The Opening Ceremonies for the London 2012 Summer Olympics provide a great opportunity to both cheer on the U.S. athletes as well as to enhance the kids learning throughout the summer.

By incorporating thematic books with the various activities, the kids won’t even know they are learning!

The Olympic games go from July 27-August 12, so you can spread these activities out over the next couple of weeks.

Decor

In our house we have chose to show our American Pride, but there are many decorating options.  You may chose to decorate in your family’s country of origin colors or perhaps take the opportunity to celebrate the diversity of all the countries participating.

• Red, White and Blue Paper Plates, Napkins and Tablecloth

• Party Favor “Gold Medals”

• Display Patriotic or Olympic Themed Books

• Hang Kids Finished Activities (Listed Below)

Festive Food

• Red, White and Blue Pancakes (with strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream)

• Kellogg’s 2012 TEAM USA Breakfast Cereal

• Team USA Poptarts (easy morning snack)

• Red White and Blue Cupcakes (Pilsbury’s patriotic Funfetti Cake Mix is still available)

• Ice Cream “Torches” (waffle cones topped with orange sherbet make a great edible “torch”)

Activities

• Host An Olympic Party - invite some friends over to watch the opening ceremonies or one of your favorite sporting events.

• Olympic Coloring Sheets (Coloring Sheets can be found at here)

• Red, White and Blue Edible Necklaces (use Kellogg’s 2012 TEAM USA cereal and string; then cut the string to the appropriate necklace length, thread the cereal on the string, tie and enjoy!)

• Olympic Rings (first cut out the center of 5 white paper plates to form the rings, then paint or color one ring yellow, one red, one blue, one black and one green)

• Olympic Bingo (Check out this easy printable bingo card by clicking here)

Olympic Themed Books

• Magic Tree House Hour of Olympics, Mary Pope Osborne
• Magic Tree House Research Guide Ancient Greece and the Olympics, Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce
• The Encyclopedia of the Summer Olympics, David Fischer
• Going For The Gold, Andrew Donkin
• G is for Gold Medal: An Olympics Alphabet, Brad Herzog and Doug Bowles
• The 2012 London Olympics, Nick Hunter
• Great Moments in Summer Olympics, Matt Christopher

MISCELLANEOUS

• Click here to see when you can watch your favorite Olympic Sports on television or online.

• And click here to see a list of Massachusetts Olympians who will be competing in London. 

• Looking for more ways to celebrate the Olympics locally? You can find events for Olympic Fun Day on July 28 on the Let’s Move website, which has a page about how to set up your own local Olympics.