Share Olympic Memories with Your Child

by Erika Kosin  Rowan Public Library

    Despite the controversy surrounding this years Winter Olympics, people throughout the world are ready to stay up late and watch with bated breath, hoping the athletes from their county earn gold medals.  Over these next two weeks news stations will bring us the latest on the problems and controversy, but the event broadcasts will bring the best of sportsmanship, victory and defeat into our living rooms. 

    The Winter Olympics began in 1924 as an add-on to the modern Summer Games which debuted  in 1896.  Today, the Winter Olympics will hold 98 events in 15 winter sport disciplines.  These disciplines include Speed Skating, Short Track Speed Skating, Alpine Skiing, Freestyle Skiing, Nordic Combined, Cross Country Skiing, Ski Jumping, Snowboarding, Bobsleigh, Skeleton, Biathlon, Curling, Ice Hockey, Luge and Figure Skating, which has added a new team event to its roster this year.  The games are underway and now is the perfect time to introduce your child to some interesting winter sports that they have never seen before. 

    How do you go about getting a child excited about the games, start by visiting the Rowan Public Library.  The library has books about the history of the Winter Olympics such as the Olympic Winter Games by Caroline Arnold and Inside the Olympics by Nick Hunter or there are books focusing on the science behind a sport like How Figure Skating Works by Keltie Thomas.  Information on snowboarding and its equipment can be found in the children’s non-fiction section along with many other winter sport books.  There is a graphic novel about the 1980 U.S.A. hockey team defeating the Soviet Union and going on to win the gold medal called Miracle on Ice by Joe Dunn and books about the famous snowboarder Shaun White, who plans to go for two more gold medals this year, in the children’s biography section.

    Is your child interested in records?  The book Amazing Olympic Records by Paul Hoblin would be for them.  It showcases some of the best Olympic records to date from both the Summer and Winter Games, which means, after this month, this book could be outdated.  What about those special moments in Olympic history that stay with us?  Children can explore some from years past in the book Great Moments in the Olympics by Michael Burgan.  This book contains a favorite Figure Skating moment, when Sarah Hughes skated flawlessly to come from behind and won the gold medal beating out the two favorites Irina Slutskaya and Michelle Kwan along with many other poignant events.

    By introducing children to the meaning of the Olympics and the world stage, they have the opportunity to learn about sports that are not always popular in the United States.  While most American’s don’t watch skiing or curling on TV or follow the athletes that participate in these sports, for two weeks these athletes become household names and children will remember these athletes for years to come.  Many adults remember the Jamaican Bobsleigh team from the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics who wowed the crowds and became international stars even though they never officially completed the competition.  Children today have the opportunity to experience a valuable lesion in competition and sportsmanship with the possibility of new special moments of underdogs winning gold and athletes reaching their dream of competing even if they don’t win.  Now is the time to share these memories with your children and the Rowan Public Library is a great place to start.