Rio 2016

Olympics School–Day One

We kicked off our 2016 summer school today (ish)! Actually, we started a little bit yesterday, with the making of an Olympic banner for our school room (how have we made it through two Summer Games, as well as two Winter Olympics without doing that before now?!?), as well as flags and mascots to go with it. We went over the list of countries on our medal chart, and discussed why each had been chosen. The children also took a look through the workbooks I made for them, too, although they’ll have to wait until next week to get started on them.

Today we learned a bit about the geography of Brazil, and took a look at the Olympic torch (it has a very cool design!) and the path it has traveled on around Brazil since the journey began in May. We made edible Olympic torches, and had a Brazilian feast for dinner. And, of course, we watched the Opening Ceremony. We have lots of fun activities to do and things to learn over the next two weeks…plus a lot of events to watch! I’m so excited about our third Summer Olympics summer school!

A Brazilian Feast for the Opening Ceremonies

The Olympics always provide us with an opportunity to try some new recipes that reflect the food and culture of the host country. I decided to jump right in this year, and have our first Brazilian meal for the Opening Ceremony.

But before we get to dinner, there was first an Olympic snack this afternoon. We made Olympic “torches” again this year…pretzel rods dipped in white chocolate, and topped with red and yellow sugar crystals for the “flame.” I added some Olympics-themed Hershey Kisses that I bought on an impulse at the grocery store this week. I also made Brazilian lemonade (which is made with limes, not lemons…I have no idea why), which was a huge hit!

On to the dinner feast. I tried three new recipes. The main course was a Brazilian black bean stew, which also had ham, chorizo, sweet potatoes, and mango. I served it with Brazilian rice, which was cooked in a similar way to risotto, and had garlic and onion in it. We also had Pao de Queijo, which is a Brazilian cheese bread made with tapioca flour. I was a little worried that this meal would be a little too different for the children, but it was a huge hit!

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For dessert, I made a Pudim De Laranja, which is a Brazilian orange flan. I screwed up the caramel part a little bit, but it was still delicious!

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I have a few more recipes to try over the next few weeks…are you making anything special to celebrate the Olympics?

Chickadee Thursday

Chickadee is ready for the Olympics!

And bonus pictures from Tuesday, when Chickadee had her very first dentist visit. She thought it was great fun, and the dentist was impressed with both her teeth and her vocabulary!

Summer School 2016–Rio Olympics!

rio 2016

The Olympics begin this week!

As was the case for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and especially for the London 2012 Olympics, our summer school this year is focused on all things Olympics, as well as this year’s host city of Rio de Janeiro, and Brazil, South America, and geography in general. I’ve added a few new books to our Olympics book basket, and found some geography and South America-themed books, as well:

We’ll be repeating some of our favorite Olympic crafts, like pretzel rod torches (edible crafts are the best!), and tracking medals by country. The children are coming up with a list of events for our quadrennial Markel Family Olympics, and I’ve been researching Brazilian recipes. I also made workbooks similar to the ones I made four years ago…and this time, Chickadee gets one, too! As always, our goal is to learn something about the history and culture of the host nation, as well as the history of the Olympics, both ancient and modern, all while watching our favorite sports (swimming and gymnastics), as well as the more unusual ones that we only see once every four years (water polo and handball, for example). I’m looking forward to getting started!

Quote of the Day

In accordance with tradition, I declare the Games of the 30th Olympiad closed, and I call upon the youth of the world to assemble four years from now in Rio de Janeiro to celebrate the Games of the 31st Olympiad. From the Closing Ceremony of the Olympics