Plan Your Own Backyard Olympics

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Check out these ideas for how to plan a fantastic backyard Olympics for your kids!

Every 4 years, the world stand still for a few weeks to experience the Summer Olympic Games. This is such a fun event that involves so many fun sports such ranging from basketball to swimming to gymnastics. If you are at home during the summer, why not plan a fun backyard Olympics for your kids!

You could also use these tips to make your own Olympic games at home, but we are personally using them for our DIY summer camp! You don’t have to know anything about the Olympics to make a fun backyard Olympic experience that your kids will love! Here is how to plan your own backyard Olympics.

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Break your kids up into teams

The first step is to create your teams. You can have your kids divide into groups if you have enough, or you can have them compete in single-person teams. Once your kids are separated into teams, have them make their own team flag and country name!

Create your own uniforms

Get some plain white t-shirts and let your kids make their own uniforms to compete in! This can be a fun way for them to be a little creative and show off their new team pride! You can give them a theme or a specific color if you’d like to make things more organized.

Related: Check out all these fun playground games without equipment

Outdoor games for your backyard Olympics

After you have your teams created and the uniforms are made, it’s time to start the games! I recommend dividing up your games based on how many participants you have and how long you have to play. Don’t plan 20 different events if you only have a few hours to let them compete! Keep in mind that you can also extend the competition over multiple days if you’d like.

Here are some ideas for backyard Olympic games:

100-meter race
Simple gymnastics
Tug of war
Water balloon toss
Egg on a spoon race

Get creative based on your children’s strengths, and don’t be afraid to use what you have around the house to create games for your kids to compete in!

Related: Plan a super fun backyard campout!

Awards and medals

After all of the games have been completed, it’s time to have the awards ceremony! Create a fun meal for your kids to eat and celebrate their achievements!

You can make or print off certificates, medals, or whatever type of awards you want to give them. Stack boxes to create the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd places and then give out your awards! You could even make a crown and crown your winners! You could also make the rewards something like not having to do chores!

Don’t forget to have fun!

Remember that the point of doing any of this is so that your kids and yourself can have some fun! Try not to get too into the games, especially if you have younger kids participating! It’s okay if you have to cut out some of the games or give everyone a participation trophy to avoid breakdowns.

The summer Olympics is a staple of any summer, so why not make it a staple in your household too! Your Olympic experience can be as intense or as casual as you want it to be! These would also work well for backyard games or just fun activities to get the kids outside too!

Plan Your Own Backyard Olympics