Hello Olympics!

The Olympics are drawing to a close but I still haven't shared about the fun we had for the opening ceremony! This would be tons of fun to do for the closing ceremony too. 

For some reason, because of the business of life, I didn't even realize that the opening ceremony was happening until the morning of! We were on our way to the library and the idea of making a fun party around the ceremony started churning in my head. We picked up a couple of books about the olympics and headed to the grocery store for some international snacks!

Before the ceremony we had our own olympics, including the marshmallow-on-a-spoon race and the cheerios stacking contest. Will and I wowed the boys with a marshmallow straw race. It was a good time! :)

Our main task of the day was coloring some flags to make a banner. I was pleasantly surprised with how much Alex enjoyed the activity! (Let's be honest, these kind of things can be totally hit or miss!) I had printed smaller flags in color so he was able to copy them quite easily! 

We had such great conversations during our coloring. He asked about the song that played when they showed the flag, so we talked about the Star Spangled Banner and how each country had their own special flag and song. We talked about the stars and stripes of the American Flag. He noticed similarities between the Australian and Great Britain flags along with the one 5 pointed star in the Australian flag. I love it when these natural conversations come up. Even Liam has been recognizing flags as we watch the olympics which has been fun. 

Our conversations got me wondering about how other countries chose their national anthems, what they mean, the variety of flags, and how the colors mean things to different countries. So much of that country identity is portrayed through their flag and anthem. I want to understand the things that make each country proud. Hopefully in 2 years we can inquire more in depth into some of those questions! 

Perfect for home or school! :)