Preschool Olympics

After Valentine's Day, we did a little mini Olympics exploration. I had not been planning to do anything with the Olympics, and put together some activities kind of last minute to see if my students had any interest. It actually fit in really well to talk about people from different cultures and countries coming together in the games, since we had already been thinking a lot about friendship this month.

Obstacle Course Drawings

Our fine motor warm up for the day was setting up our papers with an obstacle course, and then drawing lines around the lids to see what kind of design it would make. 

Olympic Rings

We talked about the Olympic rings, and how they symbolize the different continents around the world that participate in the Olympic games. One table was set up with pipe cleaners as an invitation to explore circles and making rings, and another table had a simple ring art process using the colors of the rings. 

We talked about the different sports in the winter games, watched a few clips, read Tacky and the Winter Games, and explored some of the sports a little bit more in depth through movement or an activity. I wish I could have done more with this- there are a lot of fun ideas out there for winter sport activities!

Luge and Bobsled Racing

We used two rain gutters and little family figures in ice cube sleds to try out some icy races. 

Bunny Slopes Skiing

I fit in one of my favorite winter books, Bunny Slopes, to think about skiing. We tried a sound-blending activity along with this interactive book. 

We ended the day by writing in our journals about which Olympic sport we would want to participate in, and it was fun to hear their different ideas. Then of course we finished off with gold medals that I put together the night before so they'd be ready to go home on the same day.