A dolphin called Andy Murray

Poor kids. Another week and there will be nothing to watch on TV. Who cares about SpongeBob’s squarepants and Spiderman, when somewhere very close to planet Earth, in fact right all over it, are the real superheroes. Tangible, their superhuman bodies totally normal and perfectly human.
I don’t know about other kids, but the Olympics had a profound effect on mine. So much that a mosaic dolphin in the pool – a lovable creature which was lovably called Gogo has been renamed into Andy Murray (pronounced Handy Marri).

And if i am to continue to be a lovable parent, I am required to immediately find Basketball, Badminton, Beach VolleyBall, Ping Pong, Water Polo sport clubs in addition to Tennis, Judo, Swimming and Football.

I am off on my mission and of course taking recommendations, numbers. Coaches and sport teachers are in for their grteatest year yet.

Fact.

 

 

Olympic Friday

As all countdowns go, they inevitably get to the magic number and the clocks stops today. It’s a perfect Friday to get all drawn in by the super powers of the athletic sports men and women. Ready boys and girls?

Team Y & O is wearing sportswear by Yummy & O.L.M.P.C and getting ready to watch the real gods of sport in action.

Kids are ‘Citizens of the World’

Please forgive me or correct me, I may be wrong, but from the viewpoint of a Londoner, there is one thing that is evident and that is how multi-talented, multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-skilled the new generation of kids are.

Given their parent’s wild mix of cultures, the kids inherit a fusion of traditions and languages and schools are doing brilliantly at broadening these horizons even further.

The friends of this new generation come from all sorts of countries, which has a variety of interesting outcomes: from vast knowledge of geography at the age of 4, to loving affinity for travel, new things and traditions.

This new generation is in a sense even more grounded than we are: but in many things. They are curious about the world, about the relationships between different people. They don’t believe in boundaries and they want to do good. They are the natural ‘Citizen of the World’ with multi tasking and tech built in, geared towards progress and entrepreneurship.

A recent series of filming by Yummy & O.L.M.P.C (to be released soon) has shown that even at the age of 3,5-4 kids are curious about all sorts of sports and not just ballet. They know about hockey and long jumps, tennis and Polo, swimming and ice skating, Judo and football.

That’s the spirit. Proud.

How boys invented Football (Chapter 3)

Apollo, Hermes and Zeus were at the big field one afternoon. The weather was sunny but not too hot and they wanted to do something fun together, when they have spotted a colourful ball by the trees.

‘Yey, the ball is my favourite thing in the world, there are so many games to play’! Said Zeus happily as he was getting the ball and throwing it in the air.

‘Like what’? – said Hermes

‘Well, for example, there is one: you just pass it along to each other and the one who doesn’t catch it is the looser’.

‘I can think of a better one’, said Apollo. ‘Each of us needs to balance the ball on our heads and the one who can balance the longer wins’!

‘How about we split into 2 teams and pass the ball to each other so that 1 team wins’ commented Hermes

‘Great idea! we’ll need to put some lines on the field so we know where the boundaries are!’ exclaimed Apollo, already looking for a piece of thread to use as the boundary line

‘ That’s a great game, let’s say that we can only pass the ball with our feet or occasionally with our heads, we can’t throw the ball over the boundaries and to win each team will need to get the ball into the goals on either side of the field’ – Zeus summed up the rules for everyone.

‘Let’s give this great game a name! How about ‘Foot’ ‘ball’ ? – said Apollo happily

‘Football it is’ cried everyone running off onto the pitch!

 

We are filming.

This weekend we’ll find out about all about why sports are fun, which sports are worth doing and what sports should other kids get involved with. All opinions from the kids themselves.

It’ll be fun.

All places are filled for this filming, but auditions are open for next time. Keep in touch and if you have a little sports hero, drop us a line!

Favourite sports of Kids in UK

Yummy & O.L.M.P.C is setting out to explore the favourite sports of kids in UK, to find out what they like and why and to encourage kids to inspire their peers to try out new sports. Do you have a little champion between 2 and 8 years old? can she tell other kids which is her favourite sport? We want to know more! Please get in touch via our Facebook Yummy & Olympic group.

Sport is an incredibly inspirational way for kids to learn and to have fun – it is all about achievement, reward and kids seeing how proud adults and their peers are of their actions. It is incredible that in UK kids are able to do all kinds of sports very early on: take scooter as an example, there is no getting away from it, it’s the ultimate best present for a toddler who mastered walking and running.

Football, Tennis, Ballet, Cycling, Judo, Karate, Swimming, Horse riding – these sports are favourites with young kids and usually they want to try a sport because they heard about it from their friends and peers. We want to find out which other sports they like.

All of us have at least one champion at heart whose progress we follow religiously. First steps cause a frenzy worth an olympic qualifier, first tennis lessons or ballet twirls or football kicking – and we are ecstatic. We are all proud, in our own way and we do everything, as parents, grandparents, aunts, friends and uncles to support the little ones getting better and better with every day.

 

Chapter 2: Aphrodite inspires Athena to try out Ballet

Aphrodite was the Goddess of Ballet and Gymnastics. A graceful princess, she was returning from her ballet lessons at the cherry orchard, when she saw Athena and Apollo.

‘Hey Athena, the lesson was so much fun today. I was watching a video about my great great grandma Aphrodite, the goddess of Beauty and Youth. She was such a talented dancer, now i know whom i got my special moves from! It was the ‘Swan Lake’ that she was performing, she was wearing a white tutu and white feathers in her hair and moving so graciously across the stage in tiny fluttering steps (called Pas).. like this… see now i am doing first position, now it’s a curtesy and now a jump.

