Pajama Olympics

Holly and James Gustafson say it's important to give your kids a say when you replace screen time with physical activity. When they plan a Pajama Olympics, each of their five kids plans an event. Here's how you can put together your own active family fun night.

1. Choose a theme. Model games after real Olympic events or use games and equipment you have in the house. If you've got a house full of teens, think about turning your Pajama Olympics into a Minute to Win it Contest.
2.  Ask each child to come up with one event. Help younger children come up with ideas.
3. Use our printable Pajama Olympics rule sheet to record the rules of each game so there's no fighting. Encourage kids to keep it simple, but let them come up with the rules for their event.
4. Set up each event in a different area of the house. Use our printable Pajama Olympics event labels to mark each space.
5. Have fun and make sure you play along instead of watching from the sidelines. Use our printable Pajama Olympics awards or buy some inexpensive, fun active prizes for an awards ceremony.

Event ideas

• Bowling
• Skipping contest
• Sack races
• Basketball
• Balloon volleyball
• Limbo contest
• Stacking cups

Pajama Olympics downloads

Pajama Olympics rule sheet
Pajama Olympics scoresheet
Pajama Olympics event labels
Pajama Olympics awards