The New York Times - USA (2020-06-28)

4 D THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2020

WATCHING ATHLETES COMPETEin

the Summer Olympic Games is a

long-awaited highlight for millions

around the world. It’s a ritual that

comes every four years — a

chance to escape the heat, crank

up the air-conditioning, and watch

televised events like basketball

games, track-and-field relays and

table tennis matches. But with the

coronavirus outbreak forcing the

2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo to

be postponed, viewers will have to

wait another year.

So in the meantime, why not

create your own Olympics? With

most people staying local and

many camps shut down, this is an

opportunity for adults and chil-

dren alike to enjoy a day of fun

activities and family competition.

And it’s not just about the events

— it’s the team spirit, the decora-

tions and the ceremonies that will

make this a memorable day, and

maybe even an annual tradition.

Here are some steps you can

take to plan and organize your

own at-home Summer Olympic

Games.

Bring out the spirit

ahead of time.

You don’t have to wait until Games

day to get everyone excited.

“Part of our camp Olympics’

success is the hype leading up to

it, not just the activities,” said Jed

Dorfman, co-director of Camp

Walt Whitman in Piermont, N.H.,

which hosts a two-night, one-day

Olympics experience for its 425

campers every summer — with

the exception of this one, because

of its pandemic-related closure.

Start out by establishing the

teams. If you are playing as indi-

viduals, each person can choose a

color or grab an old Halloween

costume. You can add to the spirit

with face paint, colored bandan-

nas and beads. “It doesn’t have to

be fancy,” Mr. Dorfman said, “but

without the theatrics, it’s just a

day of playing sports.”

Hang decorations and

the schedule of events.

In advance of the day, have each

individual or team make a poster

to hang with their name (or coun-

try), colors or emblem. The play-

ers can make another poster

together with the Olympic five-

ring symbol. To bring more spirit

to the backyard, you can hang

balloons, flags and banners.

Since this is a competition,

you’ll want to write or print out a

schedule of the planned events,

along with a score sheet that lists

columns for each event, team and

point tally.

A note on scoring: If you’re

playing as two teams, you can

score one point per victory. If you

have multiple teams participating

— either with numerous players

per team or as individuals — you

will need to set up a scoring sys-

tem that designates the number of

points assigned to first place,

second place, third place and so on.

Make it official with an

opening ceremony.

Start the day with the passing-of-

the-torch ritual from team to team

— using a candle, a drawing or an

inflatable plastic torch.

Elizabeth Rovit, a 23-year-old

graduate student and veteran

sleepaway camper, took great

pride in organizing a day of

Olympics for her family this year.

“It’s all about fun family compe-

tition,” announced Ms. Rovit, as

she addressed the other teams

(her parents and two younger

siblings) during the opening

ceremony at their home in Short

Hills, N.J. “Each person for him or

herself during the games, but we

all live under the same roof, so at

the end of the day, we’ll leave it

outside.”

Ms. Rovit then passed a white

candle down the line to each play-

er. Let the games begin.

Keep it safe.

To avoid injuries, safety should

come first. “For younger children,

parents need to lay down rules for

safety, making sure kids run with

their heads up to watch where

they’re going, shoes are tied and

the area is safe from obstacles,”

said Jesse Corben, a physical

education teacher for the Hewlett-

Woodmere school district on Long

Island.

Most games can be played on

grass, and with extra caution, a

paved driveway. When in doubt,

wear a mask, and have a first-aid

kit on hand just in case.

With the coronavirus, you will

want to be wary of activities that

involve close physical proximity,

especially if your Olympics in-

cludes nonfamily members. When

Jaime Schechter, also of Short

Hills, threw a birthday party for

her 7-year-old son, Blake, she

organized specific games so chil-

dren didn’t have to interact

closely. For the three-legged relay,

each boy teamed up with his

mother.

“It was a great way to reconnect

with simple activities and avoid

close contact,” she said.

Choose activities that

emphasize the fun.

Your choice of games and events

will depend on the ages of your

Olympic athletes, as well as your

physical space, but try to include

different activities — some ath-

letic, some strategic, some silly —

that level the playing field and

emphasize the fun. This can be a

chance to enjoy simple, timeless

activities like races, or games

needing more elaborate equip-

ment, like a volleyball net. For

races, it may be helpful to set up

some cones or make some with

other objects. (Search online for

any rules or clarification.)

