Let the Family Olympic Games Begin!

We are so excited for the Olympics this summer!  We have been familiarizing the kids with information here and there to get them ready or at least get them a clue.

First we talked about what the Olympic was and showed them the Olympic rings.  We finger painted  a banner of the rings the rings.  We also watched a video on the mascot for the London 2012 Olympics and included "Wenlock" on a banner.  The banners went up starting the Monday before opening ceremonies.

That morning we also watched a couple YouTube videos of people passing the torch.  We looked at maps online and talked about where the first Olympics were held and where the flame is from.  We tracked how far the torch would travel to London.  Then we colored tissue paper, wrapped a toilet paper roll with foil and created the van der Upwich Family Olympic torch.

Later that night, for Family Home Evening, we met with family friends, the Allredges, at our first Olympic venue.  I taught a lesson on sportsmanship and said we could anticipate seeing both good and bad examples while watching this year's games. 

After the lesson we officially started our family Olympic games by passing the torch all the way around the backyard pool that was being shared with us.  Then we took on our first sport--diving...which led to rope swinging and water sliding.  It was a great pool. Sophie, by far, was the diving diva.

We finished up the evening with Olympic ring bagels and received our medals.

Throughout the remainder of the week we tried our hand at other Olympic worthy sports like...
Fencing!  We learned that we were to only strike the torso, that we must demonstrate priority (attacking while making the hit), and to start a duel we use the French, "En Garde Pret Allez" which means, "Start Fencing!" curiously enough.  We bought the foam swords at the dollar store a few days prior and Sophie has been dying to use them.  We all scored points and had fun. Both kids made outstanding attempts of using their French.

Should Rhys be disqualified for this low blow?

Shooting!  Sure, officially the Olympics has rifle, pistol, and shotgun; but, we believe that is only because they forgot the always popular water canon.  We avoided clay shooting for this introductory event and stuck with stationary targets: cardboard toilet paper rolls.

Which inevitably led to water fights!

And on our last day of our Family Olympic Games we tried track cycling minus the velodrome.  The driveway made for a poor substitution but we still had fun.

The van der Upwich Family Olympics came to a close as the actual Olympics began opening ceremonies.  We invited the Goode family over for dinner and watched the program while eating Carly's delicious molasses cookies.  The commentary coming from the couch beat most of the journalistic jabber on TV.

Here's to all the athletes, their support teams, and family.  May they all play safe and do their personal best.  Hope everyone enjoys the games and all that they represent.