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35 Creative Olympic Games and Activities for Students

March 21, 2023 //  by  Seda Unlucay

The Olympic Games are an inspiring celebration of unity, tolerance, peace, and athleticism. This collection of creative lessons, hands-on crafts, fun games, physical challenges, and edible treats are sure to get kids excited about this important international multi-sport event.

1. Counting Medals Activity

This collection of free printable activities is a hands-on way to teach basic numeracy skills using simple manipulatives such as small gems and metal tongs.

Age group: Preschool, Elementary

Learn More: Living Montessori Now

2. Map the Olympics with Country Flags

This cross-curricular geography and history lesson challenges students to map all the countries where the Olympics have been held to date.

Age Group: Elementary

Learn More: Teach Beside Me

3. Read and Complete Classroom Activities for G is For Gold Medal

G is For Gold Medal shares some fascinating facts about the Olympic games including the meaning behind the iconic interlocking rings symbol. This accompanying collection of activities features comprehension questions and puzzles to reinforce student learning.

Learn More: Teaching Books

4. Make an Olympic Torch

The Olympic torch relay is a key feature of the opening and closing ceremonies and a symbol of peace, tolerance, and hope. This colorful craft is a perfect opportunity to teach children all about the significance of this meaningful symbol.

Age Group: Preschool, Elementary

Learn More: The Spruce Crafts

5. Graph the Olympic Rings

Why not combine math and art with this colorful graphing project ? This free resource includes a handy coordinates list to make your job super easy.

6. Make an Olympic Wreath Crown

This is sure to become one of your favorite crafts lessons! Requiring only a few real or artificial vines, these crowns are easy to make and a wonderful way to honor the Greek origins of the Olympic games.

Learn More: Mama Smiles

7. Olympic Bracelets 

The Olympics are the perfect excuse to craft some colorful origami bracelets while creating a class discussion opportunity to learn about the symbolism behind the five rings and colors of the Olympic flag.

Learn More: Crayon Box Chronicles

8. Create an Olympic Passport

This printable passport features a wide variety of written activities including identifying the flags of students’ home countries.

Learn More: JDaniel4’s Mom

9. Sing an Olympics Song About Students’ Favourite Sports 

This catchy and customizable song is a great way to get kids singing about their favorite sports while teaching them key adjectives to describe athletic abilities.

Learn More: Super Simple

10. Host an Olympic Themed Party

The Olympics are the perfect time to organize a fun athletic celebration. Why not make a whole school day of it by including a variety of competitive sports and field events to test students’ athletic skills?

Age Group: Preschool, Elementary, Middle School, Highschool

Learn More: Living Well Spending Less

11. Watch a Brainpop Video

This awesome resource features an animated educational video and extension quizzes, maps, and games to teach kids all about the history and traditions of the Olympic Games. Having a class-wide discussion about their learning can make for a great wrap-up activity.

Learn More: BrainPOP

12.  Try a Craft Paint Idea

All you need to bring this awesome idea to life are cardboard tubes, a canvas, and some paint. Why not make a collection of posters to hang up around the classroom?

Learn More: Happy Hooligans

13. Try a Fine Motor Painting Activity

Who knew wooden pegs could turn into adorable bob sledders, skiers, and figure skaters? This hands-on activity is also a great way to develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.

Age Group: Preschool

Learn More: Stir The Wonder

14. Try a Literacy-Based Hockey Game 

This hands-on activity is a terrific way to practice alphabet sounds and letter recognition while having lots of fun on the ice!

Learn More: Get Down And Get Your Hands Dirty

15. Play an Olympic Torch Game

This clever take on the Olympic torch relay uses a beach ball to bring the excitement of the cauldron lighting ceremony to life.

Learn More: Teach Mama

16. Try a Creative Olympics Craft

Fruit loops cereal and glue combine to create this colorful craft designed to teach alphabet letters .