WATER BASEDBucket brigade;

water-balloon toss; over-and-

under race with a wet sponge;

blow out a candle with a water-

gun competition.

RELAY RACESEgg on a spoon;

potato sack (garbage bags make a

good stand-in); three-legged race;

tipsy waiter (spin around a bat

and carry tray of glasses filled

with water).

GAMESEgg toss; cornhole; volley-

ball or Newcomb; Kan Jam lawn

game (or use a Frisbee and a

bucket); freeze dance; plank

challenge; tug of war; jump rope

contest; capture the flag; Sudoku

(first to finish) and other pencil-

and-pen games; who can build

tallest Lego tower in five minutes;

Hedbanz game.

COURSESGolf with a tennis racket

and ball: Create a course by plac-

ing cones around the yard and see

whose ball touches the cone with

the fewest number of swings.

Sidewalk or Driveway: Using

chalk, make stations by drawing

squares in which each player

performs an activity before going

to the next. For example, bounce a

ball 10 times in one square, hop on

one foot 10 times in another and

ride a scooter to the finish line.

Quickest time wins.

EAT AND DRINK First to finish a

doughnut hanging on a string;

first to eat the cookie on the bot-

tom of a whipped cream pie;

watermelon-eating contest.

Hold a medal ceremony.

For the closing of the games, tally

up the points and then hold a

medal ceremony. You can line up

three low stools, milk crates or

anything safe and stable for the

winners to stand on and accept

their medals. The ceremony is the

time to read out the scores and

acknowledge the winning teams

(and maybe hand out participa-

tion ribbons to everyone).

Remember, it’s meant to be a

day filled with sportsmanship and

fun. “It’s more about the experi-

ence, rather than the winning and

losing,” Mr. Dorfman of Camp

Walt Whitman said.

The official Summer Games may have been postponed, but you can

still create a fun and friendly competition in your backyard.

BY CAREN OSTEN GERSZBERG

Organize Your Own

Olympic Games

NADINE REDLICH

IT’S GOING TObe an unusually strong July for stream-
ing entertainment, led by Disney Plus’s early release

of “Hamilton,” the long-awaited filmed version of the
Broadway phenomenon. Here are our picks for the
best new films and TV series premiering next month.
(Note: Streaming services occasionally change

schedules without giving notice.)

NEW TO DISNEY PLUS

FRIDAY “Hamilton”
In 2016, shortly before the original principal cast of

the Broadway musical dispersed, they performed the
show a few more times in front of a live audience and
a camera crew. At the time, the writer and composer
Lin-Manuel Miranda said he had no definite plans to

release the film. But earlier this year, Disney bought
the rights for a 2021 theatrical release; then the
company’s executives convinced Miranda and his

partners to let Disney Plus go ahead and make the
movie available for streaming this summer, while
people are still stuck at home. Now people who could-
n’t score tickets to the biggest Broadway smash of

the 2010s can sit in their living rooms and enjoy
Miranda’s infectiously tuneful and emotionally affect-
ing retelling of America’s early history, performed by

a cast whose talent and cultural diversity reflect this
country’s greatness.

NEW TO AMAZON

FRIDAY “Hanna” Season 2
The new season expands on the story of the series’s

ruthless heroine (Esme Creed-Miles) to encompass
the training program that spawns other skilled assas-
sins like her. The root appeal of this show — beyond

the supercool action sequences — is its sometimes
heartbreaking take on a young woman who’s a supe-
rior killer but not all that great at ordinary human
feelings. In this new run of episodes, the adults keep-

ing an eye on Hanna (including friendly rivals played
by the excellent Mireille Enos and Dermot Mul-
roney) try to exploit her talents anyway, while she

takes new steps toward independence.

