How to Make International Olympic Visor Crafts for Children

Use the 2010 Winter Olympics as an opportunity to study different countries and cultures with your children. Making Olympic Visor Crafts with international themes are simple activities for elementary teachers or parents to do with their students. Before the activity, watch video footage of the 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies (you may want to add video footage from other opening ceremonies to get more visual references).

Talk about different cultures, like Chinese, Canadian, American, South American, British, French, or African. Post pictures of different flags and symbols associated with each countries participating in the 2010 Winter Olympics. (Red maple leaves for Canada, red-white-and-blue stars and stripes for the United States, red and yellow stars for China, etc.)

Provide a plethora of craft materials for your children to use. Include felts, pom poms, buttons, aluminum foil, craft papers in different colors and designs, construction paper, chenille straws, glitter, stickers and succors with different cutting patterns. You might also include stencils for basic symbols like stars, stripes, maple leaves, moons, etc. Don't forget lots of school glue or craft glue and regular scissors as well.

Purchase foam visors from a local craft store. You could also use plastic visors with no designs, but foam visors will be cheaper for larger classes.

Let each child choose a country they want to make a visor to support. As each child uses the craft materials to decorate their visor, talk to them about the symbols for their country. For example, if your child chooses to make a visor for Canada, make sure they include a red maple leaf. Talk to your child about how the maple leaf symbolizes nature and environment in Canada. Canadian colors are red and white to represent Saint George's Cross and the French royal emblem.

If your child wants to make a China visor, discuss how the color red as the background of the flag is symbolic because it symbolizes revolution. Point out the gold stars which represent the Communist party and the people of China.

If students choose the United States flag, tell them about the thirteen stripes that represent the thirteen original colonies and the fifty stars that represent the fifty United States of America. You can also provide information on symbols like the bald eagle, Mt. Rushmore, the White House or the Capitol buildings.

This activity will allow your to incorporate differentiated learning into your classroom as the students will get to choose which country they want to study that day. Data has shown time and again that when children (and adults) choose to learn about something they are more likely to put the information in their long-term memory because they have a personal connection to the content.