The Family Olympics.
I love it so much! In fact, I outline the activity in detail in Chapter 6 of In This House, We Will Giggle. What? How did you sneak that in? Well, it was easy. One of the top virtues for our family is perseverance. We want to train up girls that learn how to work hard and never give up. We want them to practice perseverance in a safe environment while the stakes are not too high. So, I knew this was the perfect activity to suggest as families were taking a month to bring perseverance to life in a fun way.
Not to mention… this tradition is absolutely hysterical and for sure brings on the giggles (and possibly some tears).
In the book, I outline exactly how to coordinate your first-annual Olympics – detailing things like team uniforms, cheers and more. It’s a program people – with a mission: For our kids to experience perseverance in a fun way – not to hear another lecture.
I wanted to just brain dump all of the events I could think of to add to your list.
Possible Mom Events
- Mom Call. All moms are blindfolded and positioned at a starting point. All kids start calling out “Mom!”First mom to finds her kids wins.
- Hula-Hoop. All moms start hula-hooping, and the winner has the last one spinning. (My girlfriends and I absolutely trained for this ahead of time!)
- Party Streaming. Each mom is given a roll of streamer paper. At the start signal, participants quickly whirl their arms in a circular motion until the entire streamer is unraveled. First one with an unraveled streamer wins.
- Car Seat Installation. Get one van or two mini vans and a car seat for each participant. Quickest, safest car installation wins.
Possible Dad Events
- H.O.R.S.E. If a basketball court or soccer field is available, this is one the guys love.
- Carry the Kids. Each dad grabs a kid or two, then sprints to a cone and back.
- Multitask Master. Each dad is given the same series of tasks to complete. For example, change a diaper on a doll, text a grocery list shouted by mom, and install a car seat. First one finished wins.
- Tennis Balls Meet Panty Hose. Simple place a pair of panty hose on the dad’s head (after you put one tennis ball in each end). Referee says go and they try to knock over water bottles with their tennis balls using their bodies/heads to move the balls.
Possible Kid Events
- Baby Sprint. The littlest ones crawl, waddle, or sprint from mom to dad.
- Water on the Go. Place water-filled buckets on one end of the field and empty buckets at the other end. Competitors use cups to transfer all the water from one bucket to the other. First team with an empty bucket wins.
- Bucket Ball Toss. Bring buckets and containers of various sizes, then scatter them around the field and identify them with different point values based on the distance from a throw line. Kids line up at the throw line and take aim to see who can make the most points.
- Find That Tube. Put round inflatable pool tubes in the grass. Participants hold small inflatable balls (or tennis balls) between their knees and hop over to drop them into their team’s tube. The team that places the most balls in its tube within sixty seconds wins.
- Cup Stacking. See how many plastic cups they can stack in a tower or how long they can keep it up.
Possible Family Events
- Line ’Em Up. Each family has to make it across the field by lying down head to toe. One person lies down and lifts his arms above his head, then the next person lies down with his feet by the first person’s hands, and so on. Keep leapfrogging until your family gets across the field. First family to the end wins.
- Three-Legged Race. Partner up parents and children. Loosely tie mom or dad’s ankle to the child’s with a bandanna. Fastest one to the finish line wins.
- Family Weight Lifting. Have dads bench press a child – most reps win!
- Sack Race. Good ole fashion fun with a bunch of sacks and hopping to the finish line.
- Cheese-Puff Ball Toss. Dad suits up in a shower cap and kids coat the entire cap with shaving cream. When the buzzer sounds, each family starts throwing cheese-puff balls from the designated line onto their dad’s cap. Whichever family has the most cheese-puff balls stuck to dad’s cap at the end of the thirty seconds, wins!
Have you ever done a Family Olympics with your friends or family? What events have you loved the most?
Start dreaming up your teams – family or friends are great.