Learn More: I Can Teach My Child

17. Make an Educational Olympic Chain

This vibrant chain featuring fascinating facts can be used to count down to the Olympic games.

Learn More: Housing A Forest

18. Learn With Math and Literacy Centers 

This Winter games-themed activity package is designed to help develop literacy skills such as handwriting and vocabulary word recognition as well as math skills including counting, comparing, and adding numbers.

Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers

19. Try a Skiing-Themed Letter Matching Activity

This clever activity can be adapted to the age of your learner. Preschoolers may enjoy matching colors while older students can try matching uppercase and lowercase letters.

20. Try a Lego Color Sorting Activity

Lego and the Olympic games make a winning combination in this color sorting activity designed for preschoolers.

Learn More: Toddler Approved

21. Paper Plate Olympic Rings

This simple paper plate craft requires cutting out the center of five paper plates and guiding young learners to paint them according to the five Olympic ring colors.

Learn More: Meaningful Mama

22. Salt Dough Olympic Medals

These adorable, glimmering salt dough metals imprinted with numbers are a fantastic way to develop fine motor skills , learn about ordinal numbers and give children an opportunity to express their creativity.

Learn More: The Imagination Tree

23. Try a 3-in-1 Olympic Learning Activity

This creative combination of sensory play activities develops motor skills, color recognition, and matching skills all in one go.

Learn More: Playtivities

24. Bake Some Olympic Cookies

These delicious sugar cookies are sure to make a festive addition to any Olympic-themed celebration.

Learn More: Love To Be In The Kitchen

25. Try an Olympic Word Search

This digital Olympic-themed word search is a wonderful way to develop language fluency, improve spelling, teach patience and improve concentration skills.

Learn More: The Word Search

26. Play a Game of Paper Plate Tennis

Kids are sure to love making their own paper plate rackets for hours of balloon playing fun!

Learn More: Kids Activities

27. Play Some Olympic Games With Cups

From a ball toss to table soccer to discus throw, this creative collection of Olympics-inspired games uses reused cups and straws to bring students’ athletic spirit to life.

Learn More: The Educators’ Spin On It

28. Make Olympic Rings with Crystal Ice

This simple science activity gives kids a chance to observe crystals growing before their very eyes.

Learn More: Laughing Kids Learn

29. Make Olympic Rings out of Nature Art

This tactile sensory activity gives kids an opportunity to calculate the number of petals, rocks, and leaves they will need for each circle while practicing their creative engineering skills.

Learn More: KC Edventures

30. Olympic-Themed Math Centers

This package of thirteen stations is sure to keep young learners engaged and excited about the Olympics while teaching them core math skills of counting, sorting, and graphing.

Learn More: Differentiated Kindergarten

31. Practice Olympic Winter Sports Vocabulary

This collection of key Olympic words makes an excellent addition to a pocket chart for practice during circle time or to reinforce other reading comprehension activities .

Learn More: The Wise Owl Factory

32. Read an Emergent Book About the Olympic Games

This emergent reader introduces students to some key winter sports during the Winter Olympics and includes bold vocabulary words to support sight word practice.

33. Practice Literacy Skills 

This collection of Olympic-themed guided reader books come complete with comprehension quizzes, graphic organizers and reading response pages to enhance student learning.

Learn More: Teaching In Stripes

34. Play Olympic Games Bingo

What better way to enjoy the Winter Olympics than with a game of Bingo? This free printable can make a great addition to a family game night or be used as a brain break during an Olympics unit.

Learn More: The Taylor House

35. Conduct an Olympic Medal Tally

This fun and easy math idea is a great way to get kids excited about viewing the Olympic games.

Learn More: Boy Mama Teacher Mama

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By: Shelley Frost

Published: 31 October, 2018

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Olympic Games for Physical Education

The Olympics theme fits well into the physical education curriculum at any grade level. The kids participate in activities that simulate actual events in either the Summer or Winter Olympics. The theme is ideal during an actual Olympics year, but you can use it anytime to add variety to gym class.

