Celebrate the Olympics with your kids

Anita L. DeFrantz, former member of the International Olympic Committee said: “Sport is a high-profile institution in America. Literally millions of children follow sports and the athletes who play them. Sport has the potential to develop and reinforce the values of young people. It is inevitable that the way in which media present sports to the young audiences will play a role in shaping their attitudes. Children can learn positive lessons about fair play, respect for others, cooperation, sacrifice, discipline, violence, gender relations and race relations from sport.”

The Summer Olympics is a great time you get your children excited about sports, physical exercise, and friendly competition. The Games will be held in more than 40 venues, the majority in and around Tokyo, with some events for soccer, baseball, and softball further afield. In the capital, the venues are in two areas: the Heritage Zone, which makes use of infrastructure from the city’s 1964 Games, and, closer to the water, the newly developed Tokyo Bay Zone.

Here are some important facts about the Tokyo Olympic Summer Games:

• Tokyo is the host city for the Olympics for the second time - after 1964
• Motto of the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Japan is 'Discover Tomorrow'
• Torch relay began in Fukushima on March 25th. The motto of the torch relay is "Hope Lights Our Way"
• The 2020 Olympic torch relay takes place over 121 days. The relay has moved through all 47 prefectures of Japan. The torch relay is meant to showcase the cultural and scenic attractions of the country
• The Olympic Games in 2021 will be held from Friday, July 23rd to Sunday, August 8th
• In the Tokyo Games, more than 11,000 participants are expected to compete in 339 sporting events
• The various events of the Olympics will be held in 42 venues all over the country
• The opening ceremony of the Tokyo Games will be held on Friday, July 23rd in the new national stadium in Tokyo
• The logo of the Tokyo Olympics depicts a circle in a checkered pattern in traditional Japanese indigo blue. The pattern consists of three different varieties of rectangular shapes which symbolize "different countries, cultures and way of thinking" with the message of unity in diversity
• The Tokyo Olympics will put a strong focus on innovation and new initiatives such as field support robots in the games. Mascot-type robots will greet athletes and visitors at the Olympic Games venues

• For the first time these robots including humanoid robots will be used at the Olympic events. Humanoid robots will give people who cannot attend the Games the chance to virtually attend the events when they interact with these robots
• The official mascot of the Tokyo Olympic Summer Games is Miraitowa, a cheerful character that can teleport. The name comes from the Japanese words 'mirai' (meaning 'future' in English) and towa' (which means 'eternity' in English). The term refers to the wish that "everlasting hope will carry on in the hearts of everyone around the world"
• The Olympic motto is Citius - Altius - Fortius which is from the Latin language and means 'Faster - Higher - Stronger'

There are several websites you can use to get your children interested and involved. And it is a great opportunity to learn about Japan and its culture. You can orient your family to the Summer Olympics by looking at the following websites:

https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/games/event-kids-supporters/

https://activeforlife.com/8-summer-olympics-sports-games/

https://kids.kiddle.co/2020_Summer_Olympics

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/first-olympics

YouTube has some great videos to orient your family to Tokyo Games:

This video features NBC’s brief introduction to the Olympics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENMhrEVa4XQ

This video features the venues of the Tokyo Olympics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IptQWWCxs2s

This video features the Tokyo Olympics mascots:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixE1a6_l7e4&t=42s

Japanese Olympic Committee President Yamashita Yasuhiro shared the following observation about the upcoming Summer Olympic Games:

With sporting events now slowly returning to the stage, we are reminded again of the ability of sport to bring hope and the power of athletes to inspire courage.