Olympics Birthday Party for Young Kids

We love the Olympics! I mean, who doesn't?

Because our son is glued to the Olympics every time they air, we threw our four-year-old a fun winter-themed Olympic birthday party. My little guy adores sports of all kinds, and we've had Olympic re-enactments ever since London!

Here's how we threw an Olympics birthday party for young children, complete with SUPER easy food ideas and all the games & events we did.

And the best part? You have an endless trove of ideas with all the different Olympic sports! If it's summer and your party guests have all learned to swim, you can do swimming and diving events. You can do gymnastics events (make a small beam that is only a few inches off the ground) or throw tennis balls for discus.

There are so many possibilities!

OLYMPIC-THEMED FOOD IDEAS FOR A PARTY

I knew we would be eating at the park with small children, so I was looking for food that wasn't too fussy and reasonably portable. Here are some easy Olympic-themed treats for kids.

1. Olympic Rings Fruit Platter

We love fruit, and I thought this would be a good way to show off the Olympic colors. We did blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, green grapes, and pineapple.

Making the rings was super easy. I just bought 9" aluminum cake tins and small 4.5" aluminum bake pans. (You can get these at a big box store but they are often cheaper in bulk, and I use any extras for freezer meals!)

I just flipped the small pan over and placed it in the larger tin, which left a convenient space to fill with fruit. I didn't tape it down or anything since it was reasonably secure once it was filled with fruit, but feel free to secure it if you're afraid of the smaller one shifting.

I assembled the rings at home and then covered them with tin foil to transport them to the park. Easy peasy!

2. Olympic Medals

You can make Olympic medals with Fruit by the Foot sandwiched in a white (vanilla) Oreo.

These were extremely popular! I got two medals per fruit roll-up and just stuck the ends in the cream of each Oreo. They were easy to assemble at the park while the kids were playing.

3. Olympic Torches

These are so simple!

Place handfuls of Cheetos in empty, flat-bottomed ice cream cones. They are easy to make and the kids loved them!

4. Olympic Ring Cupcakes

These were easy and fun! I just frosted cupcakes in white and then stuck M&M's around the edges in a ring.

Make sure you buy a decent-sized bag of M&M's if you're doing more than five cupcakes. You end up using more than you'd think!

I also used silicone muffin cups for the cupcakes because they matched the Olympic colors perfectly. They come in lots of rainbow colors! (The black/brown ring has a silver liner because that's all I had.) I don't think these specific muffin cups are available anymore, but here are good-quality ones that are fairly similar (just not all the right colors).

You can also get paper liners - those work just as well! They might be a good option for younger kids so you don't have to worry about kids throwing away your reusable silicone liners.

7 OLYMPIC THEMED GAMES & EVENTS

Now that we've talked about food, it's time for the games we played at the party!

We planned this party for the park, knowing that there would probably be a high of 70 degrees that day, and that it would be lovely outside.

However, it's kind of tricky to play Winter Olympics games without snow, so we got creative.

1. Bobsled Racing

My kids love our wagon, so we improvised a bobsled race with a second wagon. We also emphasized that they all wear helmets for safety!

Dad and Grandpa provided some momentum, and the kids really enjoyed racing back and forth. Older kids could pull the wagons themselves if they're trustworthy enough not to crash!

2. Ski Jumping with Straws

No snow? No problem! We "jumped" our paper skiers with the help of some straw shooters. We stood them in a line and counted off, and then everyone blew really hard into their straw. If done correctly, your skier should launch forward. They thought it was awesome!

I used a free printable here, but modified the idea to attach the paper skiers to the paper tubes instead. I let the kids each color a little skier and then I taped them to a paper tube I made that fit loosely around a straw.

You'll want to close off the entire length of the tube so that no air escapes. Fold the end of the tube over and tape it down to close it off really well. Slide a straw in and you have a Straw Ski Jumper!

I planned these around wide smoothie straws, which I thought would work better for the young kids. When you're done, make sure you have everyone keep their straw for the next game!

3. Snow Ball Curling

Curling is a very unique winter sport, but I knew most of the young kids wouldn't know what it was. So we got creative and used cotton balls to play a curling game.

We raced to see who could blow their "snowball" across the finish line first. It does take some trial and error to maintain control!

Many kids will blow down on their pom-pom or cotton ball when they need to be blowing from behind it. A demonstration from an adult is helpful here!

4. Sprints

We threw in a few Summer Games to round out our party. Why not? On your mark, set, go!

Our park has a round area just like a track oval. We did a few sprints around the oval and one backwards race just for fun. If the kids were older, I would have organized a baton handoff for a relay.

5. Hurdles

The biggest hit of this party was the hurdle races. I made hurdles out of pool noodles and skewers (the wooden kind for kebabs). Just slide it into the pool noodle halfway and then push the other half into the ground at an angle. Now you're good to go!

(Note: Pool noodles are hard to find in stores in February, so plan ahead or beg for some from any pool-owning friends.)

We did two rows side by side to allow for two-man races.  Honestly, I think these kids could have done this activity for an hour if we let them!

Apparently, this idea was in Family Fun Magazine a few years ago, but I never saw it. I just came up with it myself, but I'm sure there are tons of similar variations out there. We used long skewers to hold the noodles in the ground, but you can adjust them as necessary.

6. Discus Throw

This did not go quite as planned. I forgot that not all 4 and 5-year-olds can throw a frisbee! It was a short-lived activity for us.

With older kids, you can see who can throw a frisbee the furthest, make it through a hoop, or land it in a basket. You can also use tennis balls or any other ball that is soft enough to not hurt someone if they accidentally get in the way of the throw.

7. Personalized Flags

We also decorated some flags as a welcome activity, which doubled as a party favor.

Foam stickers and crayons were easy and not messy, and then I stuck a skewer in the side. My four-year-old doesn't really care about countries yet, so our flags were name-based, but older kids could copy flags for specific countries.

You can also get some with the sticks already attached, like these ones.

You're all set!

It was a great party! Happy Birthday, buddy!

Hopefully these ideas can help you throw an Olympics party of your own!

I think an Olympics party could work any time of the year. It doesn't even have to be a birthday party. It can be a great party to get kids excited for the upcoming Olympics as well!

Let me know in the comments if you have any other fun ideas or games for an Olympic-themed party!