8 fun ways to teach kids about the Winter Olympics

This year, the Winter Olympics will be hosted in Beijing, China from February 2-20, 2022. Two weeks of pure excitement, adrenaline, heartbreak and triumph. Who wouldn’t be interested?

Looking for some fun ways to get kids in the Olympic spirit? Here are a number of ways to make the Games fun and educational no matter where you live.

1. Host your own opening ceremony

Get the neighborhood kids together and have each kid or group of two or three pick a country to represent. If possible, suggest they come with clothes or dress-up attire that represents the country in style and/or color. Make a DIY Olympic torch and take turns passing it to each “country.” When they have the torch, it’s their turn to enter into the middle of the “arena” and present a silly dance, song, skit, fun facts or anything about their country. Get creative!

2. “Light” the Olympic torch

Image via A Small Snippet

If you really want to make things festive, try making this fun Olympic torch snack from A Small Snippet. Not only is this recipe SUPER easy (all you need are ice cream cones and either popcorn or Cheetos), but it’s really tasty too. And who doesn’t love a portable snack that they can take anywhere?

3. Make flags for different countries

Get out your usual craft supplies — scissors, colored construction paper, markers, glue sticks and anything else you want to use — and the kids can make their own flags. Extra credit: Locate the countries on a map or globe!

4. Bake some Olympic treats

What better way to end an afternoon of games or crafts than with some Olympic sweets? These gold medal cookies or Olympic torch cupcake cones are fun-to-make treats.

5. Design your own skis

This ski design project is pretty simple: All you need for this activity are big pieces of cardboard, glue and all the markers, glitter and paint that you can get your hands on. Just cut out two long strips out of the cardboard (ideally, they’ll be the width of each child’s feet), and cut a shorter strip that will act as the binding to keep their foot in place. Then, let the kids have at designing and decorating their skis.

If you want to get a little more creative, get inspired by this DIY cardboard ski craft, complete with duct tape ski boots and poles made from sticks, from Playtivities.

6. Host your own Winter Olympics events

Indoor activities:

Create a DIY toy ice luge:
- Have each child choose a little Lego person (or other small toy figures) to be their “athlete.”
- Fill an ice cube tray with water, put the Lego person in an ice cube hole, and let the tray freeze.
- Meanwhile, find something tube-shaped you can use as a track (e.g, PVC pipe or a cardboard wrapping paper tube). If you want to be able to see inside the “track,” cut the tube in half (just make sure you’re the one doing it). Set the two halves side-by-side and host a competition.
- Prop your track(s) up so that it’s at a steep-enough angle to allow the ice cubes to slide down quickly.
- Put your ice cube person at the top of the tube and then let ’em fly!
Test out your balance in a sock speed skating competition.
Set up an “arena” in the playroom and play broom hockey via Toddler Approved.
Create your own indoor cross-country skiing course and have the kids navigate it with paper plates under their feet.

Outdoor activities:

Grab your sleds and host your own bobsleigh or luge race.
Set up your own biathlon by stacking a bunch of plastic cups in a pyramid, then trying to knock them down with snowballs.

Need more ideas? Check out our article, “6 Winter Olympic games for kids to play.”

7. Make your own medals

Cut out circles of cardboard and get that construction paper out again. Glue a circle of paper on each “medal” of cardboard; use yellow or orange for Gold, white or gray for Silver and tan or brown for Bronze. Poke a hole through them, put them on a loop of string, and wear them like champions!

8. Learn some fun facts about the different winter events

Let’s be honest: Not every kid (let alone adult) will know exactly what a biathlon is, or how you score points in curling. So, take this opportunity to help them — and even yourself — learn something new.

On Olympics.com, you can find all the information you could ever want to know about each winter sport, including the schedule of events, latest news, top athletes, “how to watch” basics, the Olympic history of the sport and more. Here are the quick links to each Winter Olympics sport: