Teaching the Winter Olympics in Your Homeschool

Wow!  Do we love the Olympics or what?  Years of grueling training, superhuman sacrifice, long hours and hot tears... culminating into one perfect moment.  Iron will again iron will .... doesn't get more exciting than that! 

If your family is anything like mine, you're probably counting down the days to the 2026 Winter Olympics which are coming so fast.  It's the perfect storm... doldrums of winter homeschooling colliding with the excitement of the Olympics.... who could possibly concentrate on Algebra?

These days, high school transcripts require us to maintain a certain rhythm.  But when the kids were little, we would theme all our lessons around the Olympics.  Sure we squeezed in a math worksheet or two, but really we just celebrated the countries for the world for two weeks.  It was incredible!

So I'm rounding up some of our favorite resources that we've used over the years.  A few of these will probably make it into our morning time with my older kids as well.  That's my favorite place to include those ideas that are life giving, but don't necessarily check a box. 

Great Read Alouds:

*What are the Winter Olympics

*Who was Shaun White

*G is for Gold Medal

*Tacky and the Winter Games

*Snowman Paul at the Winter Olympics

Geography:

*Learn about the host country.

*Or any country of interest. Fill in a facts sheet.

*Research the geography of your favorite country.

*Try a new recipe from the host country.

Science:

*Study the science and engineering of the Winter Olympics.

*Explore the science of Olympic medals.

*Or learn more about their design.

*Learn about the science behind making Olympic snow and ice.

*Or why curling ice is different from regular ice.

*Research the science behind your favorite event.

Math Ideas:

*Graph the medal count.

*Calculate how far your favorite athlete traveled to the Winter Olympics.

Writing:

*Write using one of these 15 Writing Prompts.

*Or use one of these prompts.

*Try your hand at persuasive writing.

*Complete an Olympics Activity Book.

*Or an Olympics Word Search.

*Expand your vocabulary with these Olympic words.

*Laugh along with some Winter Games Mad Libs.

Music Resources:

*Do a 15 min Olympic music lesson.

*Learn What is a Fanfare.

*Find out Who Really Composed the Olympic Theme.

Crafts:

*Make Olympic paper dolls.

*Craft flags from another country.

*Paint one of these Winter Games Art pieces.

*Or make Origami Olympic Rings.

Tasty Treats:

*Make Olympic ring waffles.

*Decorate Olympic M&M cookies.

Movies to Watch:

*Cold War & Hockey-- Miracle on Ice

*Miracle (2004)

*Cool Runnings (1993)