The Brave Writer Guide to the 2018 Winter Olympics!

Welcome to the Brave Writer Guide to the 2018 Winter Olympics!

The XXIII Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea kick off with the Opening Ceremonies on Friday, February 9, and continue through Sunday, February 25.

As you explore the ideas in this guide, we’d love to see your Olympic creativity at work! If you’re incorporating the Olympics into your homeschool, post photos on social media with the hashtag #2018bwl so we can share in the fun!

Let the games begin!

©Julie Bogart 2018

Writing Ideas

● “If I were an Olympic athlete…” ● If you could participate in an Olympic event, which one would you choose and why? ● Chose a sport and write an acrostic poem using the name of the sport or the name of the athlete competing. ● Write your own concrete poetry in the shape of Olympic symbols or sports equipment (like a hockey stick). ● Break the language barrier and use the Olympic pictograms to tell a story or write a poem (find the 2018 pictograms here and learn about the history of the pictograms at this link). ● Print and use winter sports equipment and winter illustrations to write a poem or story. ● Write entries for you own Pentathlon of the Muses. ● During the games, keep a list of Olympic words on a big piece of butcher paper—adding pictures or drawings, if you like (use those words in your writing). ● Make the Olympic mascot, Soohorang, a character in a story. You might even have him join previous Olympic mascots for an adventure!

Poetry Teatime

On the Table ● Construct Olympic Rings mini bagels. Supplies: mini bagels, cream cheese and different colored fruit. Or, use colored frosting. ● Make a mountain cake or adapt the idea for cupcakes. ● Make an ice cream cone torch. ● Build miniature bobsleds with celery sticks, your favorite filling (peanut butter or hummus) and ‘people’ raisins.

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Olympic Sport Poetry Books ● Goodnight Hockey by Michael Dahl. 4–7 years. ● A is for Axel: An Ice Skating Alphabet by Kurt Browning. 6–9 years. ● G is for Gold Medal: An Olympics Alphabet by Brad Herzog. 6–9 years.

Art and Music Appreciation

The Olympic Hymn and National Anthems ● Listen to the Olympic hymn here. ● Read the hymn lyrics in Greek, Latin, and multiple English translations. ● Listen to the National Anthems of participating nations and learn about the history of the anthem.

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Olympic Medal Design ● Medals are made of metal. Learn about what Olympic medals are made of. ● Learn about Olympic medal design at this link. ● Design an Olympic medal that would be awarded if the Olympic Games were held in your hometown. Why would you add certain design elements?

Art in Olympic History ● Learn about when the Olympics gave out medals for art. ● Create your own sports-inspired art (categories include: sculpture, painting, architecture, music, and literature). ● Study the eight Olympic art posters selected to represent the 2018 games in Pyeongchang.

Costume Design and Music in Figure Skating ● Design your own figure skating costume (for inspiration check out skating costumes on Pinterest). ● Learn about the music chosen by your favorite skaters. ● Chose music to accompany your costume.

Movie Night

● When you are not watching the games, watch a gold medal movie! Pick one from the great list of Olympic-inspired movies over at Common Sense Media. ● Grab our guide, Brave Writer Goes to the Movies, to help your kids discuss movies on the deeper level.

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Arts & Crafts

Flags ● Paint your favorite flags on rocks. ● Make a world flags banner.

Medals ● Make a gold medal from Modge Podge. ● Create your own Olympic medals from salt dough. ● Use the medals provided at the end of the guide to make your own paper medals.

Torch

● Make a glowing Olympic Torch.

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Olympic Rings ● Make Olympic ring art! Dip the ends of cardboard tubes (or Dixie cups) into different colored paint and use them as stamps to make the rings! ● Make a paper chain with the colors of the Olympic rings (turn your chain into a countdown with Olympic facts from Housing a Forest).

Sports ● Make a pine cone skier. ● Build mini-hockey sticks.

Geography ● During the Opening Ceremonies, as countries are announced, find them on a globe. ● Lay out an atlas and use thumbtacks to mark the countries as they’re announced. ● Track the route of the Olympic torch relay on a map.

Nature Study

Winter Weather ● Follow the weather reports in various countries (tracking high and low temps during the games). ● Pick a winter weather lore to track over the course of the games. Was it accurate? Find weather lore over at the Almanac site. ● Learn about the science of snowflakes.

