The Olympics may be starting to wind down in Rio but if your family is anything like ours, the Olympic spirit may be around for a while! We’ve enjoyed watching both the primetime events as well as the more obscure events during the day and our kids have been begging to host their own Olympics in the backyard. If you’d like to do the same, here are some ideas for creating your very own Backyard Olympics:
The Set-Up: Make it an educational experience. Whether it’s just your kids or you’re inviting the whole neighborhood, assign kids various countries from the Olympics and have them dress in their respective colors and come with information on that country’s dress, language, customs and most famous athletes. If you want to add even more fun, encourage kids to bring a special snack from the country they’ll be representing.
The Competition: Set up any number of games in your backyard using your basketball hoop, trampoline, swing set and more and assign a point value for first, second and third place to each activity. Have each child do each of the activities, naming a gold, silver and bronze winner for each event. The winner of the games is whoever collects the most points at the end of all the activities.
Here are some ideas but be creative and have fun with it so it fits your backyard and your participants:
– Trampoline: Create a set “routine” each child must complete and rate each one on how well they do each step. Or give them 10-15 minutes to create their own routine and judge based on creativity as well as steps performed and completed.
– Basketball: Play a game like H-O-R-S-E, Around the World or create a tournament bracket for games of 1-on-1 if you have enough participants.
– Swing Set: Get creative with your swing set! Create an obstacle course that includes the monkey bars, slides, rock climbing wall or any other fun equipment you have on yours. Or your kids can jump off the swings and try to “stick” the landing.
– Other Fun: Add a slip ‘n slide to comically simulate a swimming event, coordinate a synchronized swimming competition on land or use your favorite Frisbee as a discus.
Have fun with it and be creative to come up with both serious and silly games in which kids will love participating!
The Closing: Have a closing ceremony at the end where everyone takes some time to talk about their favorite activity or to just have a big dance party to celebrate the conclusion!
If your backyard Olympic competition equipment is lacking, come by Happy Backyards™ in Franklin to add a swing set, basketball hoop or trampoline so you’ll be well-prepared for the 2020 games!
Happy Backyards™ sells and installs only the safest and highest quality residential playground equipment, basketball goals, and trampolines for your own home. We are a local company and have been doing it for more than 20 years with a focus on quality products, quality service, and competitive low pricing.