All in a day's work - a lasting Olympic legacy
Friday, September 14, 2012
Creating a lasting legacy for our future Olympians is a must, say Hayley Cannell and Nicky Bushell, joint managers of Oakey Dokeys Pre-school in Essex
We spent almost a term preparing our children for the arrival of the Olympics and Paralympics, embracing everything that makes Great Britain special and using every opportunity for introducing different forms of exercise. Now we need to stop and take stock of what a truly great eventLondon 2012 has been.
We were excited when this huge event that we had discussed so much finally happened. It certainly lived up to our expectations and, judging by the media and in talking to others, this feeling was universal! The big challenge now is to document all that has taken place and create a lasting legacy for our children to help keep the true spirit of the Olympics and Paralympics alive.
We know that children learn best from being able to play and act out what they have seen happening around them, so we will be adding a few new props to our dressing-up box such as sportswear, numbered tabards, goggles and bicycle helmets.
Outside we are hoping to make a permanent sandy long jump and paint some cycle tracks on our safety surface in an area to be called the velodrome. With laminated pictures of our heroic GB medal winners displayed alongside these areas of play, we are hoping that in time the athletes' names will be as well known to the children as their favourite Disney characters.
Pictures and clippings
We also aim to make a giant floor book full of pictures and clippings from all the coverage of London 2012 which will promote discussions of all the different sports that go to make up the Games. Again, we hope that looking at these pictures will inspire our children to act out what they have seen.
We will be striving overall to promote all aspects of our children's physical play, so developing a love and passion for generally keeping busy and moving their bodies. Photos of Paralympians in particular will help children understand that people with disabilities are also involved in sport and achieve great feats.
The true legacy of the spectacles brought to us in the summer of 2012, from pride and dedication to courage and friendships, are just too important to be forgotten. And if one of our children ever goes on to become an Olympic competitor, we definitely will be crying tears of pride and joy.
