Who’s ready for the summer games?  We’re only about a week away from the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.  Are you the type of person that loves the Olympics and watches every event, gets super patriotic, and goes for gold?

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Is there a better way to celebrate the games than by having a viewing party?  It’s a great excuse to get your friends together and cheer for the USA.

I’ve put together a few ideas to get your party started.  I’ve got all the things you need to celebrate all the countries around the world.

The Food

Invite all of your friends from different backgrounds and ask them to bring a dish or drink that represents the country they are from.  Or ask your friends to bring a dish from a country they’d like to visit.  This is a great way to try some authentic food from around the world.  We’re so lucky to have neighbors from India which let us try a lot of goodies from their tandoori grill.  We also have some great Filipino friends that always show up with lumpia.

The Decor

There is no better way to decorate than by incorporating the flags from the countries that compete at the Olympics.  There are so many ways to include them.  Hang flags as a garland, use them on the food labels so everyone knows where the dish comes from, and use them to make a centerpiece.  And don’t forget to use the Olympic rings as part of your decor.  I’d recommend buying some foam wreath forms, spray painting them to look like Olympic rings then hot glue them together for a large back drop or even as front door decor.

The Games

While watching the opening ceremonies or your favorite event of the Olympics, it’s a great idea to get all of your guests involved and have some fun with games.  There are a ton of “minute to win it” type games that would be perfect for this party.  Playing a guessing game during the opening ceremonies is a great idea too.  Have your guests guess the country with the smallest number of people and largest number, the closest guess wins. Another easy game option is to have everyone take a flag button for every country they’ve visited, the person with the most buttons wins!

It’s fairly obvious, but using gold medals as prizes or favors is a must.

Kids Activities

It would be easy to involve any kids attending your party in the party games.  However, if the kids need an activity to keep them busy, here is a great tutorial on making Olympic torches.  Kids love to craft, and this one is so fitting for an Olympics viewing party.

I’d recommend having the gold “handles” of the torches already painted so all the kids would need to do is assemble the torches.  It would also be a fun idea to make a bunch of these and group them together for a centerpiece.

Now that you’ve got everything from the food, games, decor, and activities covered, all you need to do is gather your friends up and invite them over to watch the Olympics.  It’s always a fun time to get patriotic and cheer on your country.  Unfortunately, since we cut the cable cord, we’ll have to find alternative ways to watch all of the popular events.

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