15 Olympic Games Classroom Activities for Students (2024)

The Olympics are coming! Make the most of this ancient event with these Olympic Games activities for students. They're the perfect way to teach your class about different countries, cultures, and traditions, and I have 12 interactive games, printables, and worksheets to help you along the way!

And the best part?! Most of them are free!

With the excitement of the summer Olympics and the Paralympics right around the corner, this is a great time to teach your students about this ancient tradition. I remember LOVING the Olympic Games when I was in primary school, and I know that your students will be the same!

Even if your students are not sports fans, the Olympics are a fascinating international phenomenon. All children are sure to find something that grabs their attention, whether it's rooting for their chosen country, seeing the different uniforms, listening to the national anthems, or watching the athletes in action.

Plus, the Olympics are a treasure trove of learning opportunities. You can easily touch upon several different subject areas, including social studies, history, geography, and culture, as well as Greek mythology, physical education, maths, and more!

Since the Olympics only occur every two years (rotating between Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics) and many schools in the Northern Hemisphere are on holidays for the Summer Olympics, many teachers will only be able to teach students about the Winter Olympics. Don't worry -- these classroom activities can be used for either event, including the Paralympics. I've also added some fun customisations specifically for the 2024 Summer Games in Paris and will update those for the Winter Olympic Games in Tokyo and beyond!

13 Olympic Games Activities for Students

We’ve created loads of fun activities to share with you! They are all available in The Hive, our digital teacher platform packed with my complete library of printable resources, videos, apps, and more. It's an all-in-one interface to help you organise your day, plan your lessons, and find a little calm in the chaos of teaching!

Right now, there are several Olympics-themed backgrounds and video backgrounds to decorate your classroom dashboard, including the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum, as well as Olympics and Paralympics writing prompts and more.

You'll also have access to a library of Olympics graphics in the image library to customise your slides and other activities!

Plus, keep your eyes peeled as we'll have interactive digital learning tools ready to go in time for the Olympics, including a medal tally app!

Ready to get started? Start your free 14 day trial of The Hive today!

Olympics Bingo

This bingo board is a fun way to catch your students' attention about the Olympics right away! They can keep track of who earns gold meals, who cries happy tears, what song they hear playing, and more. All of the questions follow the who, what, why, and how, so they're and they require minimal writing. Great for primary grade levels!

Olympic Athletes Biographies

For a light research project, have your students choose one of their favourite Olympic athletes and learn all about them! This is a great way to practise those research skills and for your young athletes to learn about perseverance, dedication, and overcoming obstacles.

Consider reading books about Olympians to discuss these traits as part of your morning meeting or SEL time. Some great read-aloud options include:

  • Cathy Freeman: Born To Run - A gorgeous picture book that will inspire girls and boys everywhere to chase their dreams.
  • Swimming Toward a Dream- Yusra Mardini's Incredible Journey from Refugee to Olympic Swimmer
  • Dream Big- a picture book written by Michael Jordan's mother.
  • Unbeatable Betty-aninspiring picture book biography of the first woman to win a gold medal in track and field.
  • Touch the Sky- an inspiring story of the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal.
  • Tenacious: Fifteen Adventures Alongside Disabled Athletes- Theseinspiring athletes have won gold medals, set world records, climbed mountain peaks, claimed national championships, and many more extraordinary achievements.
  • Standout- the true story of Paralympic Gold Medallist Greg Stewart
  • Flying High - The story of gymnastics champion Simone Biles

My Favourite Event

In this printable activity, students can share their favourite Olympic sport, draw a picture of it in action, list the equipment, and write out the rules.

Olympics Medals Tallies Chart

This handy medal tally chart will help you keep track of how many gold, silver, and bronze medals your country's athletes have won! There are several different layouts to choose from and lots of different ways to incorporate this activity.

You can track the medal counts as a whole class or have students keep track of their chosen country to see how they compare. This would tie in well with the country research project below!

Note: We are adding a medal tally app to The Hive to track the results in one handy place!

Olympics Country Research Project

The Olympics spotlight so many different countries for our students, and this is a great time for them to choose one to study more in-depth. This flag craft is a light research project, ideal for K-3.

