Winter Olympics 2010

There is lots of information on the Official Website and various other sites if you have a look around.  There are some nice things here for older children, I will be using the skating boot dot-to-dot with my oldest as she LOVES skating at the minute!  These are nice too, to dot around and get the children used to the different sports that they will see!  It will be novel to have the TV on to watch things as it rarely gets turned on in our house during the week, I think the children will enjoy the sounds of the crowds jangling cow bells and cheering as well as the sports themselves. Here are a few of the ideas that I might use this week:

Knowledge and Understanding of the World

• Collect Newspaper clippings and pictures of both able-bodied and paralympic athletes, display them.
• Put a red dot on the world map over the location of the Olympics.
• The logo is based on an ancient symbol - build an Inukshuk from cardboard boxes or blocks – explain the meaning (pointed the way for the Inuit peoples of Canada).
• Watch coverage of the sports so that the children understand what they are.

Creative Development

• Make an Olympic Torch.
• Make dough/clay medals.
• Make an ice-skating rink for the small world figures to ice skate on, to promote imaginative play.
• Similarly build a bob-sleigh run with cut open toilet roll tubes!

Physical Development

• Mini Olympics – run with a balloon held between the knees.
• Two children together hold a balloon between their tummies and try to get across the room without it dropping.
• Sledging in a flat cardboard box with rope handle at the front to pull.
• Throwing Olympic rings over posts.
• Jumping from mat to mat (Olympic colours, saxan bath mats from Ikea!).

Communication, Language and Literacy

• O is for Olympics – what other things begin with O, could make a display or mini book.
• Talk about what you are seeing on the television.

Problem Solving Reasoning and Numeracy

• Shape of the circles.
• Counting them.
• Measuring out cooking ingredients to make butter tarts.
• Winter Olympics Bingo

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

• Make Olympic rings and explain what they stand for, they represent the five major land areas of the world; Africa, Asia, America, Europe and Australasia.  The rings are interlocked to show friendship.
• Make paper printables of the mascots; Miga, Quatchi and Sumi. Older children could design their own mascots, younger ones could colour some in.
• “With Glowing Hearts” is the motto, can the children think of their own motto?