The JumpStart Blog

Hosting a play date? Getting ready for a birthday party? Here is a great idea to keep the kids entertained, active, and exhaust their energy to ensure proper nap times! You’re your own Olympic Games in the comforts of your home, at a park, or in the backyard! These little games will surely boost their competitive spirits and get them exercising all day.

Opening Ceremony
Create a mini relay where everyone passes an ice cream cone to the right. To make things fun and fair, pass enough cones for everyone to have one and let them celebrate the beginning of the Mini Olympics! According to what kind of ice cream they receive, will determine the team they are on. (Strawberry, vanilla, chocolate, and mint for example)

Gymnastics
Place a plank of wood on top of 3 bricks to imitate a balance beam. Have each team walk across the piece of wood and do simple tricks. For example, have them do lunges, walk sideways, or step one foot in front of the other.

Hold a mock floor routine! Put on some music and let your kids dance around. To make it a little competitive, play “Freeze Dance.” Let them dance and then stop the music. When the music stops they need to freeze! If someone moves they get eliminated. Whoever lasts the longest wins the competition.

Make sure to keep score of who is winning each competition so you can award the correct winners at the end of the competition!

Track and Field
Create a relay obstacle course for all the contestants to race through! First, make a line of 4 laundry baskets and have them hop from each basket. Second, place a cone about 10 feet away. Give them a spoon and place an egg on the spoon. Have then put the spoon handle in their mouth with their hands behind their back. The challenge is to walk to the cone and back without dropping the egg. (Hard boiled eggs may be a cleaner option) Lastly, set up a soccer ball and a goal. Encourage your Olympians to dribble the ball to the goal or kick a straight shot into the goal.

To make a long jump, mark a starting point and have the contestants stand behind that line. When they jump, mark their jump length with a piece of tape with their name on it. Sprint or long distance races can be fun, especially if you mark the finish line with ribbon and let the runner run through it!

Closing Ceremony
I find that the easiest way of doing this is by carrying out the ceremony on the stairs. This way you can imitate the three levels of winners without anyone sinking through cardboard boxes or laundry baskets! Make a celebratory announcement to honor the ice cream flavors that won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, but also congratulate the rest of the teams. Have them stand on the stairs (1st highest, 2nd a level lower, and 3rd a level lower) and place medals around their necks. Just make sure to remind them that they are all winners, and this is a competition among friends- to keep with the spirit of the Olympics!

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