Here we are on the verge of what promises to be some very exciting Olympic games. My oldest daughter will be heading off to college and one of the ways she chose her college was because of the swim team. She is so very excited about the swimming competition this year. My youngest daughter is simply excited about the whole sporting event and competition. My son is the one who seems to be most interested in which countries will be competing. I think that is also one of the wonderful things-any athlete from any country has the chance to compete. One of the things that would be fun to do with our kids would be to really look at some of the countries that have athletic representation.

One craft that could be done would be to hang a world map on a wall or door. Take the time to look for the flags of the countries (maybe by watching the Opening Ceremonies). Color or create a flag for each country, or choose just your favorites. We usually start with the countries of our heritage (Germany, Ireland, England, Hungary, Wales, Scotland) and then work our way to how we like the flags, the athletic events represented, or the costumes of that country. If you want to do something a bit more complex than small paper flags, why not try beading flags. MakingFriends.com has some very good patterns for making beaded pins and other world crafts. Use your flags to put onto the map to mark your favorite countries.

At the same site, there are instructions and patterns for making paper dolls. It would be fun to create dolls for the different countries. You could dress them in their native costumes, or dress them in your favorite sporting event uniforms. You could put your dolls onto sticks or posters and use them to cheer on your favorites while watching the Games.

How about creating a chart to keep track of who wins the medals? You could do this in several ways. One way would be to choose your favorite countries and then mark each medal and sport that country earns. You could make your own stickers or color your own pictures to go along with each of them. Another way to do this is to keep track of your favorite sport(s) and which country wins the medals for that sport. Create your flags of that country and post it somewhere you can enjoy it. I know my daughter will be anxiously watching the swimming competition!

I hope this gives you some additional ideas for crafting, as well as appreciating the fun and excitement of the Olympic Games. I remember as a child we were so enthralled with this event and watched as much as we could-and my parents did not encourage watching television, so this was something really out of the ordinary.