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Natural Wonders of South Korea ● Learn about nature in South Korea by virtually visiting seven natural attractions. ● Get a closer looks at Seoraksan National Park here.

Games

● Matching game: Print off photos of flags, then write the names of the countries on index cards. Lay the flags out on a flat surface and match the country names with the flags. ● Play Olympic bingo with this free printable BINGO game. ● Have fun playing a Lego Duplo ring toss game (made in Olympic ring colors!). ● Make your own table-top curling game.

Olympic-size Big Juicy Conversation Topics

● South Korea and North Korea will walk together under the Korean unification flag during the opening ceremonies and will field a women’s hockey team with

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players from both countries. Considering that the North boycotted the games in 1988, when South Korea last hosted, these are decisions worth noting. Learn more about the history of Korea (North and South) and discuss the complicated history of the divide between these two countries. Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park is a fabulous children’s novel that addresses the Korean War as backdrop to the primary story about baseball. Brave Writer has an Arrow for it. ● Explore and discuss the mental health issues faced by Olympic athletes (The Dark Side of Going for the Gold). ● Learn about the history of doping at the Olympic Games. ● Discuss the economics of hosting the Olympic Games and why Bostonians defeated the Olympics by deciding not to host the games in 2024. ● The allowance of professional athletes to compete changed the Olympics forever. Has that change been positive or negative? Can the games ever go back to amatures only?

More to Explore

Olympic Trivia ● Learn about the ancient origins of the Olympics from TED-Ed. ● Research flag symbolism. Click here for facts from Kids World Travel Guide. ● Explore fun facts about PyeongChang, South Korea. ● Read about and discuss the symbolism of the Olympic torch design and add your own meaningful symbols to your own torch.

● Learn about the history and meaning of the Olympic rings.

Olympic Physics ● Fly down the mountain with this physics of skiing video. ● Learn about the physics of skating on ice (figure skating, speed skating, hockey). ● Delve into the controversial physics of curling (the controversy is shocking!).

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● Slide down the track while you learn more about the science of the Winter Olympics (Bobsledding). ● Research your favorite Olympic sport to understand the physics involved.

Crunch Olympic Numbers ● Make a medal tracker. ● Add up the number of athletes from various countries. ● Track the number of spectators for various events.

What’s the Score? ● Explore the scoring systems used for various events.

Paralympics (March 9th - 18th) ● Learn about the history of the Paralympic Games. ● Which sports are in both the Olympic Games and the Paralympic games? What adaptations, if any, are made for the various sports?

Olympic Titles for Your Morning Basket

Fiction ● Snowman Paul at the Winter Olympics by Yossi Lapid. 3–8 years. ● Max and Marla by Alexandra Boiger. 3–5 years. ● Tacky and the Winter Games by Helen Lester. 4–7 years. ● Olympig! by Victoria Jamieson. 5–8 years.

Nonfiction ● Yes, I Can!: The Story of the Jamaican Bobsled Team by Devon Harris. ● Kid’s Guide to the 2018 WInter Games by Jack L. Roberts. ● The Treasures of the Olympic Winter Games by The Olympic Museum & IOC. ● TIME-LIFE The Olympics: Moments That Made History by Time Life. ● Freeze Frame: A Photographic History of the Winter Olympics by Sue Macy.

Poetry

● G is for Gold Medal: An Olympics Alphabet by Brad Herzog. 6–9 years. ● Goodnight Hockey by Michael Dahl. 4–7 years. ● A is for Axel: An Ice Skating Alphabet by Kurt Browning. 6–9 years.

Also look for books about specific sports that grab the attention of your young Olympic enthusiasts!

Medals for You!

On the pages below (p. 12-14) we have provided medals for you to print. You can use these for a medal ceremony at your house, Olympic Poetry Teatime decorations, or as a foundation for a medal-inspired art project. It’s up to you! (Hint: print them at a smaller percentage if you’d like them to be smaller.)

Hi, I’m Julie Bogart. I homeschooled my five kids for 17 years. Now I run Brave Writer, the online writing and language arts program for families.

Brave Writer offers you the tools you need to

● become an effective writing coach,

● teach the mechanics of writing (punctuation, grammar, literary elements), and

● create developmentally appropriate writing projects that make use of mechanics

and original writing skills.

If you’re brand new to Brave Writer start here.