Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Olympics 2012

I love the Olympics. We don't watch too much TV in our house. But, when it's Olympic season, the TV is on all the time. Now with the kids, the Olympics take on a whole new meaning.  I printed off lots of maps and we would look up the countries as they would be on the podium or competing in the sports.  These maps and discussions we would have while coloring the maps took on some pretty great life lessons that I desperately want to pass onto my kiddos. 

It was a great lesson on how God loves the whole world, not only America and how He doesn't love America more than the other countries.

It was a lesson on how we have been given opportunities, money, and possessions that lots of others in the world do not have - we need to be thankful for those.  But, what are we, as the Smith family, supposed to do about it? How do we use all of that for the good of the world? 

It was a lesson to show Bella where the kids we've adopted from World Vision are from and who represents them in the Olympic games. 

It was a lesson to cheer on all contenders, regardless of what they look like or where they are from.

We talked about the symbolism in the Olympic rings and the colors of the rings. 

We talked about loving our neighbors, even if they lived in Somalia or Iraq or Libya or Europe.  We talked about how to we extend that love to our neighbors if we can't physically hug them?

We talked about God making each one of us special, lovable, and with a purpose.  We talked about how we are all the same and just because we live in America doesn't mean we are better. 

We sang "Jesus loves the little children" and talked about John 3:16. 

It was surreal to discuss these things with a 3.5 year old that would talk back and say things like, "Where do they live?" or "What do they eat?".  I answered honestly and we talked through the answers.  But, little children have a way of bringing into importance the things of life.  Questions like "do they have enough to eat where they live" and "what does their house look like" makes me question why I just spent $5 on a Starbucks coffee or $15 on a new shirt I didn't need when that money could have gone to those parts of the country. Out of the mouth of babes...

We also had fun those two weeks!  I printed off the maps of the world and after the kids colored them, she went to pack her backpack up.  We then set off to travel the world.  We went to Africa first in her room - hence the fun animals!
We made our way to China (JT's room), across the ocean (in a boat in the living room), and to our house again. She insisted on being called Dora the whole time.  When we got back "home", we made Olympic cookies. They were sugar cookies in the colors of the Olympic rings. So much fun!  Then we colored the Olympic rings and hung it on the front door.

Lastly, we made gold, silver, and bronze medals for all of us and practiced our podium poses. 
JT even got in the fun.  If these pictures had sound, you would hear lots of "YAYYYY" going on.

I'm so thankful for times like these to teach my kiddos that world is much smaller than we think. I'm hoping these lessons will stick to them.

1 comment:

The Reeds said...

I'm so glad there are parents like you in the world!