STEM Activity: Create Your Own Olympic Game

Celebrate the Olympic spirit by creating your own sports-inspired tabletop game!

Materials Needed 

• Cardboard box
• Craft items (e.g., clay, craft sticks, patterned paper, pipe cleaners, stickers) 
• Drawing materials (e.g., crayons, markers, pencils)
• Recyclables (e.g., small plastic containers, bottle caps) or other unused objects around the house
• Scissors
• Tape or glue

Step-by-Step Instructions 

1. Choose your favorite Olympic event, like soccer, track, swimming, basketball or gymnastics, or make up your own sport!
    
2. Find a box or box top you can use to create your tabletop game.
    
3. Then, select one of these game sheets to print and place in the bottom of the box, or design your own.
   • Game Sheet 1: Baseball and Softball
   • Game Sheet 2: Basketball
   • Game Sheet 3: Soccer and Lacrosse
   • Game Sheet 4: Track and Field
      
4. Cut the game sheet to fit inside the bottom of your box or box top, and then tape or glue it into place.
    
5. Next, brainstorm the details of your game. Think about adding the following features:
   • Players — Draw your players or print out images to use. For more dimensional players, use craft items such as clay, pipe cleaners or recyclables.
   • Equipment — Add equipment like balls, nets or other items.
   • Scoreboard — Create a way to keep score.
      
6. Think about how you will get your players or equipment to move. You can use ideas found in our Champions^™ Sports Complex Idea Book.
    
7. Decorate your tabletop game with signs, concession stands and other items you might find at a sporting event.
    
8. When you are ready, play your game with a family member!

What Are We Discovering? 

STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is everywhere — even in sports! Would you want to wear a heavy sports helmet when playing ball, or a heavy pair of shoes when running? Luckily, equipment like goalie masks, football helmets, baseball bats, hockey sticks and tennis shoes can be made with strong, lightweight Kevlar^® fiber, invented by National Inventors Hall of Fame^® (NIHF) Inductee Stephanie Kwolek. Fiberglass is another flexible and lightweight material that is used to make sports equipment like basketball backboards, water skis, snowboards and boats. Together, NIHF Inductees Dale Kleist, Games Slayter and John H. Thomas developed this game-changing invention.

Looking for More Exciting STEM Activities?

Thousands of children across the country have engaged in easy, at-home fun with our Innovation Exploration Kits^™. Each kit offers tons of materials for endless exploration and creativity, delivered right to your door. To learn more, please visit our website!