Facts About the Paralympics for Kids

The Paralympic Games is an incredible international sports competition where athletes with disabilities showcase their talents, determination and athleticism. The Summer Paralympic Games and Olympic Games occur just once every four years, making the excitement and anticipation much stronger for viewers and athletes alike! Today, we are sharing some fun facts about the Paralympic Games to help engage and motivate your students.

The Teach Starter Teacher Team want to not only save you some research time but also help you engage and motivate your students with these titbits of information that can be shared during your morning meetings, on the whiteboard or in your class discussions. Paralympians demonstrate incredible skill, determination and resilience in their preparation and competition. Classroom discussions about the Paralympic Games can be eye-opening and help you teach valuable lessons about inclusion and equality.

Please keep reading for all our Paralympic facts and discussion ideas to share with, educate and engage your kids.

What Are the Paralympics?

The Paralympics is a major international sports competition for athletes with disabilities, held alongside the Olympic Games every four years.

In 2024, the Summer Olympic Games will take place from July 26 to August 11, followed by the Summer Paralympic Games from August 28 to September 8, both in Paris, France.

Paralympics History Facts

Need to learn more about the history of the Paralympic Games? Have no fear! Take a look at this brief history:

• 1944: Dr. Ludwig Guttmann opened a spinal injuries unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital at the British Government’s request. After World War II, sports for athletes with impairment evolved from rehabilitation and recreational sports that assisted war veterans and civilians who had been injured during the war into the competitive Paralympic Games we know and watch today.
• 1948: In a milestone for Paralympic history, Dr. Guttmann organised the first competitive event for injured servicemen and women, the Stoke Mandeville Games. This was held as part of the Opening Ceremony of the 1948 London Olympic Games.
• 1960: The first Summer Paralympic Games was hosted in Rome, Italy, with 400 athletes from 23 countries (including Australia)!
• 1976: The first Winter Paralympic Games was hosted in Sweden.
• 1988: The Summer Paralympic Games in Seoul, Korea, marked the beginning of the Paralympic Games being held in the same cities and venues as the Olympics.
• 1989: The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) was founded as the global governing body of the Paralympic movement.
• 2001: A formal agreement was signed, the “One Bid, One City” agreement, ensuring that from 2008 onwards, the Olympics and Paralympics would always share host cities.

Paralympics Facts for Kids

Now that you know a bit of Paralympic history, here are some additional facts to round out your lessons!

1. The four values of the Paralympic movement are courage, determination, inspiration, and equality. Paralympics Australia’s values are brave, limitless, tenacious, and proud.
2. The name “Paralympics” combines the Greek preposition “para” which means “beside” or “alongside” and “Olympics,” signifying that the Paralympic Games is an event that runs alongside the Olympic Games.
3. The symbols of the Paralympics are three Agitos, which means ‘I move’ in Latin. The three Agitos are blue, red and green.
4. Trischa Zorn is an American Paralympian swimmer who is the most decorated Paralympian with 55 (including 41 gold) medals!
5. To compete in the Paralympics, athletes must have an eligible impairment and meet the classification criteria set by each sport’s international federation.
6. The Paralympics includes eight disability groups: loss of limbs, muscle weakness, coordination impairments, restricted joint movement, short stature, leg length difference, intellectual impairment, and vision impairment.
7. Wheelchair Basketball uses the same hoop height used in the Olympic Games.
8. Did you know you can qualify to play in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games? Athletes such as Melissa Tapper from Australia (Para-Table Tennis and Table Tennis) and Marla Runyan from the USA (Athletics) have competed in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
9. There are 28 Paralympic sports (22 in the Summer Games and 6 in the Winter Games), including Para-Archery, Boccia, Para-Rowing, Wheelchair Tennis, Para-Alpine Skiing and many more.
10. Gold medals in the Paralympic Games are actually silver medals plated with gold. In the 2020 Tokyo Olympic/Paralympic Games, each medal was made from recycled consumer electronics.
11. The Paralympic Games always take place two weeks after the Olympic Games.
12. The only sports exclusive to the Paralympic Games are Para-Powerlifting, Goalball and Boccia.
13. Athletes competing in wheelchair fencing have wheelchairs fastened to the floor so they cannot move. Fencing matches are quite intense, with the competitors so close to each other.
14. Paralympian swimmers cannot compete with prostheses. They must swim without them.
15. Wheelchair Rugby in the Paralympics is a mixed-team sport meaning both male and female athletes can compete against each other.
16. The balls for Goalball and Blind Football are filled with bells so competitors with visual impairments can hear them.

Paralympics Activities for School

Are your students fascinated by all the incredible facts and figures surrounding the Paralympics? Continue boosting their enthusiasm with some of these classroom activity ideas:

Lead Discussion Questions

Discussing the Paralympic Games with your students is a great opportunity to get your kids to think critically and creatively. Use some of these prompts in your next morning meeting discussion:

• What qualities of Paralympians demonstrate the values of the Paralympic Movement: courage, determination, inspiration, and equality?
• Do you think athletes should be able to compete in both the Olympics and Paralympics? Why or why not?
• What questions would you like to ask a Paralympian?
• How can everyone be inclusive during games or sports at school?
• If you could add another sport to the Paralympic Games, what would it be?

Create a Collage

The four Paralympic values are courage, determination, inspiration and equality and the four Australian Paralympic Team values are brave, tenacious, limitless and proud. Have your students cut out text or images from old magazines and create a collage that represents these values in small groups or independently. When they’ve finished, have them present their collage to the class and explain why they chose some of their cutouts.

Add Paralympic Books to Your Classroom Library

Want to diversify your classroom library further? Consider these titles to collect for your students to browse independently or read aloud to the class:

• What Are the Paralympic Games? by Gail Herman
• Amazing Facts: Olympics & Paralympics by Caroline Rowlands
• Wheelchair Sports at the Paralympics by Matt Bowers
• Lucas at the Paralympics by Igor Plohl
• Declan Farmer: Paralympic Hocky Star by Sports Illustrated Kids

We hope all these Paralympic facts and activities will help your students have insightful class time and enjoy the Paralympic Games that much more! To continue learning about the Paralympic Games, visit the Paralympics Australia website and the IPC website or follow along via Instagram. You can also watch videos and introduce different sports to your students via YouTube.