boy and girl posing with basketball outdoors

Summer of Sport 🏅

Hey Sparkle Squad moms and dads! Can you believe the wait for the 2020 Summer Olympics is over at last!  We’ve been busy here at the Ellie Sparkles HQ, making banners and flags ready to cheer on our teams at the Games. The Olympics are great for getting kids interested in trying new sports, so we have some fun ideas to spread the excitement and get the Squad involved!

Back Yard Olympics

Kids will love to set up their very own mini Olympics in the back yard! As well as being lots of fun, it will get them thinking creatively. They’ll soon be busy planning games and challenges, and looking for props to use. Here are six ideas to help them along the way: 

1. Design an obstacle course using mini cones (or something similar!) to navigate around, and  hoops to throw bean bags into. 
2. Try a race, walking with a bean bag on your head or dribbling a few footballs towards a finish line.   
3. Help the kids to make a few ‘jumps’ using sticks and a bucket at either end (or rope and cones). The Sparkle Squad can ‘canter’ around the course and pretend they’re Olympic horse jumpers!  
4. If you have a basketball net, shoot a few hoops for another great mini-Olympic challenge. 
5. Once the Games are set up and ready to go, there are medals to be made! Why not have an ‘official’ medal ceremony at the end of your mini-Olympics? It’s a good idea to include a medal or prize for all those who took part, just so everyone feels rewarded!  
6. The kids can also have a go at making an Olympic Torch, perhaps using cardboard tubes and colored tissue paper for the pretend flames. And don’t forget the banners and flags showing the Olympic rings!  

Wow guys, the kids are going to be busy and your back yards are going to look sport-tastic!  

Olympics Fun Facts

We’ve put together a few fun facts about the incredible history of the Olympics – perfect for the Sparkle Squad to impress their friends with!

  • The very first ancient Olympic Games were held more than 2,800 years ago in Olympia, Greece.  
  • There were no cool Olympic outfits back in those days; the athletes competed naked!! 
  • Winners from the ancient Games didn’t receive medals – just an olive branch wreath. 
  • The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896 but women were not allowed to compete!  
  • The Olympic motto is made up of three Latin words which mean:  Faster – Higher – Stronger. 
  • The Olympic Torch is lit from the Olympic Flame in Olympia, Greece.   It’s then kept alight as it travels all the way to the host country, and lights the Olympic Cauldron at the opening ceremony. 
  • Lastly, can you believe that from 1900 to 1920, Tug of War was actually a team event at the Summer Olympics?!  

Words of Encouragement

The founder of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, was adamant that taking part in the Olympics was more important than winning.  He said,  

“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part, the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well”. 

Here at Ellie Sparkles HQ, we love the positivity of this message. Ellie is always up for a challenge, but it’s all about enjoying taking part and giving it your best shot!  So perhaps chat about this with the kids …and then have lots of smiley fun with your very own Back Yard Olympics!  

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