The 2012 Summer Olympics start this evening, July 27th with the opening ceremonies and finishes with the closing ceremonies on Sunday, August 12th. It’s easy these days to stay connected to the Olympics using Social Media and watch your favorite sports and follow athlete highlights at your convenience. Check the guide below to find the best Olympics sites for families.
Turn the Olympics into teachable moments. Common Sense Media put together a great list of open-ended questions to ask children, as a starting point for more meaningful conversation about the Olympics. Read the full article here.
1. Talk about inspiration. What makes a person want to compete?
2. Get to know the athletes. Explore their back stories.
3. Discuss teamwork.
4. Talk about the competition (not just the winners).
5. The Olympics are a global sport. Talk about the different countries competing in this worldwide event.
6. Discuss the meaning of the advertising since it will be everywhere. Teach kids how to make sense of the messaging.
Guide to the best Olympics sites for families:
- Official London 2012 Facebook page
. At the Official London 2012 Facebook page, you can get breaking Olympics news, photo galleries, polls, and trivia. With your guidance, kids can check out the latest comments and even join in the conversation.
- NBC Olympics Page
. A partnership between NBC Universal’s Olympics division and Facebook will provide moment-to-moment coverage both on TV and on the site.
- Official Olympics tweets
: @London2012
, @Olympics
, @NBCOlympics
- Olympic Sports (twitter.com/London2012/olympic-sports): 
Tweets from every sport.
- The Olympic Athlete’s Hub (hub.olympic.org/)
: Social media feeds from every athlete.
YouTube

- YouTube will be streaming all the events live on NBCOlympics.com. (You have to be a cable subscriber to watch.)
- Watch the Official YouTube channel. Subscribe to this channel for a wide range of videos, including historical clips and athlete bios.
- Featured videos of athletes and stars
. Clips of the competitors training, sharing stories, and acting silly. The Paralympics videos share stories about kids overcoming obstacles.
More Websites
- Entertainment Weekly (http://popwatch.ew.com/)
- NBC (NBCOlympics.com)
Apps 
for mobile devices
- NBC Olympics on the Go
.
- Official London 2012 apps. 
In addition to sports-related information, you’ll find suggestions for things to do in London in these mobile guides. Also find a vast image gallery and videos from the events.
