Put on your jersey and pass the torch because it’s time for the Olympic Games!
This year, the city of Paris, France hosts the 33rd Summer Olympic Games since the modern Olympics began in 1896. Did you know the tradition of the Olympic Games dates way back thousands of years to the ancient Greeks? Those games were held from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD.
While a lot has changed since then, every four years the Olympic Games are still the time when the best athletes from across the world gear up to represent their country. In 2024, there’s over 10,000 athletes participating in 45 different sports! Cheering fans can get ready to watch long-standing events like diving, archery, and gymnastics alongside recent additions like karate, surfing, and skateboarding. And this year there’s even the debut of breakdancing!
Keep scrolling to learn more about the Olympic Games, from ancient history to today’s sports stars, and the science behind exercise using the videos below. Then, get the whole family in the Olympic spirit with fitness-based activities and crafts!
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History & Science of the Olympic Games
Word on the Street: Athlete with Murray | Sesame Street
Grades PreK-K
What’s the word on street? Murray introduces the vocabulary word “athlete.”
Sports Physiology | Science Trek
Grades K-5
Scientists can help improve athletes’ performance and help keep them healthy, but many young athletes are unaware of how to play and move safely and end up injured. Learn how these scientists can make you a better athlete and prevent injuries.
Origins of the Olympics | The Greeks
Grades 6-12
From all over the Greek-speaking world, the best athletes descended on Athens to take their best shot at achieving immortality. Review the archaeological evidence of the first Olympics and the early events such as chariot-racing, boxing, and sprinting, that it depicts.
Should the Olympics Just Allow Doping? | Braincraft
Grades 6-12
Is it time to allow performance enhancing drugs in professional sports? Take a look at the science and ethics of doping in relation to the Olympic Games.
Olympic Athletes: Yesterday & Today
Jesse Owens | Yellowhammer History Hunt
Grades 3-5
Jesse Owens was born in Alabama in 1913 to poor Black sharecroppers. In 1936 he won four gold medals at the Olympics in Germany and showed Hitler and the world that athletic skill, not race, makes winners. Though he was world-renowned after the Olympics, but Owens still faced racism and prejudice.
Gertrude Ederle | Unladylike2020
Grades 6-12
Learn about record-breaking swimmer Gertrude Ederle who rocketed to international stardom in 1926 at the age of 20, as the first woman to swim across the English Channel in this video from the Unladylike2020 series. Considered one of the toughest endurance tests in the world, Ederle battled 21 miles of frigid water and treacherous tides between France and England to emerge on the other side of the channel. Ederle’s accomplishment helped to demonstrate that women could be great athletes and challenged conventional wisdom about women as the so-called “weaker sex.”
The Boys of ’36: Preparing for the Olympic Games
Grades 6-12
Learn how nine working-class young men from the University of Washington secured their spot in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin and took the rowing world and America by storm, in these videos excerpted from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: The Boys of ’36. Their unexpected victory, against not only the Ivy League teams of the East Coast but Adolf Hitler’s elite German rowers, gave hope to a nation struggling to emerge from the depths of the Great Depression.
Simone Biles Cements Status as Greatest Gymnast | PBS NewsHour
Grades 6-12
Simone Biles has made history with an incredible comeback after a two-year hiatus, cementing her GOAT status by becoming the most decorated gymnast of all time. Biles competed in the World Artistic Gymnastic Championships in Belgium where she took home four gold medals, bringing her to a total of 37. Geoff Bennett discussed Biles’ return to competition with Christine Brennan of USA Today.
Activities, Crafts & Games
Elmo the Musical: Athlete “What If” Printable | Sesame Street
Grades PreK-K
Explore “What If?” and add to Elmo’s picture. Imagine what prize is waiting for Athlete Elmo at the finish line and draw it!
The Cookie Games
Grades PreK-1
Cookie Monster is playing in the cookie games! Compete in ring spin, hurdles, and archery and help him calm his feelings to win medals in each sporting event.
9 Family Games for Your Backyard Olympics
Grades PreK-3
Creating your own family Olympic Games is a fantastic way to unite everyone for fun, physical activity (and a little friendly competition). Inspired by PBS KIDS shows and real Olympic games, these activities will get everyone moving and help kids develop perseverance and courage as they strive to achieve their goals.
CyberOlympic Card Game
Grades K-5
Challenge your child to this interdimensional card game and compete to see who’s team line-up can get the fastest overall time!
Fitness Bingo
Grades K-5
Give traditional bingo a fitness twist! From push ups to star jumps, this lesson focuses on whole-body exercises and teamwork.