Gather with friends and family to celebrate this moment of world unity by watching the Summer 2024 Olympic Games. I’m all in for creating a fun Olympic Watch Party. . . and creating memories for a lifetime.

When my producer at Studio-5 asked me to create plans for an Olympic Opening Games Watch Party to share on today’s show, I was ALL IN!! Hook, line, sinker! Watch my Studio-5 Olympic Watch Party segment HERE.

I LOVE the Summer Olympics – in all caps! I love the pageantry of it. I love the long and ancient traditions. I love the excitement of competition. To me, the Olympics is the epitome of that iconic opening line from the old TV program Wild World of Sports? (For those of us old enough to remember that far back. . . ). It’s all about “The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat.”

My Olympic Memoires

I have fond memories of watching the Summer Olympic Games with all my siblings, all gathered in a semi-circle around our small TV in the living room. We watched every single evening for the whole two weeks of competitions. I clipped articles and photos of Olympic stories from the newspaper and hung them on my bedroom wall. 

Gymnastics was hands down my favorite of all the events. I watched Nadia Comăneci score a perfect 10 on the uneven bars in 1976. We watched on a little black and white TV set with rabbit ears covered in tin foil to get reception.  

In 1984 we poured Wheaties for our “breakfast of champions” from boxes with big photos of Mary Lou Retton. Then we watched her win her medals on a much larger color TV that had a VCR attached to it. Oh, and my sister cut her hair so she’d look just like Mary Lou.

Some Olympic Watch Traditions Have Changed. . .

It’s so much more convenient now. We can stream. We can play back. We can watch any ol’ time. I have to say; despite the lack of connivence, there was something uniting, something special, about having to watch it at one particular moment in time, live. At the very same time that everyone else in the world was gathered around their own TV sets, watching the same historic moments. 

Creating New Olympic Traditions

The opening ceremonies will kick things off next Friday evening. I’m making plans to create some new tradtitions for my own family. I’ve had great fun coming up with watch party themes and decor for this weeks Studio-5 episode. If you missed it on TV, or don’t live in Utah or Idaho, you can still see it HERE. 

I’ve created detailed tutorials for each of my Olympic themed projects. Click the links below to see and make them. There’re all pretty quick. The projects are all super do-able. 

Olympic Ring Vase Tutorial ~ HERE

And don’t forget to send me photos of your own Olympic themed projects and parties!