Spring is coming and its getting warmer outside, so lets do some super fun outdoor activities themed around the ancient Greek Olympics! We have four different outdoor activities and crafts that you can use to host your own ancient Greek Olympics or field day. These activities are perfect for kids of any age! In the times of Ancient Greece, people from all over would gather in Olympia to celebrate the Olympic Games, learn more about this history at the end of this article (includes a fun and educational video)!
Kids will love getting to go outdoors and compete in some classic ancient Greek inspired Olympic Games! This activity is perfect for at home or school, and great for kids who love sports, the outdoors, or Ancient Greece. Kids will learn all about the Olympics in Ancient Greece, get outside, get creative, and get some exercise!
Ancient Greek Olympics Outdoor activity
Spring and summer are almost here, so get outside and host your own Ancient Greek inspired Olympics! Here are four fun and easy to create activities you can do to create your own Olympics!
Supplies to create your own ancient greek olympics
At the Ancient Greek Olympic Games, various events were held! Here’s all the materials you’ll need to host a discus throwing contest, foot race, javelin toss, and long jump contest.
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Discus Throwing
- Something to mark the start and finish of the race (I would recommend using landmarks to denote the start and finish, such as a driveway or parts of your backyard. If this is not available to you, you can mark the start and finish lines with some rocks or other objects).
Javelin toss
- Paper towel roll tubes
- Scissors
- Tape
- Pencil or pen
- Tape measure
- Something to write down the javelin toss distances on (can be a notepad or the notes app).
Long Jump
- Tape measure
- Something to mark the beginning of the long jump (can be the edge of a landmark or marked with a rock or object)
- Something to write down jumping distances on (can be a notepad or the notes app).
Steps to host ancient greek olympic games
Before you start any of your Olympic activities, make sure you have all the supplies listed above and enough materials fro everyone participating!
Some of the objects, such as the javelin and discus, should be made before the games begin!
Discus Throwing
Here’s how to host your own discus throwing event! Just follow these steps!
Step one
Give every kid a paper plate and coloring supplies. You can do crayons, markers, or colored pencils since these create the least mess.
Step two
Make sure each kid writes their name on somewhere on their discus before they start coloring.
Step three
Let the kids spend about thirty minutes coloring and decorating their discus’s. They can draw whatever designs they’d like, let them get creative!
Step Four
Once everyones finished coloring their discus’s, head outside.
Step five
Have all the kids line up and take turns throwing their discus’s as far as they can.
Step six
Once everyones thrown their discus’s, see who’s landed the farthest. Whomever’s discus was the farthest won the event!
Here’s how to host your own foot race event! Just follow these steps!
Step One
Mark the start of your race track and the end of your race track.
You can make it as long as you would like, but I would recommend you don’t make it so long that its difficult, but don’t make it short enough so it’s overly easy for the kids.
Step two
Make sure you have someone stand at the end of the race track to see which kids makes it across first.
Step THree
Once you’re ready to start your race, have all the kids line up at the start ready to run. Make sure to tell the kids they start running when you say “go!”
Step Four
Count down from three and when you shout “go!” all the kids should take off.
Step five
It shouldn’t take long for everyone to finish the race, so you can do this as many times you and/or the kids would like to.
Step six
Once everyones done racing and you know which kid won the race, you can assign a winner.
Javelin toss
Here’s how to host your own javelin toss event! Just follow these steps!
Step One
You’ll want to make your javelins before you host your Ancient Greek Olympics, so gather all your materials for this craft ahead of time!
You can make enough for everyone, or you can just make a few to reuse. Either way will work!
Step two
Take your paper towel roll and smush it so it is completely flat.
Step three
Use your pencil or pen to draw the point of the javelin, this makes it more aerodynamic.
Step four
Cut out the line you drew on in step three with your scissors.
Step five
Tape the open ends of the javelin.
Step six
Before you start the toss, have all the kids get in line to wait their turn.
Step seven
Have each kid take turns tossing the javelins one at a time. Use your tape measure to measure how far each javelin was thrown, make sure to write the distances down on your notes!
Step eight
Once everyones taken their turn tossing their javelins, you can declare a winner based on who threw it the farthest!
Long Jump
Here’s how to host your own long jump event! Just follow these steps!
Step one
Have all the kids line up in a straight line or along the fence of your yard.
Step two
Have the first kid get in place and jump as far as they can.
Step three
Once the kid lands, make sure they stay still. Measure from the start point to where the kid landed with your tape measure. Write down the child’s name and the distance they jumped on your notes.
