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 - an inspiring 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 - These inspiring 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
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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.
- Choose a country to research and fill in the fact sheet: Continent, Language, Capital City, Population, Interesting Fact.
- Draw the country’s flag on the blank template.
- Colour in the flagpole (2 lengths are included)
- 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 with Olympic 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 with these editable Y-chart templates. Students can draw or write about what 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 with these 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.
This resource includes several templates with spaces for different quantities of sounds. Stick these into write 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 and learn about people from all around the world. This is a great opportunity to hold some meaningful conversations and make some memories too!