Celebrate the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics with Your Kids

My daughter is so excited for the summer Olympics! She’s already started asking how we’re going to celebrate them and figuring out when her favorite sports will be on TV. While they’re still officially called the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, they will run July 23 through August 8, 2021. And, even though spectators won’t be allowed to attend events, doesn’t mean we can’t cheer on the athletes from home!

You might also enjoy checking out our articles from past Olympics for additional ideas: Celebrate the 2018 Winter Olympics Family Style, 5 Olympic Sports to Try in Des Moines and Host a Family Friendly Olympic Party.

Here’s some fun Summer Olympic themed games and activities for Kids:

Host Some Backyard Games

The Olympics are all about showcasing feats of athleticism. Why not use it as an excuse to get everyone outside and moving? Keep things simple and use what you have on hand to create some fun games the whole family can participate in. Here’s a few ideas:

Chalk Jump/Balance Beam

Draw a start line with chalk on pavement. Have competitors jump as far as they can and mark how far they jumped with chalk to see who went the furthest. You can also draw a “balance beam” with chalk and see who can walk across it without losing their balance.

Hula Throw

Place a hula hoop flat on the grass. Mark a start line with cones, painter’s tape or spray paint a few feet from the hula hoop. Use a ball or other throwing object to toss and make it into the hoop. Whoever hits the center wins or go for the best two out of three tries.

Bags Toss

Break out the bags game. Use a jump rope, frisbee or duct tape to mark where people can stand. Give each competitor a select number of beanbags and attempts to get them in the hole in the board. Whoever gets the most in wins. Mix it up and throw the bag like a shot put, underhand, or shoot it like a basketball.

Badminton

Badminton is an official Olympic sport. While it might be a bit more intense at that level, it’s a fun game to play as a family. Even the smallest kiddo will enjoy batting the shuttle around and pretending to be an Olympic champion.

Noodle Fencing

Fencing is another popular Olympic sport. However, you might not want to hand your kids swords. Swap them out with pool noodles. It will still be fun and will be sure to get some laughs. If you’re really ambitious you could cut the pool noodles to look like swords.

Serve Some Healthy Snacks

After all of that moving around, contestants will probably work up an appetite. Here’s a few fun Olympic themed snack ideas to have on hand.

Pepper Torch Snack

Cut red, orange, and yellow bell peppers into strips to create “flames”. Place them in small gold or silver cup. That’s it! Add optional dip of choice to the bottom of the cup to really bring the heat.

Olympic Dough Rings

Form store bought pretzel or breadstick dough into five rings. Place the circles on a baking sheet to resemble the Olympic rings and follow the instructions provided to bake.

Olympic Ring Fruit Platter

Create the Olympics rings out of fruit. Use blueberries for the blue ring, blackberries for the black ring, strawberries for the red ring, I think you get the gist. Emily Enchanted has a really cute Olympic Rings Fruit Platter Recipe if you need visual inspiration.

Sushi

A well-known Japanese cuisine, sushi is great as a healthy snack or meal. You can make your own or order from your favorite sushi restaurant. A fun alternative is candy sushi. You can find a candy sushi recipe from the Black Peppercorn here.

Pocky

Pocky is a Japanese snack food that is a thin stick-shaped cookie dipped in a flavoring such as chocolate. It comes in a number of different flavor combinations and can be found at grocery stores, convenience stores, big box stores and other places around Des Moines.

Create Your Olympic Viewing Guide and Schedule

Create an Olympic calendar or schedule, so you don’t miss watching your favorite sport or athlete. Over 5,000+ hours of live Olympic coverage will be shown on NBC. The schedule can be found here. The list below is not a complete list of events. The dates of events are subject to change.