Oh how I love the Olympics! It’s one of my favorite things to watch, and we really make sure to keep the schedules of events handy. I was once upon a time ago a marathon runner. Now I do powerlifting and my son swims competitively in freestyle, back stroke, and breast stroke! So you could say that we like to watch the events! Plus the opening ceremonies are always a real treat. I can’t wait to see what Brazil has in store for us this year! I created this fun Olympic Sports Activities Printable for your kids to participate in their own mini olympics!
OLYMPIC SPORTS ACTIVITIES PRINTABLE
Set up and host your own mini summer olympics or simply try out a few new sports ideas! I chose as many activities as I could that would use everyday sports equipment and would be practical for most families. We use Nerf guns and bow and arrows, so we had to add a couple of those activities to the list. I also love this free printable of some different olympic themed activities for the kids to do as well!
GET MOVING. STAY MOVING
It’s so important for kids to be active in this age of technology. I thought these Olympic Sports Activities would be a fun way to get us moving together as a family and/or with our friends. You don’t need a whole team of people to do each event! Siblings can have fun with each other and parents too! A few friends can play around or you can gather the whole neighborhood.
Get started by checking out the highlights of London 20112 Summer Olympics below in an hour long video clip.
LONDON 2012 SUMMER OLYMPICS
Parents, please note I have viewed the full hour. Around minutes 44-46 there is some discussion about the possible doping at the olympics and some of the bad calls made by referees. It is not offensive and does not use inappropriate language.
OUR SUMMER OLYMPIC SPORTS ACTIVITIES LIST
Print out your free Olympic sports activities printable and check off your accomplishments! Make sure to have medals for everyone! You can make your own with these two easy to do Olympic medal projects, one for older kids and one for younger kids!
REMIDERS: Please exercise caution when trying out new activities. Use common sense and your best judgement when choosing these activities and modify as necessary. Take breaks, have water available, and snacks too!
OLYMPIC HIGHLIGHT VIDEOS: For each sport, I shared a clip from the Olympic federation to illustrate the best of the sport. I tried to mix male and female events!
TRACK SPRINTS AND RELAY
Track and Field is a cornerstone of the summer Olympics. If you can, take your kids to a local track with all the meter markings! Try out sprints, middle distance runs, and even a relay if possible!
Olympic Highlight Video: Track
SWIM
I have a young Michael Phelps {at least I think so!}. He can swim freestyle, back, breast, and butterfly. He races at meets and even does relays with a team of boys.
Olympic Highlight Video: Swim
BIKE
Go out for a bike ride! Try a new bike trail. Spend the summer training to complete a 5, 10, or even 15 mile bike ride!
Olympic Highlight Video: Cycling
WALK/RUN MARATHON
Race walking and long distance running is tough work! A marathon is 26 miles! How far can you run or walk? This is also a great activity for the entire summer. Build up your endurance and see if you can go on a 5 mile hike {or more by the end}. Drink lots of water!
Olympic Highlight Video: Marathon or Race Walk
OBSTACLE COURSE
Set up an obstacle course in the backyard. I have some fun examples to share. Try this backyard obstacle course or this Ninja Warrior training course.
Olympic Highlight Video: Make your own!
SHOOTING AIR RIFLE
We love our Nerf guns. Set up targets in the backyard! Some simple ideas include drawing a bulls eye on pasteboard and hanging up on a wall or fence. Build cup towers and see how many tries it takes to knock them all down, push golf tees into styrofoam and set a ping pong ball on top! Tin cans on a railing!
Olympic Highlight Video: Shooting
ARCHERY
This can be done similar to the shooting event! Set up targets and see how well your aim is this summer. We also love our Nerf bow and arrow set!
Olympic Highlight Video: Archery
GYMNASTICS
Make up your own floor routine. Practice cartwheels, somersaults, dancing and more and add music for a great show. Try using long streamers to twirl around. Set up boards and cinder blocks or other sturdy objects as balance beam. Or put the boards right on the ground!
Olympic Highlight Video: Gymnastics
DISCUS
You have to see it to understand more about it. Grab a frisbee and practice your throwing skills. If you don’t have a large backyard, you might want to head to a field!
Olympic Highlight Video: Discus
BASKETBALL
Shoot some hoops. Have a shoot off!
Olympic Highlight Video: Basketball
FOOTBALL {SOCCER}
In Brazil {where the 2016 Olympics are being held this year}, soccer is called football. Grab your soccer ball and a few friends and practice scoring goals.
Olympic Highlight Video: Soccer
TENNIS
Our balloon tennis is so much fun if you don’t have the opportunity to try out regular tennis. Hey, it’s fun even if you do play regular tennis. Plus it can be enjoyed inside in any kind of weather too! See how we set up balloon tennis.
Olympic Highlight Video: Tennis
LONG JUMP
How far can you jump? Use painters tape to mark lines for jumping activities like we did here.
Olympic Highlight Video: Long Jump
FENCING
This is a pretty neat sport you don’t see often! Grab a few pool noodles and have your own fencing competition. All in good fun and it will look pretty funny too! Wrap duct tape around the end of the pool noodle for a handle!
Olympic Highlight Video: Fencing
GOLF
This sport makes it’s return debut this year in Brazil! Golf hasn’t been in the Olympics since 1904. Try out golfing this summer or mini golfing! We love mini golfing and we also have a small putting set we can use in the backyard. Who can get the hole in one? Who has the lowest score? Oh and it’s great for math too!
Olympic Highlight Video: Golf
FUN OLYMPIC SPORTS ACTIVITIES IDEAS FOR KIDS AND FAMILIES
These are just a small sampling of all the wonderful events that take place during the Summer Olympics. You can find all the information you need to learn about this year’s events in Rio on the Olympic website! We are so excited and hope this printable Olympic activities will get you even more excited to check out the Olympics!
HERE ARE SOM EOF OUR CHOICES FOR BACKYARD FUN! Amazon Affiliate links.
