Craft: Olympic Medals

We have been doing a unit study in order to prepare for the London 2012 games. I am so excited to watch diving, swimming, and gymnastics again this summer, so I wanted to transfer some of my excitement on to Little BBQ. We have been reading a lot about the history of the modern Olympics and famous athletes. We even read about this year’s venue.

One of the hands on projects about the Olympics we did this week was to make our own Olympic medals. Little BBQ loved this project. The best part of the project was after the medals were finished when Little BBQ decided to award each of us in the family with a medal. I think these medals will be around for a long time as part of our dress up collection. Little BBQ has been walking around telling everyone that he is an Olympic medalist. I love it.

This is a simple multi day project. On day one glue is applies to wooden disks and allowed to dry to give the medals a three dimensional look. On day 2, the medals are painted gold, silver, and bronze. On day 3, a marker is used to add more patterns on the medals. Finally, an adult hot glues a ribbon the back of the medals.

Materials (for pre-school – 5th grade)

3, 4 inch wood circles (we got ours at Hobby Lobby for $0.79)

Elmer’s School Glue®

Gold, Silver, and Bronze paint

Paint brush

Alcohol based markers such as Sharpie

3 strips 7/8” blue ribbon cut to 24-30 inches depending the size of your child

Hot glue gun

Directions

1.       Apply glue designs on the wood circles. Allow to dry overnight.

2.       Paint one medal gold, another silver, and another bronze. Allow to dry overnight.

3.       Apply more designs on the medals using an alcohol based maker.

4.       Have an adult hot glue the two ends of the ribbon to the back of the medals.

5.       Enjoy!