. We used the lid of a water bottle and dip the edges in the paint and then gently pressed the lid in the Olympic Rings order to stamp the design onto our journal page. Check it out on the Olympic - Reading and Writing Page.

VARIATION 2: If you use fabric paint you can do the same Olympic Rings pattern on plain T-shirts (purchased for cheap at a craft store).

GOLD MEDALS:

Craft 2

NOTE: I made this variation for my son's Sports Themed Birthday Party!

Materials: Chocolate Coins (we live in Canada so we used Chocolate Loonies!), Ribbon, Glue gun (adult use only), waxed paper to cover work space.

Step 1: Cut the ribbon to the appropriate length to fit around your child's neck.
Step 2: Heat up the glue gun and then put each coin on the waxed paper with the front of your coin facing down.

Step 3: (Parent step) Glue the ribbon ends to the back of the coin to create a loop.
Step 4: Let the glue dry before using!

The Olympic Flame has been a part of the modern games since 1936 (IV Olympic Winter Games in Bavaria, Germany).

A torch replay (with the flame being transported from Greece to various designated sites) accompanies the official lighting of the flame which marks the beginning of the games at the Opening Ceremonies. It is kept burning throughout the entire games. The first torch relay of modern times was in 1936 (Berlin).

It commemorates the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, who gave it to humans. In Ancient Greece, a fire was kept burning throughout their ancient Olympic Games.

For more information check here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_flame#Torches

For information on the use of laurel wreaths check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel_wreath

Crafts

OLYMPIC RINGS PRINTS:

WATCHING TEAM CANADA RECEIVE GOLD IN 2014!

THE OLYMPIC RINGS:

Reading and Writing

Did you know? The Laurel Wreath was used in ancient Greece to award the victors of the Olympic games. Make this craft to award your little athletes!

OLYMPIC MEDALS:

3D OLYMPIC RINGS:

Materials: empty paper towel roll, sharp scissors (adult use), paint in Olympic colours (blue, black, red, yellow and green), clear tape or white glue.

Step 1: (Parent step) Cut the paper roll into 5 rings.
Step 2: Have your child paint each ring a different colour (blue, black, red, yellow and green) and then set them aside to dry.
Step 3: once the paint is dry roll small pieces of tape to create double sided-tape and tape the rings together to form the Olympic Ring pattern. This is not very sturdy but would work if your child is impatient and wants the craft done! If you want it to last a bit longer used white glue and rest the craft on its side to dry.

NOTE: You can use this as a centerpiece for your table if you have an Olympic Games Party!

Olympic Games

LAUREL WREATH:

PAPER LAUREL WREATH CROWNS:

Materials: Green paper, glue stick, child safe scissors.

Step 1: Cut out a number of thick strips from the green paper. We used 14 strips.
Step 2: Hold a group of strips together and then carefully cut one end of the strips to create a pointed leaf shape at the end (you could do this individually but holding the paper together saves time and makes the leave shape more identical).
Step 3: Apply some glue to the flat end (not the cut leaf end) of one strip of green paper and press another slip of green paper to about midway up the second strip. You only want to glue the middle of the second strip down as you want the leaf cut end to stick out. Press and hold until it sticks (my son learned in Kindergarten to count to ten when using glue sticks to ensure the glue dries so he happily did so with each application).
Step 4: Now apply glue from the glue stick to the top of the second strip at the flat end. Take a third green strip and glue its middle to the second strip, again ensuring the leaf end is not stuck and that it curls outward.
Step 5: Continue this pattern adding one strip at a time until you think it is long enough to fit your child’s head. Measure to be sure by pinching the long glued strip together and resting it on top of your child’s head. If it is too short add more strips; if it is the right length then glue both ends together.
Step 6: Let it dry and then place on your proud athletes head!