London 2012: Get Set!

To say that I’m excited for the Summer Olympics would be a major understatement.

I love the Olympics.  Summer, Winter, doesn’t matter.  I wouldn’t call myself an athlete and I’m not all that competitive (unless we’re playing Scrabble - then watch out!), but I love to watch sports and there’s something about the Olympics that completely sucks me in.

The fanfare.  The camaraderie.  The history.  The international charm.  The personal stories of athletes who have made sacrifices and overcome great obstacles.  The drama, the excitement, the competition.

Not to mention the fact that I LOVE London and the UK.

I can’t wait.

And because I will be watching the Olympics every chance I can get, guess what?  So will the rest of my family.  With just under two weeks until Opening Ceremonies, I’m planning a few London- and Olympics-inspired activities and meals for kids to help them enjoy the Games, too.

I’ll start with books, of course.  Here’s a list of great Olympic-themed books for kids:

• G is for Gold Medal: An Olympic Alphabet (Picture Book; Middle Grades 4-8)
• Inside the Olympics (Middle Grades 4-8)
• Eyewitness Books: Olympics (Middle Grades 4-8)
• The Summer Olympics (Lower Grades K-3)
• Hour of the Olympics (Magic Tree House  #16) (Lower Grades K-3)
• Ancient Greece and the Olympians – A Non-Fiction Companion to Hour of the Olympics (Lower Grades K-3)

Interested in a specific Summer Olympics sport?  Check out the Summer Olympic Legends series.

Want to learn more about London?

• B is for Big Ben (Picture Book; Middle Grades 4-8)
• A Walk in London (Easy Non-Fiction Book)
• Dodsworth in London (Easy Juvenile Fiction)
• Cities of the World: London (Juvenile Non-Fiction)
• The Bumper Book of London: Fun Facts for All the Family
• Rush for the Gold: Mystery at the Olympics (Juvenile Fiction)

Also look for travel guides or pictorial books for some of London’s famous sights.

Watching the Olympics with your kids offers a great opportunity to learn more about other countries.  Maybe one of your children will be taken with an athlete from a specific country – take the time to learn about that country, cook a meal, or make flags using craft sticks and construction paper.  Find books – fiction and non-fiction.

Talk to your kids about your own Olympic heroes and memories.  Which Olympic moments inspired you as a kid? 

For some fun Olympic- and London-themed craft ideas, visit Kaboose.  There are many other websites for kids to visit to learn about this summer’s Olympics as well, including Time for Kids, NBC Olympics, and London 2012.

Have fun and enjoy the Games!