The winter Olympics, brought on new conversations, curiosity and wonder in our preschool room at RisingOaks St Nicholas. This allowed us to provide activities, that enhanced our understanding of what the Olympic sports are all about. We explored some of the familiar sports, along with the unfamiliar. Here are some of the activities we engaged in, to understand the Olympic meanings and to explore the different sports:
Hockey:
The Winter Olympics are for everyone, inspiring little ones. Since many children in Canada and around the world love ice hockey, during the Winter Olympics Games, Shrishti set up a mini ice hockey rink for the children. They were immediately drawn to the small hockey rink and crowded around, eager to start 'competing.' However, there weren't enough hockey sticks for everyone, so educator Sue created hockey sticks out of cardboard. Soon, every child had a stick in their hand. Even though the rink was small, the children played together, feeling just like real hockey stars in a giant stadium.
The Olympic Rings and National Pride:
The five interlocking rings are the symbol of the Winter Olympics. For this activity, the educator provided the children with red, yellow, green, blue, and black paint. Each child chose their favorite color to fill in the five rings.
Noemie mentioned that she liked blue, while Nolan chose yellow, and Michelle picked green. Kaylee and Leanna selected black and red. Meanwhile, with Sue's help, Vivaan, Olivia, and Roman—applied red paint to their hands to create a Canadian flag using handprints. Throughout the process, they proudly exclaimed, "Go Canada Go!"
Figure Skating:
We started by watching beautiful videos of Figure Skating. They learned that skating is like a dance on frozen water. To bring that "icy" feeling to life, educator Sue provided flowing ribbons, then headed outdoors into the fresh, white snow. They swirled their ribbons high, creating colorful loops against the winter sky. It was a beautiful "Snow Dance." Michelle was spinning with her ribbon trailing behind Sue like a comet, she shouted proudly: “Sue, look at me!" As she performed her perfect turn, we couldn't help but clap and cheer. Her face lit up with apparent joy, much like a true performer.
Skiing Fun in the snow
The children explored outdoor skiing activities with the help of their educators. The teachers helped strap the ‘flat stilts’ onto the children's boots as the skis, and the children hold onto a rope as they slide down the snowy slope. Sometimes the children fall while skiing, but they bravely get back up and keep going. Annalee took a tumble on her way down, but she stood right up, smiled, and said, 'I can do it!' Leanna fell as well, but she stayed positive and kept on skiing."
Skating:
We set up a creative indoor "rink" using a large sheet of transparent plastic film spread across the floor. By sprinkling a mixture of water and detergent onto the surface, we made it incredibly slick and slippery.
To prepare the young athletes, Sue wrapped the children’s shoes in plastic wrap to reduce friction. She also proudly pinned a Canadian flag to the front of each child's shirt. Kaylee and Michelle were the brave pioneers who kicked off the very first "race." As the two girls glided across the screen, the other children cheered enthusiastically, shouting, "Go Canada, go!" The activity was a massive hit—Nolan, Roman, and several other children loved the experience so much that they went back round after round until the "competition" finally came to an end.
Skeleton:
The children participated in this sport using sleds. With great effort, they pulled their sleds to the top of the snowy slope. Once there, they lied face up and descended “from the heights.” During the slide, the children worked on keeping their heads down and griped the sides of the sled firmly with both hands; it is a task that requires both courage and a keen sense of balance. Under the guidance of their educators, Owen, Kaylee and Brooke successfully navigated their way down the slope one by one. Alex and Xander, who initially stayed back to watch their peers, eventually found themselves inspired by their friends' enthusiasm and the teachers' encouragement. They, too, bravely followed suit. As they completed the run, their faces were lit with smiles of genuine pride.
Through these activities, a grand international event is cleverly translated into an everyday experience that children can touch, feel, and interact with, seamlessly blending play with high-level learning such as, practiced coordination, cooperation, positive turn taking and strengthening their motor abilities.
For our next activity, we'll do some spring sports once the ice and snow melt, such as bike racing, high jump, climbing, and kite flying, to continue promoting the learned skills.
