Olympics

Free school holiday activities at your library

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It’s the holidays! Finally!

We hope you are not bored already. I don’t think that’s possible with all the great things we’ve got happening in our libraries. Here’s the run down for the 1st week:

 

Monday 2nd July:

Baby Rock and Rhyme for 0-2 yr olds – Karori Library at 9.45am

Storytimes for 3-5 year olds – Johnsonville, Karori, Tawa, and Kilbirnie Libraries at 10.30am

 

Tuesday 3rd July:

Baby Rock and Rhyme for 0-2 yr olds – Miramar Library at 10.15am

Storytimes for 3-5 year olds – Brooklyn, Central, Johnsonville, Khandallah, and Karori Libraries at 10.30am and Miramra Library at 10.15am

BookBusters for 7-8 year olds – Island Bay and Karori Libraries at 4pm

 

Wednesday 4th July:

Baby Rock and Rhyme for 0-2 yr olds – Central, Island Bay and Johnsonville Libraries at 9.30am, and Cummings Park Library at 10.15am

Storytimes for 3-5 year olds – Karori, Newtown and Kilbirnie Libraries at 10.30am

BookBusters for 7-8 year olds – Tawa Library at 4pm

Paralympics and Olympics Activities for 5-12 year olds – Karori Library at 11.15am

 

Thursday 5th July:

Baby Rock and Rhyme for 0-2 yr olds – Johnsonville Library at 9.30am

Storytimes for 3-5 year olds – Karori, Island Bay Libraries at 10.30am, and Miramar Library at 10.15am

BookBusters for 7-8 year olds – Johnsonville and Kilbirnie Libraries at 4pm

Paralympics and Olympics Activities for 5-12 year olds – Newtown Library at 11am

 

Friday 6th July:

Baby Rock and Rhyme for 0-2 yr olds – Tawa Library at 9.30am, Karori Library at 9.45am, and Kilbirnie Library at 10.15am

Storytimes for 3-5 year olds – Central, Karori and Wadestown Libraries at 10.30am

Paralympics and Olympics Activities for 5-12 year olds – Johnsonville Library at 11am and Miramar Library at 2pm

Stories@7 for 7+ years – Central Library at 7pm

 

Saturday 7th July:

Storytimes for 3-5 year olds – Central Library at 11am

 

All activities are free and fun, no bookings required.

Olympics of Old

debbie

Did you know the Olympic Games began in ancient Greece and the first games recorded were in the year 776 BC? In that time the land of Greece was made up of many small kingdoms, which constantly fought among themselves. But every four years they agreed to put aside their differences and send their best athletes to compete with each other in games held at a place named Olympia. The four year period, became known as an Olympiad, and was used by the Greeks to date historical events.

The games at Olympia were not just a sporting event, they were also a religious festival dedicated to Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. After 293 Olympiads, Christianity became the state religion of Rome and the Emperor put a stop to the games.

A Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin (born 1863) became very concerned by the lack of physical education undertaken by the young people of France. As he grew up with a fascination for ancient Greece an idea began to form in his mind of reviving the glorious ancient Olympic contests and the first Olympic Games of the modern era were held in Athens in 1896.

The Games of  776 BC  featured a single foot race over 192 metres. As time passed, new events were added to the Games, many of which we recognise today. The ancient pentathlon featured running, jumping, wrestling and throwing the javelin and discus. Other sports included boxing, horse and chariot racing. To win at the Olympic Games ensured an athlete would be a hero for life, and would be celebrated in poetry and sculpture. Only men were permitted to compete and women were forbidden to watch and guess what – all the athletes had to compete naked!

Don’t forget to come along to our Paralympic holiday programmes during the school holidays for lots of Olypmic fun!  

 

Hockey at the Olympics

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Olympics Countdown: 30 days to go!

Love hockey?  We sure do!  Hockey is awesome, and it’s not long now till the New Zealand Black Sticks (men’s and women’s teams) compete at the London Olympic Games.  The first hockey match sees our Black Stick girls taking on the Aussies – exciting stuff!  Make sure you support our teams as they compete against the world’s best!!

You might also like to check out profiles of the 2012 New Zealand Olympic team including our hockey players and other athletes.

Make sure you come along to the library for our free school holiday activities all about Paralympics and Olympics 2012.  Meet a Paralympian and try out their special sporting equipment!  For more information phone 499 4444 or visit us online.

And here’s a selection of some of the hockey books available at the library:

Athletics at the Olympics

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Olympics Countdown: 31 days to go!

Did you know that athletics is the biggest Olympic sport?  A massive 2000 athletes will compete across a range of track, field and road events.  These include sprints, hurdles, relays, shot put, high jump, pole vault and marathons.  It’s an extremely technical sport and athletes have to be very precise with their performance in order to win.  It’s also a lot of fun – many of you may have given these sports a go on your school athletics days.

One of our most well known field athletes is Valerie Adams who has won an amazing three world titles in Shot Put – two Commonwealth Games gold medals and an Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Beijing games.  Check out this Olympic profile on Valerie Adams to find out more information and to see some amazing shot put action shots.

Come along to the library for our free school holiday activities all about Paralympics and Olympics 2012.  Meet a Paralympian and try out their special sporting equipment!  For more information phone 499 4444 or visit us online.

Badminton at the Olympics

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Did you know that badminton is an Olympic sport?  It debuted at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona (so it’s still a relatively new game at the Olympics).  The world’s best badminton players will compete at Wembley Arena on 28th July in front of approximately 6,000 spectators for the 2012 Summer Olympics and their shuttlecocks can travel at speeds in excess of 400km/h – that’s like a high speed train!!  (Thank you London2012.com/badminton for that cool fact!)

Badminton is a great way to get fit and have heaps of fun.  Why not grab some friends and give it a go?  You will need a racquet each, a shuttlecock, and a net (but if you don’t have a net you could improvise and make one!)  Or contact your local badminton club for more information about where you can play.

Make sure you come along to the library for our free school holiday activities all about Paralympics and Olympics 2012.  Meet a Paralympian and try out their special sporting equipment!  For more information phone 499 4444 or visit us online.

And here are some books available at the library to help get you started with badminton:

London Olympics – 35 Days to Go!

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The countdown to the London 2012 Olympic Games is on!  The games commence on July 27th with a spectacular opening ceremony opened by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip and will finish with a closing ceremony on 12th August.

The modern Olympic Games are a huuuge international event (the biggest sporting event in the world in fact) held every 4 years in a specially selected city and they are planned years in advance.  It is estimated that the 2012 Summer Olympics will involve 10,500 athletes from 204 countries competing in 26 different sports with millions of spectators world wide.  Wow!!

Did you know this will be New Zealand’s 24th appearance in the modern Olympic Summer Games?  We first participated in 1908 and have been taking part ever since – and we’ve won a total of 86 medals – go kiwis!!!  Our 2012 athletes will be training incredibly hard right now, preparing themselves for the games – most athletes will have been training nearly their whole lives for this amazing opportunity.  We wish them all the best!

Make sure you come along to the library for our free school holiday activities all about Paralympics and Olympics 2012.  Meet a Paralympian and try out their special sporting equipment!  For more information phone 499 4444 or visit us online.

Here’s a selection of some of the awesome books we have about the modern Olympics: ready, set, go!!!