Olympic Rings Counting

The Olympic rings provide a perfect context for practicing counting to 5 while learning about global geography.

Objectives

Materials

Instructions

Prepare your learning environment with a large, colourful display of the Olympic rings. Gather five large hoops in the appropriate colours (or create paper rings), and have a world map accessible for geographic connections. Place counting manipulatives nearby for hands-on practice.

Gather children near the Olympic rings display and spark wonder: 'Look at these five beautiful circles! They're called the Olympic rings, and they're very special. Let's discover why!'

Begin with counting: 'How many rings do you see? Let's count together—one, two, three, four, five! Five rings!' Practise counting the rings in different directions (left to right, right to left, top row then bottom) to reinforce that the quantity stays the same regardless of counting direction.

Introduce the colours with a memorable rhyme: 'Blue, yellow, black, green, red—five rings above our head!' Point to each ring while chanting, then have children echo the rhyme. Practise several times until the colour sequence becomes familiar.

Explain the meaning of each ring in age-appropriate terms: 'Each ring stands for a big part of our world where people live. The blue ring is for one place, the yellow for another, and so on! And look—the rings are holding hands, interlocking together! That shows that people from all these places come together at the Olympics to be friends.'

Move to the hands-on portion where children can create the Olympic ring pattern using coloured hoops on the floor. Guide them to arrange the rings correctly: three on top (blue, black, red) and two below (yellow, green), with the rings interlocking. Count together as each ring is placed.

Connect to geography by locating different parts of the world on the map. While the rings don't correspond to specific continents, help children understand that 'people come from HERE, and HERE, and HERE—from all over the world!'

Culminate with an Olympic rings art activity where children create their own five-ring design while counting and naming colours. Display the artwork with the class chant: 'Blue, yellow, black, green, red—five rings above our head!'

Educator tip

Use the rhyme: 'Blue, yellow, black, green, red—five rings above our head!' The rhythmic chant helps children remember both the colours and the counting.

Assessment

Observe and note: ability to follow two-step instructions, use of new vocabulary in context, early problem-solving strategies, and sustained shared thinking episodes. Assess against Development Matters age-band expectations. Observe student's ability to count to 5 and recognise the Olympic ring colours.

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