  1. Choose a country to research and fill in the fact sheet: Continent, Language, Capital City, Population, Interesting Fact.

  1. Draw the country’s flag on the blank template.
  2. Colour in the flagpole (2 lengths are included)
  3. Glue or staple to assemble – place fact sheet on the bottom, then the flag, then the flag pole.

Editable Olympics & Paralympics Slideshow

To create your own questions and writing prompts, make sure you grab this editable slideshow!

It has 90+ editable slides, including:

18 slides for the Paralympics

70 slides withOlympic Events

8 slides specific to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

You might also like these Olympic sport event slide backgrounds:

Character Trait Y-Charts

Explore the character traits of Olympic athletes with your students withthese editable Y-chart templates. Students can draw or write aboutwhat each trait LOOKS ​like, SOUNDS like and FEELS like.


12 different qualities to explore:

  • perseverance
  • determination
  • resilience
  • good sportsmanship
  • courage
  • patience
  • positivity
  • endurance
  • motivation
  • focus
  • integrity
  • fair play

OR, use the editable template to add your own character traits!

Character Traits Writing Templates

Once students have explored different character traits, they could use these writing templates to create a class display!

Word Search

This Olympic-themed word search is a fun activity for independent work or as a morning starter. You can use the pre-made template, or students could also make their own find-a-word. It's a handy print-and-go option you can use at a moment's notice!

Activities Grid

This choice menu is the perfect way to get students thinking about and connecting with the Olympics. Each square includes a thought-provoking question, research task, or creative project that will test their creativity and brain power.


Plus, the template is editable, so you can make up your own activities, too!

Olympic Writing Prompts

This set has 36 engaging writing prompts to spark your class’ curiosity and get them thinking about the Olympic games in a new way. The questions include opinion writing, creative writing prompts, and more, so there is something for everyone! There are also editable task cards so that you can create your own.

You might like to also download the matching slides to display on your classroom screen.These are perfect for daily writing journals!

Olympics Acrostic Activity

Teach your students to write poems about the Olympics using this acrostic template! Younger children can choose just one word per letter, but older children should be able to write out longer phrases or sentences and even incorporate some rhyming words.

Olympic Word Mapping Template

Incorporate Olympic themes into your phonics instruction withthese interactive word mapping templates.

As students encode words, they tap the number of sounds they hear, map them orally, write the individual sounds in the circles, and then write out the final word.

Thisresource includes several templates with spaces for different quantities of sounds. Stick these intowrite and wipe mats to use in whole-group instruction or in your small groups!

Design an Olympic Medal

Can the Olympic medals use an upgrade? Invite your students to design their own medals! This activity pairs well with the design-an-outfit activity below. You can even have them present their designs in front of the class to practise their public speaking.

Design an Athlete's Outfit

One of the most interesting parts of the Summer and Winter games is seeing the different uniforms from each country. Have your students design their own outfits to show what they think would look best!

More Olympic Activities for Kids

  • Host your own Olympic games as a field event with lots of activities, like a relay race, hula hooping, walking the balance beam, obstacle course, juggling, etc.
  • Use paper plates to make your own Olympic rings.
  • Research the origin of the Olympic games to understand why this event is so special.
  • Study previous results to predict which countries will win the most gold medals this year.
  • Survey the students in your class about their favourite sport, country, athlete, and more, and record the results in bar graphs.
  • Research how the International Olympic Committee chooses the next location. (Great for upper elementary students learning about governing systems!)
  • Make a map to track the Olympic torch relay.
  • Read about famous Olympians who overcame adversity.
  • Watch the opening ceremony and discuss the different countries and traditions on display.
  • Discuss the rules of the Olympics and whether or not they are fair.

I hope these Olympic Games activities for students help you bring these events to life! They're really special occasions that can expand our students' worlds andlearn about people from all around the world. This is a great opportunity to hold some meaningful conversations and make some memories too!

15 Olympic Games Classroom Activities for Students (2024)

FAQs

What are the Olympic Games for students? ›

The Olympic Games are an international athletic event, with winter and summer games hosted in alternating two year periods by different countries. They are based on the traditional ancient Olympic Games that occurred in ancient Greece from 776 BCE-393 CE.

