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Celebrate the spirit of the Olympics with these Outstanding Olympic Crafts for Kids! Learn about countries, sports and cheer for your favorites!

Having been lucky enough to live in China and witness the 2008 Olympics first hand, I can’t get enough of the multi-nation event. There is something about watching nations come together to cheer on a common cause and hearing inspiring stories about athletes who have beaten the odds or overcome seemingly impossible obstacles. Plus, the opening ceremonies are always a real treat!

Fun Olympics Facts

• The first Olympics allowed the participation of only men.
• In the first Olympics in 776 BCE, there was only one event—a short 200 meter sprint called a stade.
• The early Olympic Games were celebrated as a religious festival from 776 B.C. until 393 A.D., when the games were banned for being a pagan festival (the Olympics celebrated the Greek god Zeus). In 1894, a French educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin, proposed a revival of the ancient tradition, and thus the modern-day Olympic Summer Games were born.
• The five Olympic rings represent the five major regions of the world – Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceana, and every national flag in the world includes one of the five colors, which are (from left to right) blue, yellow, black, green, and red.
• The 1936 Berlin Olympics (also known as the ‘Nazi’ Olympics) were the first Olympic Games to ever be televised. Before the advent of television, sports fans had to make due with radio commentary, and before radios were common, you could only read about the results of the events in the newspaper.
• Up until 1994 the Olympics were held every four years. Since then, the Winter and Summer games have alternated every two years.

The 2020 Olympics got delayed because of the pandemic, but it’s back this year. As we stand on the eve of the 2021 Olympics, it’s time to cheer for our favorites – whether they’re teams or individuals! Get your children interested and involved in this huge global event with these Fun and Easy Olympic Crafts for Kids!

25 Outstanding Olympic Crafts for Kids to Make

1. Olympics Ring Craft

This Olympics Ring Craft from Sugar Aunts uses recycled toilet paper rolls. The rings can get messy to paint, but is a great sensory and fine motor activity for tiny hands.

2. Lego Ring Sorting

Simple activities, especially those that involve LEGOS, are always a hit at our house. If like me, you also find yourself stumbling onto Lego pieces every where around your house, worry not! Use the Legos to do an Olympic Rings inspired colour sorting activity from Toddler Approved.

3. “O” is for Olympics

Put an Olympic twist on learning letters with this fun alphabet craft from I Can Teach my Child. You need just minimal supplies for this craft – super easy!

4. DIY Olympic Eyeglasses

This project from Life in Wonderland shows you how you can turn simple eyeglasses into fun and colorful eye accessories to sport during all the Olympics event viewing.

5. Simple Olympic Crown 

We think this set of Olympic crowns would be perfect to wear when watching the Olympic matches! So check out when your favorite events are on, put on your crown and get cheering!

6. Olympic Rings Sun Catcher Craft

Got some coffee filters and markers lying around? Then don’t look further than this cheery Olympic ring craft from no time for flashcards!

7. Handprint Medals

Go for Gold with these adorable handprint medals that are sure to be a hit with the kids! Get full  instructions from Parenting Chaos.

8. Dixie Cup Kids Olympic Craft

This Dixie cup art project from East Coast Creative Blog is super simple. It won’t take much time or prep, and your little ones will love it!

9. Olympic Torch Craft

You can’t think of the Olympics without an Olympic torch! This paper torch craft from Rainy Day Mum is perfect to make in time for the Opening Ceremony at this year’s Olympics.

10. Olympic Paper Chain Countdown

 

Paper Chains are a classic kids craft and the perfect way to create a little excitement around an upcoming event. Each Day the kids will remove a ring and discover a fun Olympic fact. Get the full tutorial and the PDF with 25 fun facts at Housing a Forest.

11. Olympic Paper Laurel Wreath

Every kid needs a paper laurel wreath if they are watching the Olympics. This one from Easy Preschool Craft is just right for kids this season!

12. DIY Olympics Medals

What’s an Olympics event without a shiny medal at the end of it all? The use of glitter in this craft from Homemade Ginger makes it all so much more realistic!

13. Olympic Torch Handprint Craft

This year in 2021, the Olympics are being held in Tokyo, but this is not the first time the Japanese city is playing host to the summer games. It was in 1964 that the Olympics was held in Asia for the very first time, and it was in Tokyo. The flame carrier was Yoshinori Sakai, who was born on the day the atomic bomb landed in Hiroshima. This was meant both as a dedication to the victims as well as a request for world peace. Tell your kids this story as you make this Olympic torch from DLTK Kids.

14. Paper Plate Olympic Rings Craft

The first question most kids ask about the Olympics is regarding the five colorful rings, and this paper plate craft from Meaningful Mama is a good starting point! This symbol was designed by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, and the five rings represent the 5 continents that have human habitation. The colors of the rings as well as the of the white background are chosen since every nation’s flag contains at least one of them. The overlapping represents cooperation between nations, athletes and people in general.

