Post Avenue Preschoolers Celebrate the Olympics
In recognition of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Post Avenue preschoolers spent the week of July 8th celebrating with their own games and activities.
Thoughtfully planned by teachers and school staff, the Post Avenue Olympic teaching unit started with an opening ceremony and parade across the courtyard. Nearly three dozen students were all smiles walking one behind the other holding handcrafted paper torches. Torches were made with red, orange and yellow tissue paper attached to a paper towel tube wrapped in gold foil.
Although plenty of fun, crafts and projects were carefully tailored to skill building and developing students’ fine and gross motor skills. The Foxes, Bears and Owls classrooms also created their own set of decorations adorning their walls.
“We had lots of fun playing games and sports just like Olympians,” said Special Education Teacher Eileen Carter. “While doing all this, we continued to work on readiness and social skills in the classroom.”
Activities took place inside and outside the classroom.
During the summer, Tuesdays and Thursdays are water play days at Post. True to the week’s theme, teachers incorporated aquatic events for students to enjoy outdoors. They made a splash with a refreshing relay race. Students also enjoyed fishing out rubber duckies from a makeshift pond, participating in a water bucket game, and having fun with sprinklers. Outdoor fun on other days included egg-and-spoon races and baseball trainer games, providing students a variety of options to incorporate movement.
It wasn’t all crafts and obstacle courses for the Post Ave. students. They also learned about the global athletic competition. In the classroom, they spent time on different countries, how to recognize the flags, and the different sports played during the multinational competition.
They also learned songs and dances that centered around the Olympics like the “Summer Olympics This or That Dance” and the song “Olympic Games” by Jack Hartman. They also read books about Olympic athletes and relevant titles that included “Curious George and the Summer Games” by H.E Rey and “Splash” by Paralympic Gold Medalist Claire Cashmore.
They closed out the games with a ceremony. Students took the podium and received a medal from their teacher for completing the week’s games. Afterwards they sat for a group photo holding up signature team USA flags. Congratulations to our little Olympians!