What is Olympic game answer? ›

The Olympic Games are an international sports festival, held every four years. The ultimate goals are to cultivate human beings, through sport, and contribute to world peace. Summer Games and Winter Games are held separately.

How many Olympic activities are there? ›

Frequently Asked Questions. How many sports in total feature in the Olympics? A total of 40 sports are in the Olympics, including 32 in the upcoming Paris 2024 Summer Olympics and eight in Milano Cortina 2026, the next Winter Olympics. How many sports are in the Summer Olympics?

How to celebrate the Olympics at work? ›

What Games do you play in the Office Olympics?
  1. Desk Chair Soccer. If you have a large office area, you can set up a field with two goals on each side. ...
  2. Pencil Javelin. This can be done in any type of office space. ...
  3. Rubber Band Archery. ...
  4. Mental Gymnastics. ...
  5. Relay Tic Tac Toe. ...
  6. The Synergist. ...
  7. Typing Race. ...
  8. Olympic Trivia.

What are the 5 main sports in the Olympics? ›

Sports of the Olympic Games

Only five sports have been contested at every summer Olympic Games since 1896: Athletics, Cycling, Fencing, Gymnastics and Swimming. In 2012 there were 26 sports contested, increasing to 28 in 2016, and 33 in 2020.

What Olympic Games do we have? ›

Olympic Games - Summer, Winter Olympics, YOG & Paralympics.

How many Games are in the Olympics list? ›

The 42 Olympic Disciplines
The 42 Olympic Disciplines
ArcheryArtistic GymnasticsAthletics
BMX CyclingBoxingCanoe Slalom
Equestrian EventingEquestrian JumpingFencing
Greco-Roman WrestlingHandballHockey
3 more rows

What is the oldest Olympic sport? ›

Running was the oldest and most important Olympic sport. From 776 BC to 728 BC, the stadion, a sprint event of about 180 m, was even the only event. Up to the Roman periode, the victor of the stadion race gave his name to the olympiad in which he won.

What Olympic sport has 7 events? ›

heptathlon, athletics competition in which contestants take part in seven different track-and-field events in two days. The heptathlon replaced the women's pentathlon in the Olympic Games after 1981.

How many events are in the Olympics? ›

Currently, the Olympic program consists of 35 different sports, 53 disciplines and more than 400 events. The Summer Olympics includes 28 sports with 38 disciplines and the Winter Olympics includes 7 sports with 15 disciplines.

How many events can you run in the Olympics? ›

The track and field program for the 2024 Paris Olympics will feature 48 medal events: 100m (men's/women's) 200m (men's/women's) 400m (men's/women's)

How to organize Olympic Games? ›

When the International Olympic Committee (IOC) selects a city to stage the Games, the city and the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of the host country create the OCOG which will organise the Games. From the moment it is created, seven years before the Games, the OCOG works closely with the IOC.

How to play pencil javelin? ›

Place a trash bin apart from a marked line. Participants will stand behind the line and have 30 seconds to attempt to throw as many pencils (one at a time) toward the bin. A point is awarded for each time they get it inside.

How to do an Olympic sweepstake? ›

An Olympic sweepstake

On separate pieces of paper write down all the nations competing in the Olympics, put the names in a hat and get your family and friends to pay a quid for a lucky dip. The person with the country that wins most medals gets all the money.

How to explain the Olympics to kids? ›

Every four years the finest athletes in the world gather in one location to compete against each other and to determine who best exemplifies the Olympic motto—Citius, Altius, Fortius—meaning “faster, higher, stronger.” This gathering, known as the Olympic Games, is the most celebrated sporting festival in the world.

Is there a kids Olympic Games? ›

An elite sporting event, the Youth Olympic Games bring together athletes (ages 15-18) from more than 200 countries around the world for a summer and winter programme.

What are the Olympic Games and why is it important? ›

The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (French: Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions.

What are the four different types of Olympics? ›

Olympic Games - Summer, Winter Olympics, YOG & Paralympics.

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