NEW TO NETFLIX

FRIDAY“The Baby-Sitters Club”
The perennially popular “Baby-Sitters Club” book
series has been adapted to the screen before, for a

short-lived 1990 TV show and for an underperform-
ing 1995 feature film. The new Netflix version —
shepherded by the “GLOW” writer/producer Rachel

Shukert and the “Broad City” writer/director/
producer Lucia Aniello — may have greater staying
power. Rather than aiming for anything awkwardly
edgy or wildly off-model, Shukert and Aniello have

instead delivered a kid-friendly show that’s true to
the novels, telling episodic stories about a group of
teenage girls who overcome their differences to run a

small business together. NOEL MURRAY

WATCH THESE

Catch What’s New

On Streaming

‘Hamilton’ is here. And

‘The Baby-Sitters Club’

gets a reboot.

KAILEY SCHWERMAN/NETFLIX

Momona Tamada, left, and Shay Rudolph in
Netflix’s “The Baby-Sitters Club.”

BEST VEGETABLE BASKET

Grillaholics Grill Basket

The best option for cooking diced

vegetables on the grill is the afford-

able Grillaholics Grill Basket. Grape

tomatoes, diced zucchini and egg-

plant get better color and develop

more flavor in this basket because

the larger perforations offer better

heat and air circulation and give the

vegetables more contact with the grill

grate. (Generally, the less contact

that vegetables have with the grill,

the more they steam.) The Grilla-

holics basket is also dishwasher safe,

and the curved handles make it

easier to move the pan around the

grill using tongs. $22 from

Grillaholics.com

BEST BASTING BRUSH

OXO Good Grips Large Silicone

Basting Brush

For grilling chicken or racks of ribs, a

basting brush that can generously

apply barbecue sauce without deteri-

orating over high heat is a must. The

silicone brushes on the OXO Good

Grips Large Silicone Basting Brush

are heat resistant to 600 degrees, so

they won’t melt or leave stray bristles

on your food (as most natural-fiber

pastry brushes will). The dishwasher-

safe brush has two types of silicone

bristles: tapered outer ones, and a

set of flat perforated bristles in the

core of the brush. Between them,

they hold enough sauce that you

won’t need to continuously reapply.

$12 from Amazon.com

BEST GRILLING TONGS

Winco UT-16HT Extra

Heavyweight Utility Tongs

The 16-inch Winco tongs are com-

fortable, easy to use, sturdy and also

long enough to keep your hands a

comfortable distance from the flames

of a blazing hot grill. A bonus: They’re

also some of the most affordable

tongs you can buy. They have a

comfortable “spread” when open,

and the spring provides just enough

resistance, so your hands don’t get

fatigued when grilling for a crowd.

They’re dishwasher safe, too. $9 from

Amazon.com

Whether your grill is

charcoal (cheaper, better

char) or gas (easier to

clean and precision-cook),

you may still be looking for

grilling accessories that

can help upgrade the

cookout. With some good

tools, this could be your

most successful Fourth of

July celebration yet.

BEST GRILL BRUSH

Best BBQ Grill Brush

Leftover gunk on the grates sticks to

food, and the Best BBQ Grill Brush

removes stuck-on sauce and carbon-

ized bits the quickest. With its three

rows of thick-gauge wire bristles, the

brush covers a lot of surface area

with each stroke, and its sturdy

construction refuses to bend during

tough scraping tasks. Unlike the

coiled metal pads on some other

brushes, the Best’s steel bristles stay

intact and upright with no signs of

breakage or shedding. That, com-

bined with a comfortable 10-inch

plastic handle, makes the Best Grill

Brush stand out among a sea of

brushes and scrapers.$15 from

Amazon.com

BEST INSTANT READ

THERMOMETER

ThermoWorks ThermoPop

To ensure you’re consuming meat

and poultry cooked to safe internal

temperatures, add the ThermoWorks

ThermoPop to your grilling tools. The

ThermoPop is quick at reading tem-

peratures, and extremely accurate,

too. The easy-to-read display is

backlit with digits that automatically

rotate in four directions depending on

the thermometer’s orientation, so it’s

legible at almost any angle. It’s not

the fastest thermometer — we’re

talking a difference of just a few

seconds — but it covers all the basics

for home cooks at an affordable

price. $34 from Thermoworks.com

The New

Essentials:

Fire Up

The Grill

This list is adapted from Wirecutter,
the New York Times company that
reviews and recommends products.