Olympic torch can keep on burning with junior events
lympic fever has fired up children’s imagination so how better to help keep their brains sharp than with some Games-themed activities.
Former primary school teacher Abby Milnes, of education champs PlanBee, has these family friendly postTokyo suggestions ...
There was an eight-hour time difference between the games and the UK. Teach children about time differences between countries and why they exist. Challenge them to work out what time they need to turn on the TV, if they want to see an event live.
Many Olympic events are measured and scored against how long it takes to complete them. Events under a minute such as the 100m sprint and 200m kayak as well as team sprints in cycling will provide suitable contexts for younger children to think about when measuring time. Older children may like to take on slightly longer events.
Challenge your child to see how many things they can do within the same time as it took an athlete to complete their event. The Olympic record for running 100m was 9.63 seconds set by Usain Bolt at the 2012 Olympics. How many blocks can your child stack in this time? How many ticks can they do on paper? After showing children how to read the amount of time on a stopwatch, get them to time each other and take it in turns to see who can beat the record in your own events.
Other Olympic events such as long jump, javelin and discus are scored and measured using distance.
Using a metre ruler or measuring tape, challenge children to take part in a long jump. They can run-up or go from a standing jump. Mark where the back of their foot lands and help them measure how far they jumped.
Some events such as gymnastics are scored by a judges’ panel. Each judge gives the performance a score which is then averaged out to give a final score. Challenge your child to take individual judges scores and then find the average score.
O“Do you run faster on grass or concrete?” Challenge children to think about conducting simple investigations with “I wonder..?” questions. Older children of seven plus should be encouraged to think scientifically. Is it fair if you wear sandals to run on the grass, but running shoes on the concrete? No, they should be the same. What about the distance you run?
What’s the difference between a triathlon, pentathlon and decathlon? The number of events! Challenge children to come up with their own events for a family tri, pent or decathlon! They don’t have to be sport related. Who will be the fastest to put on their socks? Who will be the overall winner?
Do you have a budding artist? Challenge them to draw their favourite Olympic athlete. Up the challenge to drawing the figure in motion as they complete their event. PlanBee has free paper mannequin templates.
Having hosted the games before in 1964, Tokyo built venues for Olympic events. The new National Stadium was finished in November 2019. Challenge your child to investigate its construction, including how it has been designed to be eco-friendly. Work together to create a model of an Olympic stadium, making sure of space for a track and spectators.
Take a look at designs for athletes’ kits. How is the country represented in the design? This could link nicely with investigating different countries’ flags.
Challenge your children to design a uniform for the country of their choice using a free template from https:// planbee.com/products/ design-a-sports-uniform site. Share children’s work at info@planbee.com site.