Paris Summer Olympics 2024

A host of fun facts along with a look at some great activities.

Use these timeline cards to learn about the history of the Olympics.
Use these timeline cards to learn about the history of the Olympics.

Discovering the Olympic Games

Teddy (9) and Harry (8) both enjoy playing and watching sports so exploring the Olympics in preparation of the games taking place in Paris this summer has been a lot of fun! Not only have we discovered an array of different sports, we explored the history of the Ancient Olympic games, the increasing participation of female athletes and the symbolism behind the colours of the Olympic rings.

Six Fun Facts About the Paris ’24 Olympic Games:

Paris last hosted the summer Olympic games exactly 100 years ago in 1924.

  1. In 1924, 2,954 male athletes and 135 female athletes took part in the Olympic games. This year there will be an equal number of participating male and female athletes.
  2. Breakdancing is going to be an Olympic sport for the first time. Competition in the dance sport will comprise of two events – one for men and one for women. In the event sixteen B-Boys (Breaking Boys) and sixteen B-Girls (Breaking Girls) will go face to face in solo battles.
  3. This will be the sixth Olympic Games hosted by Paris: they first held it in 1900 and have had 3 Summer Olympic Games and 3 Winter Olympic Games.
  4. In 1924 there were 17 sports included in the games. This year there will be 32 sports with 329 medal events in total.
  5. Beach volleyball will be held at the Champ de Mars in the Jardin de la Tour Eiffel (under the Eiffel Tower) which was constructed in 1889.
It has taken many years for female athletes to compete in the Olympic games on equal terms to men. We already know that only male athletes could compete in the Ancient Olympic Games.
Comparing ancient and modern Olympics with Hands-On Education
Comparing ancient and modern Olympics with Hands-On Education

History of the Olympics

The first Olympic games began in 776BCE as part of a religious festival. It was held in Olympia, Greece, home to the mighty and powerful Greek God, Zeus. At this time Greece was made up of independent lands often at war with one another. During the Olympics participating athletes were guaranteed safe travel to and from the games. Only Greek persons were allowed to participate in the games and each warring state wanted to be named the winner.

During the Ancient Olympics only male athletes were able to compete and they did so in the nude... I am not sure why! Spectators were also male although some unmarried females may have been allowed to watch.

In the first Olympics there was only one sporting event, a footrace known as the Stadion, and the competition only lasted one day. more events were introduced including chariot racing, boxing, wrestling, long jump and javelin throwing. The expensive new stadiums and pristine conditions of today’s Olympics were not present in these early years. Visitors of the Ancient Olympics speak of the stench of thousands of athletes, spectators, vendors and animals all camping out without proper hygiene or systems in place.

In 146BCE the Romans conquered Greece and for a time the games continued to take place. However, in 394CE after converting to Christianity, the Roman emperor Theodosius I banned the Olympic games, deeming them to be too pagan. It wasn’t until 1896 that the modern Olympic games would begin, bringing athletes from all around the world together.

Grouping sports with these activity cards.
Grouping sports with these activity cards.

Women and the Olympics

It has taken many years for female athletes to compete in the Olympic games on equal terms to men. We already know that only male athletes could compete in the Ancient Olympic Games. However, there was a separate competition called the Heraean games held specifically for female athletes. These games were comparable to the Olympic games in many ways. They were also held in Olympia and were part of a religious festival honouring the Greek Goddess Hera.

Despite being fifteen hundred years later the first modern Olympic games in 1896 also accommodated only male athletes. The following games in 1900 (held in Paris) saw 22 women compete in sailing, golf, tennis and croquet. These women made up 2.2% of competitors.

In 1928 female athletes were allowed to complete in athletic events for the first time, although they could not run a distance longer then 800m. Over time more events have been open to female competitors. I was surprised however at how recently some of these additions have been made. Female weightlifting has only been included since in 2000, BMX since 2008 and the ski jump since 2014.

Today female athletes still strive for equality and full recognition.

Use the colours of the Olympic rings to colour flags from around the world.
Use the colours of the Olympic rings to colour flags from around the world.

Olympic Rings and Flags

The Olympic rings are a symbol recognised around the world. Designed by the founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin, it was first seen alongside the Belgium 1920 games. The design shows 5 interlocking rings representing the 5 regions of the world. Each ring is a different colour, blue, yellow, black, green and red and are always displayed in this specific order.

The interesting thing about the colour of the rings is that they were chosen because one or more of these colours can always be found on any flag around the world. Your child or class can use an atlas to look at different flags and observe the colours used.

Research an Olympic Sporting Event
Research an Olympic Sporting Event

Our Favourite Sporting Events

There are so many different events within the Olympic games and as a family we are all interested in different sports. We used Hands-On Education’s Olympic Events Research Activity to encourage Teddy and Harry to find out more information on a sporting event of their choice.

The first step of this activity is to introduce children to wide range of different sports. We have plenty of books describing a variety of sports however, in this instance, I found it more effective to watch video clips. I found a number of appropriate clips of past evets to watch with the boys on YouTube and together we watched events performed by male and female participants as well as events in the paralympic games.

Overall, Teddy found the high jump particularly intriguing and we were all amazed to see the heights the athletes could reach. This led us to find out the Olympic records for the highest high jump which are currently held by Charles Austin, USA: 2.39m and Yelena Slesarenko: 2.06m. To gain an understanding of how high this is, we rolled out the measuring tape. We also tried to see how high each of us could jump, unaided, and found it really wasn’t very high at all!

Both boys were also able to research what equipment was used and needed in their chosen sport. I’m just looking forward to the summer being filled with a larger array of sports beyond the standard obsession with football.

Teddy jumping over obstacles.
Teddy jumping over obstacles.

Developing Physical Skills

We are so inspired by the Olympic athletes participating in the Paris 2024 games and wish them all wonderful success. As a family I find this to be a great opportunity for children to think about the physical activities they enjoy and encourage them to improve their own physical skills.

Within the Olympics topic, children can record their exercise, test their physical skills and create an exercise circuit. We hope you enjoy finding out more about the Olympics this year with your child or classroom. There are so many sports to discover, whether it is individual athlete competing, team sports or even some of the more obscure sports, there is something to inspire everyone.


Here are some further sporting topics you can explore exclusively from Hands-On Education.

Key Stage Two
Olympics

Olympics Activities

Key Stage One
Athletics: One

Athletics: One Activities

Key Stage Two
Athletics: Two

Athletics: Two Activities

Key Stage Two
Playground Games

Playground Games Activities