With Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on the horizon, homeschooling families — especially those who homeschool year-round — may be looking for lessons about the Olympics for kids while watching the Summer Games. Try out one or a few of the activities or resources in the following list of 7 homeschool lessons about The Olympics to help extend the learning while watching The Olympic Games this year.
History of The Olympics for kids
Celebrate notable U.S. Olympic athletes
Richard Monette is a sport psychology consultant to several famous Olympic athletes. He believes that one of the most important things your kids can learn from watching the Olympics is finding courage and persevering in the face of adversity.
"Take away the hoopla, the artifice, and the controversies that have become part of the Games over the years, and what is left is a basic human struggle. Olympians are people, like you and I, who dare to challenge themselves before millions of witnesses," he wrote on the Active for Life website. "It is this courage that inspires me and it is this courage that I want to share with my kids because while we won’t all struggle in such a public arena, we all have our struggles."
6. Create an Olympics for kids video playlist of the most notable male Olympics athletes.
The stories behind some of the male athletes noted below include a historic and social background that could be interesting to delve into to get a better sense of what life was like in 1960 and even the 1990s.
- Michael Phelps: the greatest swimmer of all time
- Muhammad Ali throws away his Olympic Gold Medal
- Greg Louganis: the greatest diver of all time
7. Watch videos of the most notable female Olympics athletes.
These women excelled at their respective sports and are known as some of the top 100 Olympic athletes of all time. From Mary Lou Retton's perfect 10 to Florence Griffth Joyner's record that remains unbroken still today, these famous Olympics athletes would be a great addition to your homeschool lesson plan.
- Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee
- Mary Lou Retton's perfect 10 floor routine
- Wilma Rudolph: first African-American woman to win three gold medals at one event
- Florence Griffith-Joyner's 100m Dash World Record
If you want to supplement watching The Olympic Games with your kids but don't want a full homeschool lesson plan or unit study, simply adding in some fun treats and Olympic crafts during the opening ceremonies can turn a spectator activity into an engaging hands-on experience for your kids.
