If your house has been like ours, the TV has been on in the evenings as we watch the Winter Olympics! If I heard the news right, there are 15 USA Olympians from Utah! Pretty cool. I wonder how many are LDS! I know of at least one – Noelle Pikus-Pace.
So since the Olympics end this weekend, I thought it would be appropriate to have an Olympics themed singing time! Here’s what I came up with:
Access my print outs using my Resource Library. Instructions for accessing my Resource Library are at the bottom of this post.
The backside looks like this:
These are also available to download at my Resource Library.
I printed the first document on card stock, cut them out and laminated them. Then I printed the 2nd document on regular paper, cut them out and taped them to the back of the cards.
To play, I’ll just start turning cards over (very similar to my Summer Olympics I did a few years back HERE), beginning with the Torch Relay (on the back side of the Olympics sign) and then end with the Freestyle. I made the torch by simply taping some yellow tissue paper onto a flashlight. Find details on my wands HERE. If you don’t have wands to use for the “figure skating” you can just have the kids use their hands for movement.
My ideas are from several sources and then a few are my own. Thanks to a few posts on Facebook HERE, and Sunbeam Singing’s post HERE.
I made these “gold medals” to pass out at the end:
I found the chocolate gold coins in the bulk candy section at WinCo (here in Utah). Then I used Scotch tape and taped them to 2.5 foot long ribbon like so:
These printables are filed on my Resource Library page under Category Title > Olympics.
21 thoughts on “Primary Winter Olympics”
Just printed it up! Thank you for putting this together! We have had such a fun time watching the Olympics this year, and I'm glad I get to carry that excitement into reviewing our Primary songs!
thank you so much for sharing! curious…do you change anything for sr primary? i have such a struggle with our sr primary being too cool for a lot of things 🙂 thanks!
Hi Courtney! For this activity, no, we'll do the same thing in both primaries. But I usually do have Sr./Jr. lessons that are slightly different. I can see my oldest Sr. class (of boys!) with this lesson sitting there in a stupor but the younger 3 classes always respond well. I can't with them all.
With stuff like this, my personal style is just to be kind of goofy so the older kids know I can still have fun with kid things – and so can they. Also, if they don't participate I occasionally call them out in a kind but teasing manner…"Oh, it looks like so-and-so doesn't know his left from his right!" or something lame. All in good fun of course and they usually laugh back with me.
The older kids will always be too cool. I have found that when they are really challenged, they participate.
I hope that helps. Good luck!!
~Camille
thanks SO much! i appreciate your thoughts & am super grateful for all your amazing ideas!
Thank you for sharing such amazing ideas–your blog is an absolute treasure trove of creativity. You are so devoted to your calling, and so many people benefit from your dedication. I teach Primary music in China, so your creativity is being shared all over the world. I pray many blessings on you for your generosity and time!!
Sincerely,
Sarah Granata
You truly are amazing! I LOVE your blog….I hope you never get released. ;0)
This is awesome! Great idea. And to answer your question about Mormon Olympic athletes: my sister-in-law's brother is Christian Niccum from WA and he is LDS!
What a fun idea! Can't wait to use it tomorrow! Thank you!
I know you have said you post words for everything, but I was just wondering- when you review primary program songs like this olympics review game, do you try to flip the chart you made to teach the song? Do you post the words only like you do for opening and closing songs? Or do you just focus on them singing without any words posted? Thanks for all you do!
So with tomorrow's activity, I won't post the words to the 2 program songs, He Sent His Son and I Will Follow God's Plan. But I will post words to the opening song. When we actually sing the program songs in the program, I usually do post the words but that's only because we have a few inactive kids and the words really help them participate if they show up on that day. I hope that answers your question.
~Camille
Makes sense. Thank you. For the Primary Program, do you JUST post the words and not the flipchart/pictures you used to teach the songs? So the flipcharts, etc. are just used for the first month or so of learning, right?
If you'll notice, I rarely use flip charts and I would never bring in my crazy material for the program ;). So yes, flip charts/learning material just stays in primary and the words will come into the program with us.
~Camille
Oh, you saved my bacon tonight! It has been a super busy week and I'm subbing as chorister tomorrow. My brain is mush after all the stress of everything, so I had no ideas. I don't mind being silly with the kids, so this is going to work BEAUTIFULLY! Thank you!!!!
Just wanted to let you know that this went over really well. I was a little worried about winding kids up and sending them off to class all crazy, but I had one set of teachers come up and say how reverent their class was this week after the fun activity of singing time. The kids had fun, the teachers thought it was cute and it was great for a sunny day in the middle of winter (when kids tend to be a little crazy). Thank you again!
Thank you so much for this idea. I was grateful to have lots of movement planned for our Primary children who were on the active side today. 😉 They loved it! They sang the best they have ever sung when we got to our last "event." I made gold medals out of canning jar lids and wrote "I Will Follow God's Plan" on them. The children were excited to earn their gold medals! 🙂
This was amazing Camille. My primary kiddos were so enthralled the entire time. Repeating our two songs we've learned this year so far so many times and they didn't even realize it. Thanks a ton!
Camille
1) you're awesome sauce, in case no one has told you lately. Thanks for sharing your creative and well-planned ideas.
2) what did you use for a hockey puck? and did you have them pass it back and forth with sticks? (I am nervous about adding sticks and subtracting reverence)
Hi Alexandra McLeod,
It's a hypothetical "puck" so no physical puck. Just pretending that you are shooting something from one side of the room to the other showing who's turn it is to sing- similar to a puck in a hockey game. I hope that clarifies.
~Camille
Are you going to update the document to the 2018 songs? I can do it on my own, but was wondering if you were going to anyway before the 25th! Thanks for all you do to create such creative singing ideas 🙂
Hi Marianne Meiners,
Yes, I'll hopefully have it updated for 2018 by tomorrow or Friday.
~Camille
This worked out so very well in our Primary today. Moving quickly from event to event, we got through all of the verses of both songs. Both Junior and Senior Primary loved all of the physical and mental challenges. Thank you, Camille! You are the best source of help. I turn to you several times a week as I prepare for my calling.