Step four
Have all the kids take turns jumping as far as they can. Make sure you write down all the distances!
Step Five
Once everyones taken their turn, you can either go for another round or move onto the next activity.
If you choose to crown the victors of your olympics, make sure to jot down who won the long jump. You can do one winner or do first, second, and third places.
Create your own victors wreaths
At the end of the Ancient Greek Olympic Games, the victors of each category would be awarded a laurel wreath headpiece to take back to their homeland. If you want to create some laurel wreath headpieces to award the winners of your Ancient Greek Olympic Games, check out this DIY craft!
DIY Laurel Wreath Headpiece [Olympics Crafts for Kids]
Tips to host ancient greek olympic games
- Host your Olympics on a warm, sunny day that isn’t too hot or too cold. I would recommend a day during the spring or fall.
- When creating your discus’s, put down some sort or tarp or paper just incase the kids get messy when coloring.
- If you are worried about some of the kids getting upset that they didn’t win, either make sure everyone gets a laurel wreath or have do not have winners.
- You can use the space for the foot race for the long jump as well so you take up less space and are more efficient.
- If you want to do an Olympics themed party, check out these other crafts and activity’s below!
MORE OLYMPIC FUN FROM KIDS ACTIVITIES BLOG
history of the ancient greek olympics
The olympics existed long before the current day, in fact they originated in Ancient Greece! The ancient Greeks celebrated the Olympics once every four years in the city Olympia near Mount Olympos. For four days the Olympic Games were celebrated and featured various activities such as a chariot race! On the fifth day a celebration was had and all the victors received their winnings as well as a laurel wreath crown.
The Olympic Games were not just a sports festival, but also a religious one! The Olympics were celebrated in honor of Zeus, who was the king of the Greek gods and patron god of Olympia.
The Olympics were celebrated from 776 BCE to 393 CE, that’s a really long time! The Olympics were very important to both the ancient Greeks, many events were planned around the olympics because of how important they were to the ancient Greeks!
After 393 CE, the Olympics were no longer celebrated for hundreds of years. However in the late 19th century, after an increase in archeological interest in Ancient Greece, there was an effort to revive the Olympic Games. In 1896 in Athens, Greece, the first Olympic in nearly 1,500 years was held! From there, the Olympics would continue to be celebrated in the common era and become the Olympics we know today!
What sports were at the ancient greek olympics?
In 776 BCE when the Olympics first began there was only one event. It was a 210 yard (192 meters) long foot race called the stade. The word stade would eventually become the name of the track that almost all Olympic events were held on, and it would be the root word for th English word “stadium.”
As the Olympics continued more events would be added over the years. In 724 BCE two more events would be added; the dialous, a 437 yard (400m) long race, and the dolichos, a long distance marathon race. In 708 BCE the pentathlon and wrestling were added. The pentathlon featured three smaller events all together as one event, a long jump, wrestling, and a discus throwing contest.
By 648 BCE the Olympics featured even more events! Such as boxing which was added in 688 BCE, the chariot race added in 608 BCE, and the pankration, an extreme wrestling event, in 648 BCE.
Want to learn more? Watch the video below!
Ancient Greek olympics video
Check out this fun and educational video about the Olympics in Ancient Greece! If you’re hosting an Olympics party or field day event, you can show this video to the kids!
Want to learn more?
If you would like to learn more or do some extra research, here are some links to the digital resources I used to create this activity! I have also included a link to buy the book I used to research the Olympics as well!
Here is the book that I used to research the Olympics:
MORE FUN HISTORY CRAFTS AND ACTIVITIES FROM KIDS ACTIVITIES BLOG
Sources
“Ancient Greece | The Olympic Games | KS2 History | BBC Teach.” YouTube, September 27, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adpEGAh0GFw.
“Ancient Olympic Games.” Encyclopædia Britannica, January 4, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/sports/ancient-Olympic-Games.
D’Angour, Armand. “The Ancient Origins of the Olympics – Armand D’Angour.” YouTube, September 3, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdHHus8IgYA.
Rodgers, Nigel. 2017. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece: An authoritative account of Greek military and political power, architecture, sculpture, art, Drama and philosophy. Anness Publishing Ltd.
Rodgers, Nigel. 2017. “Chapter XXIII: Athletics and Sport.” The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece: An authoritative account of Greek military and political power, architecture, sculpture, art, Drama and philosophy. Anness Publishing Ltd.
