The Olympic Games are a great
event and opportunity to get the kids learning about various sports, engaging
in friendly competition, being a proud national team supporter and counting
medals.
Here are some fun and active
ideas to host your own indoor or outdoors Olympic Games.
First get crafty and work on all
those fine motor skills to host your own opening ceremony. Get the kids busy
making flags, hats and medals and decorating their favorite teddy mascot in team colours before parading and marching
for the ceremony.
Now get active and sporty to
collect all those medals.
Gymnastics:
Balancing skills
What you will need: small cushions/books or beanbag, masking tape, a
garden hose or rope; balloons and paper plates.
Balance
beanbags, a small cushion or a book on your head and walk (heel to toe strides)
along a strip of masking tape; a garden hose or an old rope laid down on the
ground.
Now
take turns balancing along the line without stepping off – walking backwards or
hopping on one foot.
Balance
a blown up balloon on different body parts and see how long you can keep them
balanced for using an egg timer (try your arms, legs, knees, foot, forehead).
Balance
a balloon on a paper plate (much like an egg and spoon race); you can increase
the challenge of this by going under and over obstacles.
Long
Jump: Jumping skills
What you will need: 5 cushions or 5 paper plates; a pencil
Place
5 cushions or 5 paper plates on the ground and jump onto these by keeping feet positioned
together. Increase the difficulty by increasing the distance of the jumping
mats (cushions/plates).
Pencil
jumps: Place a pencil on the floor. Jump over the pencil, or step over
the pencil. Jump backwards or sideways
over the pencil for more of a challenge. And even have a try at a triple jump
challenge.
Soccer/Tennis: Eye
hand and foot coordination
What you will need: Balloons; paper plates
Use
balloons to play soccer or tennis. For tennis use your hands to keep the
balloon off the ground. A paper plate can be used as a tennis racquet.
For
soccer use your feet, knees and forehead to pass the balloon and keep it off
the ground.
Archery:
Target throwing
What you will need: hosepipe or rope;
old boxes; 5 coins, newspaper; paper plates and tape; chalk.
Build
targets using a coiled up hosepipe or rope, old cereal boxes, or crates.
Throw old coins, beanbags, paper balls (scrunched up newspaper taped
together) at the target to score points.
Use
sidewalk chalk and draw targets if you have pavement or a fence. Fold and throw
paper planes towards the target on the fence or toss paper plates for discus.
Target
shooting:
What you will need: lego blocks, a small
ball
Build
different length towers out of lego blocks
Use
beanbags, a small ball; or newspaper balls to aim and knock over the different
sized towers.
Tug
of War: Upper body workout
What you will need: an old bath towel or
sheet; ribbon
Play
tug of war in teams using an old towel or sheet twisted or rolled up to form
the rope. Tie a ribbon in the middle of the towel to work out which team wins
the war.
Rugby:
Upper arm workout
What you will need: a large ball
Engage
in a “scrum” by kneeling or sitting on the ground Face your partner and press
your palms against each other with your arms slightly bent. Have fun whilst
working your arms and trying to win the scrum. You can also scrum against a
large ball by pushing your palms against it.
Weightlifting:
Core strength workout
What you will need: books; soft toys; a
skate board
Use
a box of heavy books and carry this from one position to another across
the garden/park or down the passage.
Do
wheelbarrow races. Increase the challenge by placing a book or soft toy on your
back and carry it across the marked area. Race against your friends to see who
can get around the most obstacles to the other end first.
If
you have scooter board or skate board, lie on your tummy and push/scoot
yourself with your hands to the other end and keep time to see who is the
fastest.
Cycling:
Leg and tummy work out
What you will need: a timer
Sit
on the floor with both legs in the air and air pedal (ride fast/ride slow; use
a timer and race against your friends).
Boxing:
Brain workout
Jab
the air for air boxing. Get mum/dad or your friends to challenge you by
giving you boxing instructions. Box high, box low, box fast, box slow.
Make up a sequence and challenge your memory too (box right, left, right, right
left).
Author: Carmen Dodds (RSGK Pediatric Occupational Therapist)
