Beijung Summer Olympic Games
From 8 August

The Beijing Olympics
The Olympics are held every four years and are hosted by one country.  
This year the Olympics are in China, in the city of Beijing.  Britain will be hosting 
the Olympics in London in 2012.

The Olympic Flag
The Olympic flag is white with five coloured connecting rings. 

There are five rings to symbolise the five continents from which the competing nations
  come: Europe, Asia, Australasia, Africa and the Americas (which are counted as one).  
The rings are red, green, blue, yellow, and black.  These represent the colours of 
national flags.  All the flags of the world are made up of combinations of these colours.  
The rings are joined together to represent the unity of the nations of the world.  

Every country likes to wave their own flags at the games and they also have
mascots who represent them.
Our official British mascot for the games is a lion called "Pride"

  

copyright http://www.olympics.org.uk/beijing2008/education.aspx

You will find Pride on the official UK website: www.olympic.org/uk/
where there is also a very sophisticated online mini game to play:
www.olympic.org/uk/games

However, the cutest mascots come from the Beijing Organizing Commitee.  
They have created five Chinese Olympic mascots, called "Fuwa", who carry a message
 of friendship and peace to children all over the world.   

Each is the colour of one of the Olympic rings.  Four of the characters are popular 
Chinese creatures, one the Olympic flame.  Each of these symbolises something 
that the Chinese people wish for all the peoples of the world.   
(Images - Copyright The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad).
    Beibei - a fish, represents prosperity

  Jingjing - a panda, represents happiness

  Huanhuan – the Olympic flame, represents passion

  Yingying – a Tibetan antelope, represents health

  Nini – a swallow, represents good luck.

If you put all five names together they say: Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni – which means 
“Welcome to Beijung”.

The National Anthem
When an athlete comes first in his event or race, he wins a gold medal and stands on
a podium to receive it.  Everyone cheers and the band plays his country's national anthem.
This national anthem for the UK - see if mum and dad can sing the words correctly, most
people can't remember more than the first two lines!

"God save our gracious Queen!
Long live our noble Queen!
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the Queen."

The best place to find out more about the Olympics is:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/summergames/
You'll find straightforward information, interactive games, a Beijing blog, photo gallery and quiz.

You can find out how the Olympics started in Ancient Greece here:
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ancientgreece/

 

General Finding Out Links

If you'd like to learn French or Spanish in a way that feels like playing, then have a look at the wonderful BBC websites.  The link is:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/4_11/site/languages.shtml  

Another great site for learning French is:
http://www.kidsrcrafty.com/
Here you can make crafts, print off games or colouring in pages, with everything in English and French.  A great resource!

http://www.dorlingkindersley-uk.co.uk/static/cs/uk/11/clipart/home.html
Dorling Kindersley has decided to make beautiful photos available as clipart for homework.  The images are in categories (history, animals etc), so you can find the image you need and copy it.  Your homework will be looking very professional from now on!

Kids studying the Tudors might like to try their hand at entertaining Queen Elizabeth I, in this online game from English Heritage.
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.8415
You take the role of Lord or Lady of a castle and have to keep the queen entertained when she comes to visit - she seems to be very demanding!

There are great games and activities on this History website.  You can joust like a Tudor, patrol the streets as a Victorian policeman, send and receive coded messages like a real spy and find out how you would have coped in World War Two.  Visit:  http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/teachers/kids.htm

Another great site for help with homework is the web version of TIME magazine.  It has a Homework Help Research button plus a wonderful Round the World section where you can find out all about all the countries of the world.  http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids

Need to hear the news in a child-friendly way?  What could be better than the BBC's Newsround?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/default.stm

Try the Learning Journey website for help with your next piece of homework.  There are some great study sheets to print off on all sorts of subjects, such as Romans, Tudors, plants, electricity and festivals.  Well worth a look!

San Francisco's Exploratorium is a bit like our Science Museum in London.  If you like science, or are just wondering what to do on a wet weekend, there are loads of fun activities to try on the Exploratorium website: http://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/
You can also find little bite sized experiments called "snacks" on this site http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/
Do take a look at these pages as they are set out very clearly and have endless ideas to keep you entertained.

Used to love Sesame Street?  Then you'll love this, especially if you're learning to read or just starting to read well.
http://www.starfall.com/

Need some more practice with maths, so that you can really impress your teacher (but without getting bored?)  Try this fun site where you simply have to balance some scales to find the correct answers:
http://www.wmnet.org.uk/wmnet/custom/files_uploaded/uploaded_resources/850/calcbalancev3.swf

If you enjoy Jamie Oliver's programme about school dinners try this site: 
http://www.bhf.org.uk/food4thought/
It's designed to look like a kids' magazine so is full of games and great pics.  

