Monday 8 August 2016

Medal Craft activity for the Olympics


Helping kids understand or engage with sports events can sometimes be a challenge whether they have autism or not.  As the Olympics are in full swing, why not engage them with medals, everyone likes to be a winner.  This medal making activity that we did at Me Too & Co has some great ways for developing motor skills and can celebrate whatever you like.  Jane was particularly interested in the being on the swim team.

Where as our eldest with autism can easily recite the winners of the Formula 1 Grand Prix this season (and quite a few other seasons to be honest), athletics often requires a lot of explanation.  Different events, distances etc etc.  The one consistent thing is medals.  Everyone tries their best and someone always gets a medal. So have fun and make your own and then decide what you will win them all for. This is a great way of thinking about the different events and what sports or activities kids might like to try or do too.



We used:
  • Tin foil and/or ribbon
  • Card discs (2)
  • Glue stick
  • Decorations for your medal - such as pens, feathers, foils, felt shapes, bits of wrapping paper, pens and cotton wool
Although you can use a more traditional ribbon for your medal, rolling a length of tin foil to make the 'ribbon' part is really good for pinching practice and bilateral motor skills (using both hands together).  Be careful though because this can be sharp.  Gluing the card discs to 'sandwich' the middle of the foil band or ribbon which another activity that uses bilateral motor skills as your kids will use one hand to hold the card and the other to glue.

Now you have your basic medal, you can decorate it how you like.  Remember by placing the materials around the table you will also encourage your child to stretch across their midline too. Once it's finished simply squash the end of the foil together to make it into a loop. This will easily come apart if needed for safety.   Make sure you use a loose slip knot if you have ribbon. You may wish to try your writing skills and add a No.1 if there is still space! Once it's completed you can make up events to play out or simply wear with pride! What will yours look like?

29 comments:

  1. A super cute idea (: kids always love a good custom prize. Thanks for the inspiration adn happy summer! #EatSleepBogRT

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love this craft Ann. Such a fab way to get the kiddies involved and engage with sports in general.

    Thanks so much for joining in with #MMBC. Hope to see you next week xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. Aww! How lovely! What a fun activity! #MMBC

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Daughter in particular loved it.. Eldest son was really just too excited!

      Delete
  4. What a fab craft activity and I love the idea of using tin foil instead of ribbon. I'm very impressed that your eldest can recite all the winners for several seasons of Formula 1 - we're Formula 1 fans too but I don't think I could do the same! I can imagine Jane with her medal saying "I won, I won, I won!" - so cute. Thanks for linking up to #ftmob :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can't remember where his shoes are but can recite all sorts of lists! #Autism 😉 Thanks as always for hosting!

      Delete
  5. What a great idea. Thankfully the boys are all sport mad so any excuse to have the tv on sports and not baby tv and they are there.

    Thankfully Little Miss OMG has no interest in the tv at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That may all change.. Or maybe it's because it's sports??

      Delete
  6. What a great idea. Thankfully the boys are all sport mad so any excuse to have the tv on sports and not baby tv and they are there.

    Thankfully Little Miss OMG has no interest in the tv at all.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great craft idea and love the use of tin foil instead of ribbon. I think my son would love to have a go at making these. #fmob

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a great craft idea! My kiddos are so into the Olympics right now. I love that after dinner and homework is done we all pile on the couch to catch all of the action!

    Thanks for sharing this at the Happy Now link Up!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a fab idea and a great way to get them involved in the olympics x #bloggerclubuk

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh cute! My kids would love this - medals are always a good thing right?! #brillblogposts

    ReplyDelete
  11. Such a cute craft idea, most kids would love to have a medal. I don't think my big lad would wear one but he'd still love to have one. We are enjoying the athletics! Thank you for linking up to #ablogginggoodtime 🎉

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ah such a great crafty idea! Thanks for sharing :) #EatSleepBlogRt

    ReplyDelete
  13. Brilliant idea for a summer full of sport - think we might have a go at this during the holidays #EatSleepBlogRT

    ReplyDelete
  14. Aw this is so lovely - what a fab idea to get kids more involved in the Olympics. Thanks for linking up to #dreamteam xx

    ReplyDelete
  15. Aw fab idea and craft. Love it! How fab they can recite all the winners! #ftmob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In our family lists and autism go hand in hand.. We hear a lot of lists!! 😉 Thanks for commenting

      Delete
  16. Aw fab idea and craft. Love it! How fab they can recite all the winners! #ftmob

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow! What a clever idea and that is so impressive that they can recite all the winners too. #ftmob

    ReplyDelete
  18. A brilliant craft idea!
    My boys would love it, they love anything that means you might be the best at something so they can annoy each other shouting 'Im the winner!!!!' 😉😂
    We love a craft activity in our house so will be sure to give this one a go!
    Totally loving having the olympics on to help while away summer too...it's been brill!
    #TheList

    ReplyDelete
  19. Such a great idea! I want to make one for myself! #MMBC

    ReplyDelete
  20. What a great activity! My little one is really into arts and crafts so would love to have a go at this. Mummy on the other hand is not so good with the arts and crafts so this is great inspiration ;-) Thanks for sharing it on #MarvMondays. Emily

    ReplyDelete

I read all your comments and appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me and our readers. I welcome any feedback on my posts and you can always contact me directly. Thank you.

Have a look at our most recent posts:

Follow
@rainbowsaretoo facebook.com/rainbowsaretoobeautiful Ann H on Google + rainbowsaretoo pinterest rainbowsaretoobeautiful bloglovin Instagram rainbowsaretoobeautiful