Torch Relay

The Olympic torch is a symbol of the Games. This PE game incorporates the torch in a relay race. Create your own Olympic torch using a paper towel roll as the handle, a cup as the top and paper flames. You'll need a torch for each team. Set up the team members around the gym at equal intervals. The kids run their section of the race and then pass the torch to the next team member. The first team to complete all legs of the relay wins.

Gym scooters create the bobsleds for an indoor version of the Winter Olympics sport. The first person on each bobsled sits on a scooter with his legs crossed. The second team member sits on a separate scooter behind the first person. He wraps his legs around the first team member. Together they move the bobsled with their hands down the gym. The first team to reach the opposite end wins. You can also assign a pusher who moves the bobsled down the gym.

The Summer Olympics gymnastic competitions work well in PE class. The specific routines you choose depend on the available equipment and skills of the students. A simple walk across a balance beam is an option. You can also have the kids perform small hops of other moves on the balance beam. A floor routine is another option. If the kids know some tumbling moves, they can incorporate them into the routine.

A skating competition in the gym is another game. No skates are required for this event. Towels or socks under the feet help the kids slide around as if they were skating. Speed skating laps around the gym is one option. Divide the kids into heats so there aren't too many children skating at once. Another option is a figure skating competition where the kids put on a routine to music either individually or in pairs. Routines of about 30 seconds to a minute are ideal.

• Learn NC: Winter Olympics: What a Blast!
• PE Central: Wacky Olympics

Based in the Midwest, Shelley Frost has been writing parenting and education articles since 2007. Her experience comes from teaching, tutoring and managing educational after school programs. Frost worked in insurance and software testing before becoming a writer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in elementary education with a reading endorsement.

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Name of Activity:

Winter Olympic Games Project

Purpose of Activity:

Suggested grade level:, materials needed:.

Description of Idea

1. Put all events into a hat and have students draw their event. That event is the one they will follow and research. (If you prefer to have them choose their own event that is fine and you can even have them work in groups). 2. Have them complete the following worksheet that has them do research about that event and about what is happening with this event and its participants at this particular Winter Olympics. Make sure they turn this in at least a week in advance of the opening ceremonies. You want to make sure they are on the right track. Click here for the Olympic Event Research Questions

Click here for the Grading Rubric for the Posters .

Let others know how this idea went when you implemented/tried it with your kids. Include any variations, suggested teaching tips, positive comments, etc. so others can benefit from your tips. Please be helpful and positive with all comments. Look below to see all posted comments.
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When the Olympic Games Inspire Physical Education

The Paris Olympics are just around the corner, giving the whole world the chance to marvel at international athletes as they compete over the few weeks of the Games. Given the scale of this global celebration, it can be interesting to look at its social importance and the way it interacts with physical education, the most closely related school subject.

Turning excitement into lasting commitment

Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, sees participation in sports as a very low-cost, yet high-impact, tool to promote healthy, active living. He also believes that the Paris Games will leave a lasting sports legacy far beyond 2024 thanks to the numerous initiatives to increase physical activity among people of all ages and skill levels.

It’s true that participating in sports is the best way to promote a healthy, active lifestyle. However, the legacy of the Games is less clear. Studies seem to show that there is an increase in sports participation in Olympic host countries for 2 years, but it tends to fade after that. The same is true for participating countries, but the increased sports participation there is usually measured in weeks. This highlights the universal challenge of promoting physical activity for all, even though all nations can produce top-level athletes.

Discover the Lü athletes for the Paris Olympic Games → Olympic Athletes

It begs the question: what opportunities can be seized and what measures can be put in place as part of the Olympics to get youth moving more?

The Olympic Games as a model of excellence

For students, the Olympic Games are an opportunity to come into contact with a variety of sports and to learn about the values promoted by athletes, like sportsmanship, the pursuit of excellence, leadership, and perseverance.

