The Olympics..... Our Style

The last time the summer Olympics came around, Addie was 5 months old. When the winter Olympics were here, she was just turning 2. Now at 4 years old, she can understand somewhat what the Olympics are.

As her Mommy/teacher, I had a lot of fun preparing her to have fun during the opening ceremony.... which she sat through with rapt attention until 9:30 (Parade of Nations) when we said she had to go to bed.

Before the opening ceremony, I made a "torch" (using what I had on hand here at home- directions are at the bottom of the post) and explained a little bit about the torch relay.... and then we had a torch relay of our own.

Ours had a lot more giggling and laughter than the "real" torch relay, since ours involved running around the main part of the house by a Mommy, a four year old, and a Mommy holding a 10 month old who thought this was hilarious!

Then we sat in the living room and colored a coloring page with the five Olympic rings. Throughout the evening, every time Addie saw the rings (like, every two minutes), she would shout, "The rings!" Brian and/or I would have to acknowledge the rings before she would move on.

Then we watched the opening ceremony. I thought it was beautifully done and impressive (we could have done with out the Harry Potter scene...so we changed the station). By the time the Parade of Nations came, it was past Addie's bedtime, so we let her get dressed for bed in the living room so she could see a few of the athletes walking in.

Saturday morning, I put on the Olympics (swimming), and Addie sat on the couch, holding her torch, cheering, "Go USA!" as she watched the USA swim team relay and take first place.

I think for the next two weeks Doc McStuffins and all of her other favorite shows are going to be taking a back seat to the Olympics games. And that is quite alright with this USA loving Mommy!

Go, Team USA!!!!!
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How to make the torch

Materials:
        a toilet paper tube
        aluminum foil
        bright colored tissue paper (yellow, red, and/or orange)
        scotch tape

Bunch the tissue paper up to make a flame and tape the bottom together to make it easy to insert into the tube.

Cover the tube with aluminum foil and leave plenty for a long point at the bottom of the tube for holding.

Squeeze the bottom end of the aluminum to make a handle for your torch.

Insert the tissue into the tub and add some rolled tape on the inside of the tube to keep the tissue in place.