At Get Set to Eat Fresh we love winter sports! To celebrate the arrival of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, why not brush up your knowledge with our top facts and try our variety of Winter Challenges with children at home or in the classroom. 

5 quick facts

• In 1924 the first Olympic Winter Games took place and had just 10,004 spectators. In recent times that number would only fill half of a stadium.
• The Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games will include 15 different sports: luge, figure skating, speed skating, short track speed skating, ice hockey, skeleton, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, nordic combination skiing, freestyle skiing, ski jumping, bobsleigh, biathlon, curling and snowboarding. 
• Team GB’s record for total medals won at an Olympic Winter Games is five. 
• The Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 will coincide with Chinese New Year this year. This year is the year of the tiger. 
• The motto for this year’s Winter Games in Beijing is “Together for a Shared Future”, this message symbolises the importance of community and how we face challenges together, particularly during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Winter Challenges

In celebration of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, coinciding with Chinese New Year, check out these creative and active challenges. How many can you complete? 

Move like a tiger

Chinese New Year falls on the 31 January - 6 February 2022. This will coincide with the beginning of the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. This Chinese New Year is the year of the tiger. Your first challenge is to get active by moving like a tiger!

• Leap to catch your prey
• Stalk animals in the forest and wilderness
• Stretch out your body and arch your back to relax your hunting muscles
• Finally give it your biggest growl to let the animal kingdom know you are coming!
• How many more tiger moves can you think of?

Fresh celebrations

The opening and closing of the Olympic Games is often celebrated with fireworks and this is also true for Chinese New Year. Your second challenge is to create a firework display inspired snack, using healthy food choices. Select fresh fruit and vegetables as they are bright and full of colour, just like the best fireworks! Carrot and celery sticks with strips of pepper work well to create an explosion shape, perhaps with your favourite dip in the centre.

How many colour combinations can you make from the food in your fridge? 

 

Hungry for more

A day at the Olympic Games can be a long one! One dish that is popular in China are steamed or fried dumplings. These dumplings can be filled with lots of different fillings, a popular choice is vegetables and pork. Your next challenge is to create your own pack lunch dumplings for a spectator to take with them to an Olympic event. You can try a traditional pork and chive or vegetable filling, or get creative with your own mix of ingredients. 

Extra challenge: Create your own packaging for your dumplings, what will be appealing to spectators at the Games? Think about how much you would price this lunch for, what would be a reasonable price that will both earn a profit and please the spectators? 
Did you know? Dumplings are also common in other countries in Asia, with pork a popular filling in many places! Why not try these Japanese dumplings called gyozas at home as a tasty dinner?

Ski superstars

Skiing forms a big part of the list of sports events in the Olympic Winter Games, cross-country, alpine, nordic combined, freestyle skiing and ski jumping are all events at Beijing 2022. Your next challenge is to create your own no-snow ski event! 

For example, imagine you are one of the skiers competing in ski jumping in Beijing. What iconic pose would you do when up in the air after doing a jump? Team up with a small group of friends and put your poses together to make a sequence that everyone can follow. 
Alternatively, create a mini cross country course to complete around your living room, garden or a local park. Decide your route and complete as fast as you can using ‘ski jumps’ to move around. 

1. Start with legs slightly wider than shoulder width apart and knees bent, then shift all your weight to your left. 
2. Springing from your left leg, jump forward and wide, landing on your right leg, landing with your knee slightly bent and keeping your balance.
3. Next, jump forward and wide from your right to land on your left. 
4. Repeat to complete your course – swinging your arms as if holding ski poles as you go to help you move forward and keep your balance! 

Get creative! What other events could you recreate?

Design your own snowboard!

Snowboarding is a thrilling part of the Olympic Winter Games. You may notice when watching the snowboarding at home that the athletes have different designs on their boards. Your final challenge is to create your own snowboard design inspired by your favourite fruit and vegetables. Think about the colours, textures and shapes of these foods you could use to create a unique design to help Team GB athletes stand out on the slopes. 

Share your Winter Challenges!

Whatever you do, please share your stories or images of you Winter Challenges with #GetSetEatFresh or as a showcase on our community page to celebrate your great work! We love to see all your ideas.