Host Your Own Backyard Summer Olympics

Today I’m sharing an idea for something to do with the kids this summer. This week is our Spring Break, so I decided to hold our first annual Summer Olympics (even though summer is still on it’s way around here, as evidenced by the still-brown grass in our yard).

I wanted to keep things simple so that I wasn’t spending my whole day preparing each event. So I used things from around the house and came up with simple games. I also didn’t want to have them compete against each other because it always leads to hurt feelings, so the games were not set up to be competitive.

Here are some of the events we had:

Tree Targets

I hung paper plates from a tree branch and the kids had to use tennis balls to hit all four plates before “winning.”

Sidewalk Jump

I drew a series of circles on the sidewalk using sidewalk chalk and the kids had to jump from circle to circle without falling off.

Tricycle Relay

The kids had to weave in and out of obstacles and race back to the finish line. I drew sidewalk chalk lines to help them understand which way they needed to weave.

Three Legged Race

An oldie, but a goodie. This was one of their favorite events!

Awards Ceremony

And of course, they both received gold medals for winning all the events. I used real medals I had tucked away in a dresser drawer from past races I’ve run. But you could easily make your own with cardstock and ribbon. I did the simplified version, but if you wanted to be ambitious, you could make an awards platform with the three steps of varied heights for the kids to stand on to receive their medals.

Some other Backyard Olympics event ideas:

• water balloon toss
• miniature golf
• “Plunkerton” (have you seen that episode of The Office? They tie paper boxes to their feet and have to race while balancing on them
• variations on a foot race: skip, hop, crab-walk, crawl, pair up and wheelbarrow race
• badminton, volleyball, or tennis using balloons or beach balls

I think it would be super fun to do this with the whole neighborhood. It would be so great if each mom on the block set up one event in her front yard and then all the kids traveled from house to house to compete.

Or hold the Olympics with all the cousins or grandkids at the next family reunion

And if you really got into the spirit of it, you could make THESE Olympic-themed cupcakes to serve afterwards.

Hope this gets you excited for a summer packed with fun activities!