I married into a family of sports fanatics. I’m not one and was not raised in a family that did sports. We did music and a lot of it.

The first time I went to my in-laws and they were watching lumberjack competitions because there was nothing else on – I was completely dumbfounded. It’s been almost 20 years now and I have acclimated.

I’m in a sports family

College football, NHL, or the Olympics take over our world during those times. My kids are active and play sports in the fall and spring so between sporting events they are watching or participating in I’ve grown accustomed to not hearing sweet musical notes and seeing people scream at refs instead (my people do not scream at refs).

I do like watching the big international events: the World Cup and Olympic competitions. It has been a blast to pull out the globe and show the kids the countries and talk about all the events. We have cheered on our home team during swimming, volleyball, soccer, skiing, and more. We also tend to favor the underdog when we don’t have a home team playing.

Using Current Events to Teach

Use the excitement about the games as a springboard for learning. Talk about world geography, world culture, ancient history, the cost of preparing for the games, the prestige that comes from hosting and more.

When these events come up (and while we are studying Christmas around the world) our flag study came in handy, but don’t forget math and science. The physics of the events and the math of between the scoring, speed, and medal counts are all worthwhile. The physics of ice skating and this post on balls will get you started.

Olympic Activities for Kids

In response to questions on extension activities, I have created a packet to use. This packet includes medal counts (easily adapted to event type or country), athlete bio, and a country fact sheet.