‘Aphrodite, you look beautiful, i wish i can dance like that as well!’

‘Well, we willl! I am rehearsing for the Olympic Ballet Performance in July, let’s meet at the cherry orchard. Do you have a tutu to wear?

‘A tutu?’ asked Athena

‘Yes, a tutu is a special dress that you wear for ballet. For rehearsals it’s quite simple, a stretchy tight body and a small light skirt, but at the actual performances there are just beautiful costumes. We can look through some of the most beautiful ones together?’

‘It sounds like fun! Yes, I would love to. I never tried Ballet before. Is it difficult?’

‘Oh, athena, it’s not difficult at all, but you have to pay attention and repeat after me. Before we learn to dance, you need to learn French. All the ballet moves are in French, because France is where the ballet was born’.

‘I can’t wait. Aphrodite what are the words I need to know?’

‘Ok. First: À la seconde. Comsa!

‘I really like  ’A la seconde’ said Athena. Am I doing it right? What’s next?’

Oh next, my favourite! A ‘Grand Jeté’ – you do it comsa Athena: you jump up in the air and float gracefully before landing very quietly. You start from one leg and land on the other, it’s a split in the air. It is most often done forward and usually involves doing full leg splits in mid-air. It consists basically of a grand écart with a moving jump. I think. Got it?’

‘I think so shouted Athena happily, jumping high into the air…

Athena and Aphrodite are wearing sportswear for children by Yummy & O.L.M.P.C

Pre-orders available now katerina@yummyolympic.com

Full collection launching soon on yummyolympic.com

Generation ‘S’ for Scooter: do you zip?

Kids have certainly gone mobile and not only on their parent’s iPads which they have now claimed as their own, but on their own modes of transport. It is also handy that their favourite mode of transport now comes in as many colours and models as an adult’s car. Pink, neon green, subtle blue, yellow or red, the choice is theirs. Yes, it’s the Scooters.

Colourful scooters and happy kids zip about the London streets all day long and smart parents have nothing else but to find a stylish matching solution… So fastforward 2 years, it’s not the car parking lots or the electrical parking charges – it’ll be the scooter lanes that we will need.

Yummy & Olympic is voting for Scootering as Britain’s favourite kid sport and Athena, the goddess of Exploring and Scooter certainly agrees:

Athena is wearing sportswear for kids by Yummy & O.L.M.P.C

Custom orders available now, please email katerina@yummyolympic.com

Full collection launching soon on yummyolympic.com

Chapter 1: Apollo and Athena preparing for the Olympic Tennis Tournament

Leisurely scootering past the swimming lake, there are Apollo and Athena, who have just finished practicing their serves and throws ahead of the big Olympic Tennis Tournament.

‘I am just so good at serves’ continued boasting Apollo in his usual charming way. ‘Do you know why I am the best at the serves? In fact, the bestest? The best of the bestest? Why? Why?’

‘Apollo!!’ interrupted Athena impatiently, ‘you are making up words that don’t exist. And secondly, yes your serves are very fast but today you kept throwing them too hard so that they kept ending up outside the court!’

‘Oh, Athena!! it doesn’t matter, does it. Most important thing is that i can hit it as hard as I can and it will go so fast, like the lightning. ooo in fact, i have to tell Zeus, he’ll be really amazed. We can shoot penalties together later and who is the fastest!!’

‘Oh, Apollo, you are doing it again. Its not the speed of lightening that counts in tennis, does it? It’s getting the ball into the right side of the court. It’s the skill, not the speed. Otherwise you will keep loosing points. Got it?’

‘Well maybe i agree, just a little bit, but common, isn’t it fun to just shoot it so so so so high into the sky or even shoot it off the court. haha i have just remembered: I got this beautiful serve and it just passed over the net and landed so close to the front that you didn’t have enough time to catch it!’ exclaimed Apollo really pleased with himself.

Athena was beginning to loose her temper and wanted to remind Apollo that she was in fact the Goddess of Tennis as well as he was, but Apollo interrupted her thoughts saying:

‘Righty right, i shall be off. Hermes and me were planning a cycling challenge and I need to change into my cycling shoes. I will see you tomorrow for more practice and Hera said she’ll be the judge, she knows the rules and will be counting the points. Adios Athena!

‘Bye’. Uff, why do the boys have to boast so much? If I could create a perfect tournament I will only have girls. Girls are fun to play with and boys just want to win all the time. ‘Oh, Aphrodite!’ shouted Athena really pleased to see her friend….

(to be continued tomorrow when we learn all about Ballet from Aphrodite)

‘Jumping in Muddy Puddles’ – an Olympic sport for kids

What could be a more natural sport for kids in Britain than ‘Jumping in Muddy Puddles’?

Think about it. Brazillian kids are always pictured kicking the ball, Italian kids are basking in the sun and playing by the sea. Northern kids are sledging and skiing. The constant presence of rain in Britain lately has got me thinking about a naturally British sport for kids that would take into account our wonderful climate. Yes we have tennis and grass hockey and Horseriding but all prove to be a costly exercise for kids as it is guaranteed to be raining 70% of the time and lessons are cancelled if not indoors.

So may be, just may be Peppa Pig is right: The ultimate sport of the oinking generation is to be ‘Jumping in Muddy Puddles’? Well at least we know that they will do it in style and gracefully, taking the best moves they learnt from their ballet and kickboxing classes…

Now, the Olympic Committee is probably not going to rush off their feet to add it to the official tournaments but we thought why the heck not? What do you think?