15. Tissue Paper Olympics Craft

Mess for Less has a fun tissue paper craft that’ll keep the kids occupied for a while! Use that time to talk about all the sports that will feature in the Olympics this year. There will be a total of 339 events including four new ones – karate, surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing. Did you know that from 1912 to 1948 even arts were included? Yes, participants competed in painting, sculpting, music and even writing!

16. Popsicle Stick Olympic Craft

We love how realistic these flame torches from Fireflies and Mudpies look! They certainly remind us of the real deal, and we’re lucky to be able to witness the Games this year, although it was supposed to be held in 2020. The only times the Olympics were cancelled were during the two World Wars. Although the games are being held this year, it won’t have any visitors from overseas due to COVID-19. 

17. DIY Olympic Flag Garland

The Olympics is a grand stage where athletes from all over the world get together in one place and show their talent and skill. It is estimated that there will be around 11,000 athletes from 205 countries this year. The number of countries have increased over the years – only five of these countries have been present at every Olympic Games – Greece, Australia, France, Switzerland and Great Britain. Find out which ones are their flags with this garland from Small for Big.

18. Plastic Spoon Olympic Wreaths

Today’s Olympic winners get all kinds of things, but earlier, all they got were wreaths! These wreaths were made with leaves from an olive tree at Olympia that was considered sacred. The Olympic motto focuses on fighting well rather than conquering, and it goes like this –  Citius – Altius – Fortius – which is Latin for ‘Faster – Higher – Stronger’. Now you can make your own wreath out of plastic spoons, according to this tutorial from A Subtle Revelry.

19. Painted Olympic Flag Rocks

We love painted rock crafts, and this one from Non Toy Gifts is perfect for the current season! This is a great project to do with friends as you can learn and have fun at the same time. Speaking of friendship, there was an incident at the Berlin Olympics when two pole vaulters had to participate in a tie breaker to decide who would get the silver and bronze medals. However, the athletes decided to skip the tie breaker and instead, they fused the two medals and made two new medals, which came to be known as ‘friendship medals’.

20. Tea Light Glowing Olympic Torch

If you’d like an Olympic torch that actually lights up, check out this glowing tealight torch from Oh My! Creative. However, in reality, the Olympic torch doesn’t use any high tech devices – the lighting is done the traditional way. It is conducted at the Greek temple of Hera where actresses dress up as Greek priestesses and light the torch using a parabolic mirror and the sun’s rays.

21. Olympic Origami Bracelets

The costumes athletes wear today can be quite fancy, and are designed with a great deal of care. However, in ancient Greece, this wasn’t the case – forget designers, the athletes didn’t wear any clothes at all! In fact, the word ‘gymnasium’ translates into ‘school for naked exercise’. Apparently, being naked proved that the athletes were strong, confident and powerful, and it was also a chance to show off their well built bodies! Well, let’s not do that, but we can still dress up in Olympic style with a fun DIY bracelet from All for the Boys.

22. DIY Gold Medal

The moment an athlete stands on that podium and receives his or her hard-earned medal is truly an incredible one. Some athletes also bite their medals, but it’s not because they love them so much they want to eat it! Back in the day, people used to bite metals to find out if it was made of real gold or not. Real gold was used for medals only till 1904. Nowadays, medals aren’t really gold, but are made from silver and finished with about 6 grams of gold. This year’s Olympics will feature 5,000 medals made of recycled electronics like old phones. You can make your own fancy medal like this one from Paging Super Mom.

23. DIY Olympics Rings Necklace

Initially, only men were allowed to participate in the Olympics but from 1900 onwards, women were also permitted. Helene de Pourtales was the first ever female Olympic champion. The London Olympics was known as the Women’s Games since it was the first time that women participated in every single sport and it was also the first time that every nation sent at least one female athlete. We’re not discriminating between boys and girls either, with this fun necklace from Kids Craft Room that everyone can wear!

24. Olympics Ring Art

Doesn’t this beautiful Olympics-theme art from Housing a Forest look rather snazzy, like it uses some kind of special visual effects? Well, it certainly reminds us of all the high tech that will feature in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics! There will be robots to show people to their seats, transport food and provide information about the events. This will also be the first Olympics to use a face recognition system to enhance security and ensure easy access for athletes, media personnel and other officials. 

25. DIY Washer Olympics Ring

If the Olympics is always on your mind, you’ll enjoy wearing this Olympics ring from Chica Circle all day! Admire your new ring and learn new facts about the Games, like this one – London is the only city to host the Summer Olympics three times. The United States is the only country to host the Games four times. It is also the country that has won more medals than any other country. 

While the pandemic has certainly put restrictions on sporting events across the world, the Olympics still brings with it its own special share of excitement! Stay home and catch all the action on your TV or computer as you enjoy making these Olympics Crafts for Kids. Do let us know which ones are your favorite!