The Olympics spurs creativity in our house. When our son Alec was two, he put a swim diaper on his head, and he pretended to dive off his small step stool after watching the swimming competitions. During the Olympics in 2016, our boys came up with the idea of challenging each other to some games. A few years ago, we also had a Winter Family Olympics, which included a table tennis/handball type game played on our dining room table with a tennis ball…this is how I ended up with a new wall clock.

My son, Zachary, especially loves watching the Olympics, and he tries to watch almost everything. So it was natural that he wanted to organize a Summer Olympic-themed family event that took a good portion of a day.

For our Family Olympics, Zach had all of us come up with our own flag, country, and song. Zach chose events based on ideas he had and ones that were suggested to him. Notable events included Rock Band, Spikeball, Ladder Ball, Gymnastics, Chess, Mario Cart, Boche Ball, and Wii Games (like biking and skateboarding). Medals were also given for the flags we designed! After the events, he was awarded a gold, silver, and bronze medal to the top three winners. My best events were the flags and singing in Rock Band (I am good at Ladder Ball, but sadly, I had an off day).

To have your own Olympic Family Event, here are a few tips:

• Let your family know what is coming so they can have time to design their own flag and choose a song. For example, I made a drawing of the flag of Gondor, which was my country as well. That came easily since I love Lord of the Rings. The song I decided on, which could be played when I won a gold medal, was The Best by Tina Turner. I know, I’m very humble. Let your family use their imaginations. If they do not like drawing (like my husband), they can print out a flag they find on the internet or use whatever they find around the house.
• Make adjustments to suit the ages and interests of your family. Our family is competitive, but not all like sports, which is why we had a variety of events like Spikeball and Rock Band. We also allowed family members to opt out, becasue not everyone in our family likes to play chess.
• Find a way to keep a record of who wins each event. Zach used a whiteboard easel I have hung on to since they were small. He kept tally marks of who won gold, silver, and bronze for each event. We didn’t do a medal ceremony for every event, but we made sure to have at least one for each family member who won a gold medal in order to enjoy everyone’s song choice.
• Use your imagination for different events. Use what you have around the house or incorporate activities you like participating in. There are many activities you could do if you have access to a pool, as well!
• For medals, my son found ones he had been given in the past. We reused them over and over again for the medal ceremony. You could make your own or look online-you can find almost anything nowadays.
• This can be adjusted for the wintertime around the Winter Olympics- think snowball fights or shooting targets with Nerf Guns or table tennis (maybe not on your dining room table if you have breakable objects near by).
• Take breaks as needed. My family was worn out by the end of the day, but we had fun and made memories in the process!

Let me end by saying to try to be a good sport. This was hard for me on a few occasions because I like to do well, and I am competitive. I am going on record by saying the Ladder Ball gold medal should have been mine!!!