Summer Games – History
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We are continuing our Summer games unit study with a little lesson on the history of the games. You can view the Brazil portion of the unit here.
The famous games were originally a religious celebration to honor the ancient Greek god Zeus. The festival is believed to have begun around 776 B.C.
History of the Summer Games
Greek gods
We are big fans of this Greek god memory printable from Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational. Just print two copies of the free printable on card stock, cut out the pieces, and you are ready to play. This is a great game to keep on hand. You can add it to your summer games boredom busting basket or throw it in your bag anytime you might need to do a little waiting.
Olive leaf crown
The original games festival lasted only one day and included just one sport. Running. The winner was awarded a crown made from olive leaves. We don’t have any olive trees in our backyard, but we do have a pear tree. We glued leaves from a fallen pear branch to a cut paper plate to make the crown. If you do not have any trees in your yard, you can either go for a walk and collect leaves or cut leaves from construction paper.
My goal every day is to tire my kids out so I’m planning to have them act out the original Olympics (clothed of course, although Ben did ask if he can run naked like in the first games). They can race down the street and the winner will get to wear the crown!
Torch
The ancient Greeks believed that fire was a gift from the gods. They kept a flame burning in front of the temples at all time. The flame was lit using sunlight and mirrors to keep the fire ‘pure’. The Olympic flame is still lit in from of Hera’s temple in Greece today.
We created our own torches using construction paper and tissue paper. Simply roll a piece of brown construction paper into a cone and secure it with tape. Next, crinkle pieces of red, yellow, and orange construction paper together and stuff it into the cone. Now you have a child-friendly Olympic torch prop that can be used during dramatic play.
Flag
These iconic rings were designed in 1912 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin. The 6 colors (the five rings and white background) represent the participating countries’ flags. The rings interlock as a way of showing that all nations should come together. It is a symbol of world unity. What a wonderful thought that the games are a symbol of world unity, rather than just a sporting event. Lately, it seems the world could use a little more unity.
An Olympic flag is very easy to create. For this craft you just need white paper, a circle to trace, paint (blue, yellow, black, green, and red), and 5 pom poms. Draw 5 circles in the familiar ring pattern. I traced canning lids to create my circles. Next, I used the pom poms to dab on the paint on the appropriate ring. It is helpful to look at an example of the rings to make sure the right color ends up on the right ring.
Video
I highly recommend viewing this 3 minute Ted ed video. It does a great job explaining the history of the Olympics in a short, child-friendly video clip.
Website
If your kids love screen time as much as my kids do, they will love this Olympic history website. The BBC always puts out quality educational websites. Kids can visit the Olympic site, take an Olympic quiz, and explore Greek theater.
Books
I love reading and always encourage my kids to read too. These are the books we will be reading over the next few weeks.
- Hour of the Olympics by Mary Pope Osborn
- What Did The Ancient Greeks Do For Me? by Patrick Catel
- The Wildest Race Ever: The Story of the 1904 Olympic Marathon by Meghan McCarthy
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