GoKids - Activities for kids. "Hands On" Activities For Kids And Parents

  (drawings of the Olympic Rings by Audrey To, 7, VIC)

The 2008 Olympic Games is approaching quick! Do you know much about the Olympic Games?

WHERE? The Olympic Games originated in Greece, and had remained popular until the Roman Empire ruled Greece. In the 17th century, the Games was revived again, in Athens - this was the start of the modern Olympic Games. However it was not until the late 1890s that the Games had taken a greater international approach where the Games was hosted by various host cities.

WHEN? It was thought that it started as early as eight hundred years BC in Greece. Today the Games is a four-yearly event, started with a formal International Olympic Committee (IOC) establishing in the late 1890s. The first IOC Olympic Games took place in Athens, 1896. 

WHAT? The ancient Olympics had strong religious implications, however today the mention of Olympic Games brings up thoughts on sports achievement, teamwork, sportsmanship, patriotism, peace and a global sense.   

The Olympic RINGS is a widely used Olympic symbol. It consists of 5 intertwined rings, of red, blue, green, yellow and black. These colours were specifically chosen that each nation within the IOC has at least one these colours in its national flag.  (see drawings of the Olympic Rings above)

The Olympic FLAME is another famous Olympic symbol. The flame is lit approximately one month prior to the Games, starting at the host city. The Olympic Torch relay brings the flame around the participating countries and around the host city as well.

The Olympic Mascot, which are normally animals from the host country or human figurines of cultural heritage of the host country. The Kookaburra (Olly), the Platypus (Syd) and the Echidna (Millie) were the mascots in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. In the 2004 Olympic Games at Athens, the sister and brother figurines, Athiná and Phévos were the mascots. This year in the 2008 Olympic Games, we will see the Fuwas which are four Chinese animals and the Olympic flame in the human form - the Fish (BeiBei), the Panda (JingJing), the Antelope (HuanHuan), the Swallow (YingYing) and the  flame (NiNi).

The Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics.  Both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics are held separately, each four-yearly, with a gap of two years between the two games, for example the last Winter Olympics  took place in 2006 while the next Summer Olympics  is scheduled this year in 2008. The Summer Olympics features more sports and has more participating countries than the Winter Olympics as the winter sports involve ice and snow sports such as skiing and ice skating - these are generally limited for many tropical countries.  

The Olympic Sports. There are many different sports involved with the Olympics. The Summer Olympics includes single-person events such as athletics, swimming, weightlifting, shooting, gymnastics and others. Team sports such as basketball, canoeing, cricket and many others are also popular. The Winter Olympics also includes single-person events and team sports, consisting ice and snow events ( and not limited to) speed skating, figure skating, various skiing events and ice hockey.

In AUSTRALIA ... The 2000 Summe Olympic Games was hosted by Sydney. In Australia it had been a highly celebrated event.    

Olympics 2008! China welcomes you to the 2008 Summe Olympic Games in Beijing! The official Opening Ceremony will start on the lucky day on the 8th of August 2008 where it will be attended by participants and spectators worldwide and the Games telecast all over the world.   

For more details of the Beijing Olympics including details of the Torch Relay, Mascots, News and how to get around the Games and Beijing, click here to visit the official website : http://en.beijing2008.cn/.

(images from clipart)