It’s the final week of the Rio Olympics.
While you may have been introduced to new sports over these 16 days: Trampoline? Air rifle? It’s also a great way to give the small people in your house a fun education. (Kind of like hiding the zucchini in chocolate chip bread.)
Watch it with your kids while incorporating geography, math and moving those bodies. Here are five ways to do it:
1. Map the world
Keep your browser open to a world map or move a globe next to the TV. As you encounter athletes from unfamiliar nations, find the country on the map. (Bahrain, anyone?)
2. Medal count math
Do this elementary arithmetic: Pick a country and a medal color. In our house, each morning our 7-year-old tallies the U.S. gold medals (individual and team) and writes the new number on a mini-poster next to the TV. Find medal totals here: https://www.rio2016.com
3. Flag/logo art
Get out those markers/crayons/colored pencils and pick a favorite flag to emulate. Tiny people may enjoy tracing around quarters or cups to create their own Olympic rings. Remember: The five interlaced rings represent the five continents.
4. Get ‘em tired
Use the inspiration of the Games to try out the sports, homestyle. Commercials can be a time to create your own 100-meter course, shoot baskets in the backyard or cycle around the block.
5. Track math
This week’s running events allow for lots of fractions, multiplication and division. If one lap around the track equals 400 meters, how many laps in the 1,500-meter race? the 5,000 meters? How far does each member of the mile-relay run?