National Geographic for Kids: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/
Great for help with homework, activities, games.

Top Marks Homework Help: http://www.topmarks.co.uk/
This site is organised by subject and age group so it’s easy to quickly find the information you need.

Learn how to tell the time:  http://www.flikflak.com/games/time/index.php
A game from Flik Flak watches. 

Free Peel and Stick “5 a day” activity sheet for 3-7 year olds:
http://www.bhf.org.uk/publications/description.asp?secondlevel=417&artID=4565

Astronomy for kids:
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild

 

FILM WEBSITES:

 Charlotte's Web Resources

http://www.charlotteswebmovie.com/site/index.php  
The website also has spin offs to loads of fun activities.  

There are lovely colouring sheets featuring your favourite characters to print off at:  http://www.walden.com/walden/create/charlotte/coloring.php
If you scroll further down the same page you can also find Fern's Sketchbook to colour in, an activity calendar and two games; Wilbur's Barn Break and Memory Match.  (Just click on the titles on the website to go to them.)

Make a papier mache Wilbur piggy bank with the instructions at:
http://fun.familyeducation.com/childrens-art-activities/crafts/36120.html?detoured=1
There's a Charlotte's Web Quiz, a Creepy Crawlies Quiz, a word search and more about the book
 "Charlotte's Web" on:  http://school.familyeducation.com/literature/childrens-book/34670.html

There is a wonderful website made entirely by second graders at Pocantici Hills primary school in America.  It has chapter summaries of the book "Charlotte's Web", a photo journal of the children's farm visit to meet some pigs and various puzzles and quizzes.  It it a wonderful example of just what kids can achieve themselves. 
http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/charlotte/

You can write a book (or film) review of "Charlotte's Web" onto this printable page.  It has a lovely farmyard border to colour in too.  http://www.abcteach.com/ebwhite/bookreport.htm

RATATOUILLE.  
As the official website for this film is a Disney one, it's full of good things.  You can watch a long film trailer, explore Linguini's apartment in Montmartre, play games and evn download daily recipes.  http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/ratatouille

SHREK THE THIRD.  (There's a trailer, downloads, games and a soundtrack, plus Virtual Shrekland and Shrek Sudoku at:
http://www.shrek.com/main.html
It'll probably take you as long to explore this website as it would to watch the film!

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX.  
There is an action-packed trailer at:
http://www.harrypotterorderofthephoenix.com/
Your kids can join Dumbledore's Army by visiting:
http://joindumbledoresarmy.warnerbros.com
Where they can practice Defence Against the Dark Arts spells and charms, meet the members of Dumbledore's Army and even recruit new members from their own website.

THE SIMPSONS MOVIE 
Explore a virtual Springfield, visit Moe's tavern and play games, plus watch the movie trailers at www.simpsonsmovie.com

EVAN ALMIGHTY.  The official website for this film has masses to keep you amused.  From the menu page you can explore the ark.  You can read extracts form "Ark building for Dummies", watch the Evan dance video and learn the moves, take an interactive history lesson, play games and animal Sudoku.  There is also a wonderful Activity Book to download which would be perfect for taking on holiday as it has puzzles, facts, a wordsearch, a maze, a crossword, spot-the-difference and activities to keep kids occupied for ages.  
You can find all this at:
www.evanalmighty.com 

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN:  AT WORLD'S END. Check out the official website for a trailer, downloads and videos.  The web address is:  http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/pirates/atworldsend/

Pirates of the Caribbean Resources
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/pirates/

FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER.  The official website is:  http://www.riseofthesilversurfer.com/

Meet the Robinsons Resources
View the exciting trailer at:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/meettherobinsons/
As this is a Disney film, there is a very sophisticated website with games, videos, downloads and a personality quiz.  
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/meettherobinsons/

Mr Bean Resources

http://www.beansholiday.com/flash.html  Official film website.
http://www.mrbean.co.uk/  This fun site has clips, downloads, games and e-cards to keep you entertained. 

Happy Feet Resources

The official website is great fun.  You can meet the characters and watch a trailer, then download - desktops, posters, screensavers, bookmarks and door hangers, plus a printable Tip-tap-toe Game.
http://wwws.warnerbros.co.uk/happyfeet/

Watch a penguin slide show at:
http://www.siec.k12.in.us/~west/proj/penguins/slide3.html
Learn how to draw a penguin:
http://www.unclefred.com/draw/penguin/penguin1.html
Find out more about penguins by visiting Penguin Planet, where you can do a penguin quiz and wordsearch and download a penguin mask:
http://kevinschafer.com/penguinplanet/kids.html
There's a Penguin Panic game at:
http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/g2/penguin.htm
Freeze the penguins by clicking your mouse to stop them running around madly.