With the start of the Olympics, our children have stayed up late to watch all of the Opening Ceremonies, watched at least a half hour of Olympic coverage every night, read factual books about China, watched a video about life in China, and have even been listening to us read about Eric Liddell (a famous Olympian and missionary to China).  However, we just HAD to participate in our own Olympics to make the experience come alive!

So, look out world!  We have some record breaking Olympians on our hands, right in our own backyard– well at least when it comes to pillowcase hops, spoon and ball races, water relays, and Beanie Baby balancing =)

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The night before, we had each chosen a country to represent.  We located these on our globe and colored a flag to wave in our Opening Ceremonies.
We wore another flag from our respective countries on our back as well.(Yes, even the baby.)

We colored in our Olympic coloring book before breakfast.  Then, at our ‘breakfast of champions’, Daddy read some facts about the torch, colors of the Olympics rings, the medals, reason for the games, etc.

We worked on our memory verse throughout the day…

Colossians 3:23-24
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Here are some of our events..

Spoon and Ball Race

Hurdles

Balance Beam

Water Relay

Pillow Case Hopping

At the end, everyone was awarded a gold medal for participating with joyful hearts, helping others, being encouragers, doing their best, trying to learn their Bible memory, etc.

And to round out the full experience of the games, we even ate Chinese food for dinner using chopsticks =)   A fun day for all!

Here are some more fun links to another family’s  Olympics…
The Fairy Olympics
Preschool Olympics – Throwing and Catching
Backwards Olympics