By watching the Olympic Games, young people can see athletes surpassing themselves and be exposed to exceptional feats of athletic ability in different sports. What’s more, the Games raise students’ awareness of a wide range of skills needed for sports, such as strength, dexterity, strategy, and intelligence.

Finally, students watching the Olympics also get to witness inspiring stories: the rookie who wins against the veteran, the athlete who sets a new record, or the unexpected friendships between athletes like that of Jesse Owens and Luz Long.

A holistic approach to health in physical education

While the Olympic Games showcase top-level athletes, physical education is really for everyone. That means it needs to be accessible for all students, from the most athletic to the least athletic and even those at risk of dropping out.

Use the Dojö app to put yourself in the shoes of an Olympic athlete as he or she warms up → Athletes’ Training

Physical education programs are changing all over the world. More and more physical education programs are including a health aspect. Physical education teachers are focusing less on the sports component of their subject and specializing more in physical, mental, and social well-being.

As part of their job, physical education teachers need to develop their students’ physical literacy: the skills, confidence, and motivation they need to engage independently in physical activity for the rest of their lives. This helps to keep the cycle going (young athlete → adult athlete → parent athlete → young athlete), allowing everyone to reap all the benefits of physical activity such as personal fulfillment, ability to learn, and disease prevention.

From stadium to gymnasium

As mentioned above, the Games provide students with an opportunity to see high-level athletes truly pushing their limits. That can transfer to physical education classes, where they’re encouraged to take on different types of challenges:

• the environment (the event)
• their own limits

The Lü interactive system is a top-choice tool for physical educators to create a wide variety of motivating challenges for students!

The Paris Olympics will also be the first Olympic Games to have gender parity. This can be an opportunity for physical education teachers to discuss equality, inclusion, and community with students. It’s no secret that men’s and women’s sports don’t have the same prestige, but the Olympic Games can be an opportunity to address that inequality and give female athletes more visibility.

Find out more about the Olympic and Paralympic Games with our interactive quiz → What do you know about the Olympic and Paralympic Games?

In conclusion, the Olympic Games offer an unparalleled opportunity to showcase the multitude of values that can be linked to sport, while motivating young people to get moving. That said, we can’t forget the central role that physical education teachers play in educating the citizens of tomorrow and giving students the tools and experiences they need to adopt healthy, active lifestyles for their entire lives.

Search the “Olympics” tag to discover all our Lü Community content for this special event!

References: Barraux, É. Bistrot pédagogique n°54: Les enjeux des Jeux pour l’EPS. (2024). Association pour l’Enseignement de l’Éducation Physique et Sportive. https://youtu.be/G7C4jnAna0I

Jeannin, p.  bistrot pédagogique n°54: les enjeux des jeux pour l’eps. (2024). association pour l’enseignement de l’éducation physique et sportive. https://youtu.be/mjzufy7yia8, lavoie, p., harvey, j-f. (2023) faut que ça bouge les éditions de l’homme. 267 pages, travert, m. bistrot pédagogique n°54: les enjeux des jeux pour l’eps. (2024). association pour l’enseignement de l’éducation physique et sportive. https://youtu.be/jyp_mfn6u-o, travert, m., griffet, j., luiggi, m. (2023) les jeux olympiques de 2024 suffiront-ils à donner le goût du sport aux jeunes. the conversation. https://theconversation.com/les-jeux-olympiques-de-2024-suffiront-ils-a-donner-le-gout-du-sport-aux-jeunes-193815#:~:text=si%20elle%20veut%20maintenir%20les,cadre%20institu%c3%a9%2c%20clubs%20ou%20associations, vigarello, g. bistrot pédagogique n°56: le présent et l’avenir des jeux (2024). association pour l’enseignement de l’éducation physique et sportive. https://youtu.be/mfk78rzfyhq, you may also like.

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