It’s hard to believe it’s the end of January! We’ve had subzero temps for the past week or two, so my kids haven’t been outside much. I was very pleased to see the forecast warming to a balmy 10-20 degrees this upcoming week, so the kids are jazzed!

With all of this time inside, I put my kids to work! The 2026 Winter Olympics start on Friday, so I was thinking about some easy writing projects to do in our homeschool. My husband and I were reminiscing about the 1993 movie Cool Runnings–and realized our kids had never seen it! I decided it would be the perfect time to have them test out my first product on my Teachers Pay Teachers site–a Movie Review!

Our Movie Reviews of Cool Runnings

I designed this Movie Review as a simple homeschool writing project, tailored to kids in kindergarten, first or second grade (depending on writing ability). If you’d like to use it for older kids, or change any of the questions or prompts, there is an editable version available as well!

My preschooler was giggling at one of the “guys” on the bobsled team, so that was his main feedback- “the silly guy!” Then he wrote “100” for his question, because he wanted to know if they were going more than 100 miles per hour!

My daughter (7) had a few laugh-out-loud moments during the movie, too. She filled out her sheet with her favorite pink pen, and shared some things she learned. We also located Jamaica on the globe, for some geography!

Winter Olympic Writing Activities

Also, I feel like I have dropped the ball a bit on educating my kids about all the amazingness that is the Olympics! With my teacher brain activated, I brainstormed a few ideas this morning of various activities you could do. A simple KWL Chart is what I use to prompt ideas with the kids, on any topic. These charts are an educational classic. I often will write the KWL letters on my big whiteboard in our school room, and brainstorm together. You can do it collaboratively, or, you can have them copy down answers on their own copy–you can grab a free one, here!

Extension Ideas

Take your learning a step further!

1. Research the origin of the Olympics: What country came up with the idea? What was the context at the time? What were the main events in the first Olympic games? What countries were involved? Compare and contrast the early Olympic games, to the list of events & countries we see today.
2. What is required to become an Olympic athlete? Talk about concepts like athleticism, work ethic, time, money, and willingness to give up other aspects of childhood/adolescent years, to focus so intensely on one sport. Journal: if you had Olympic-level talent, which sport would you choose? What would you be willing to give up (or not give up!) in order to become one of the best in the world? Do you think it would be worth it? Why or why not?
3. Graph common results: Pick your favorite sport to study. Make a graph of the countries who have won gold medals in these sports, for the past 10 Olympic games. What patterns do you see? What factors do you think affect a country’s consistent success in one sport? (Think: GDP, climate, accessibility, economic status, infrastructure, and being the “host country”)
4. Analyze (upper elementary+): Take #3 a step further. Choose 10 diverse, participating countries that you don’t know much about (could be varying in climate, demographic, economy/GDP, level of development). First: take a guess as to what sports these countries may excel in. (For example, does Russia excel in sand volleyball? Does Egypt excel in downhill skiing?) Next: write bullet points below your guesses, explaining your reasoning. Then: do some research to see if you’re correct. Discuss your findings with your sibling(s), parent(s) and friends!
5. Standards of participation: What types of rules do you think there should be, for both countries and athletes? What types of consequences, for breaking the rules? Do some research about what types of incidents in the past have resulted in penalties, expulsion, or even exclusion from the Olympic games.

If you try any of these ideas, I’d love to hear about it! Enjoy, and happy watching!

Cait