Families and students will love these fun hands-on challenges and summer Olympics activities for kids that are perfect to do while watching the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris!
It’s that time again – the Olympics are here!! It’s a great time to not only enjoy watching the games as a family (or with your students if you’re a teacher) but it’s also the perfect time to introduce kids to a variety of cultures and global stories. And we have just the thing to help make this easy — inspire kids to print off the FREE 2024 Summer Olympics Challenge we have for you below!
15 Summer Olympics Activities for Kids
In our house, we’re much more likely to watch summer Olympic events than the winter Olympics. I’m not sure why – it could be that there’s a larger variety of events that happen (golf, swimming, hockey, horses, climbing, skateboarding — see, LOTS of variety). Or it might be that we are more likely to be together during the summer games. Either way, it’s a great way to enjoy some family time this summer.
Quite a few kids might see themselves as future Olympians while others will cheer on their favorite athletes or teams. While I love to see the competitions (I can’t wait to see some of the new events this year!), I really enjoy seeing what each host country features during that two week period. As you can tell from many of our hands-on geography activities and our curated list of Kids Explore the World Activities & Games, we are big fans of raising global citizens!
Grab a copy of the one-of-a-kind 2024 Summer Olympic-themed Challenge for kids and families (see the box below!) to do during the two weeks of the games. Kids can earn printable bronze, sliver & gold medals as they complete each of the activities on the list, working their way to winning “The Gold”! You’ll find so many fun ideas for them to choose from — geography, culture, STEM ideas and of course, physical games – so browse the list to find the ones that your kids will enjoy the most!
In addition to the printable game, I also recommend having a Kid-friendly World Map or Kids Globe. The Olympic Games are the perfect opportunity to introduce geography activities to kids in a fun & hands-on way.
2024 Printable Summer Olympics Challenge for Kids
- Read a book about the Olympics — See all Kids’ Books about the Olympic Games
- Find Paris on a World map or globe
- Make an Olympic craft
- Do an Olympic-related STEM project – see our Build the Eiffel Tower activity
- Create Art with an Olympic theme — Try this Olympic-themed STEAM project using nature items!
- Get active – set up some Olympic games in your yard! Get a few ideas from this Backyard Kids Olympic party post
- Read a book about Paris or France — one of our favorites is E is for the Eiffel Tower: An France Alphabet
- Try a new food based on those popular in Paris
- Learn to say “Hello” in French, the official language of this year’s Olympic host country (psst. It’s ‘bonjour’)
- Watch or read your local news reports to see if there are any Olympians that live close to your city
- Create a flag from your home country
- Read a book about the Eiffel Tower (one of the most widely known landmark’s in France)
- The 1st Olympic Games were held in Greece – find the country on a map!
- Play a game like kids in France would play
- Do a geography activity for one of the countries participating in the Olympic Games
Kids will work they way towards earning each of the medal prizes (included in the printable set) a Bronze medal after 7 completed activities, a Silver for 10 activities and a Gold if they are able to do all 15!
Summer Olympic Themed Party Ideas
One fun way to enjoy the games this summer is with an Olympic themed party!
Activity Ideas: Set up a few stations around your yard with various activities from the challenge. Kids can work on to earn their medals — or have an outdoor Olympic themed party.
Or check our our fun list of Backyard Games and Summer Activities in our Amazon storefront and create your own Summer Olympics with things like corn hole, twister, an obstacle course and more!
Foods: Food ideas can either be French themed (after the host country) or Olympic-themed (eg. sports drinks, fruit plates in the shape of the five Olympic rings, etc).
Decorations: And visit Etsy for an awesome collection of Olympic-themed party decorations and printable games too!
Grab your copy of the FREE Summer Olympics Challenge for Kids and get ready to enjoy the games together!