I was asked by Camp Med, a licensed day care program and summer camp sponsored by the City of South Pasadena, to give a presentation to our campers about the upcoming Summer Olympics, as I would be leaving for Beijing shortly to work on the Games. I thought if I just talk and the kids just listen, it could get kind of boring. So instead, I proposed an Olympic Family Feud.

The campers were divided into 4 groups. The winning group would each receive a prize. The way it worked is that I would ask a question and give one specific group a chance to respond. Unlike television Family Feud where only one person can participate, here anyone from the group could chip in. The team leader would then try to write down the best answer. If the answer was wrong, the question would move to the next group. If one group was noticeably weaker, they would get the easier questions.

What struck me is how engaged the kids got. You could see the wheels turning. They started thinking. They wanted to give the right answer. They wanted to win. They were having fun and so were the other counselors.

The questions asked required different skills, memory, reasoning and also listening (to what I had talked about throughout the summer). Due to the internet, it was very easy to come up with questions as multiple trivia, kids and information sites exist.

When I returned from the Olympics, the kids were very interested about my experience. It was as if the Olympic Family Feud had opened the door for them to be aware and interested in the Olympics. The event was such a success that we are following it up with a Halloween Family Feud. For Halloween Family Feud, more jokes and questions with an element of levity will be included. And there will be more questions that our younger kids can answer.

Attached are the questions (with answers) to both Family Feuds:

Olympic Family Feud

1. Where am I going tomorrow?

China

2. The J in Beijing, how is it pronounced?

As a z

3. How far away is Beijing from Los Angeles?

6300 miles

4. China is the 3rd largest country in the world. What is the largest country in the world?

Russia

5. What is the second largest country in the world?

Canada

6. Which country is expected to win the most medals at the Summer Olympics?

China

7. Where was the last Olympics?

Turin, Italy

8. Which country won the most medals at the Winter Olympics in Italy?

Germany (29)

9. The US won the second most medals. How many medals did the US win in Italy?

25

10. Who is shooting to win 8 Gold Medals and what sport is he in?

Michael Phelps, Swimming

11. Dara Torres is on the US Olympic Swimming team. How old is she?

41

12. Why have so many Swimming world records been recorded in the last couple of months?

The swimsuit: Speedo’s LZR Racer.

13. What women’s sport will no longer be in the Olympics after this year?

Softball

14. Why are some of the athletes not going to Opening Ceremonies?

To avoid the air pollution

15. What kind of work do I do at the Olympics?

Ticketing

16. Name this famous person I gave Olympic tickets to in Korea in 1988? Clue 1; He lives in California and is over 50. Clue 2: He’s been in science fiction movies. Clue 3: He received weightlifting tickets.

Arnold Schwarzennegger

17. Name this famous person I gave Olympic tickets to in Spain in 1992. Clue 1: He lives in California and is over 60. Clue 2: He was in 1 of the batman movies. Clue 3: He received basketball tickets.

Jack Nicholson

18. How many Olympics have I worked on?

11

19. Name a summer Olympic event that many find better to watch on tv than see in person?

Gymnastics, diving, water polo

20. Where will the next Olympics be?

Vancouver Canada

21. What year?

2010

22. What country did the Olympic Games originate over 2700 years ago?

Greece

23. As a 12 year old boy, at the Mexico City Olympics, I was in attendance when Bob Beamon completely shattered a world record. He beat the previous world record by so much that Sports Illustrated named this 1 of the 5 greatest sports moments of the 20th century. What sport did he break the record in? Clue: It was in track & field.

Bob Beamon set a world record for the long jump with a jump of (29 ft. 2½ in.). It was one of the most astounding feats in the history of the Olympics. He shattered the record by more than 21 inches. It has since been called the perfect jump.

24. What Olympic moment did Sports Illustrated call the greatest sports moment of the 20th century? Clue: It happened at a Winter Olympics. Clue 2: It involved the United States

In 1980 at Lake Placid, a group of amateur & collegiate hockey players from the US defeated the best professional hockey team in the world, the Soviet Union, 4-3. This has since been named the Miracle on Ice.

Halloween Family Feud

1. What year did the first Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoon appear?

1924? 500BC? 2004? 500BC? 1945? (this one) The Middle Ages?

2. Boris Karloff played what famous movie character?

Frankenstein

3. What do you get when you cross Bambi with a ghost?

Bamboo

4. Bela Lugosi played what famous movie character?

Dracula

5. How much does the world’s biggest pumpkin weigh? A: 245 pounds, B: 485 pounds, C: 685 pounds, D: 1,385 pounds (this one)

6.What famous movie character did Lon Chaney Jr. play. Clue: Michael J. Fox, also played this character.

The werewolf

7. According to those silly, scary movies, when do werewolves come out?

At Full Moons

8 What do birds give out on Halloween night?

Tweets…

9. Bodies that are wrapped in cloth and stored in tombs are known as what?

Mummies.

10. In folklore, a male witch is known as a?

Warlock

11. As a Halloween treat, what chocolate candy bar do kids like best of all?

Snickers

12. According to legend, which Halloween creature usually has all of the following: a unibrow, tattoos, and a long middle finger?

A: a werewolf (this one), B: a vampire, C: a witch, D: a golem

13. If you were to draw a witch, what specific item might you want to include on her face?

Warts

14. A number of famous Science-fiction and scary movies were filmed in South Pasadena, name 1:

o Back to the Future (1985)

o Back to the Future Part II (1989)

o Back to the Future Part III (1990)

o Halloween (1978)

o Halloween II (1981)

o Halloween: 25 Years of Terror (2006)

o Hell Night (1981)

o Jurassic Park III (2001)

o Prom Night (2008)

o Scream 2 (1997)

o Teen Wolf (1985)

o Terminator, The (1984)

15. What’s a monsters favorite dessert?

I-Scream!!

16. Name 1 of the 5 most popular Halloween costumes for kids last year (2007)?

Princess (10.7%)

Spider-Man (4.8%)

Pirate (4.7%)

Witch (4.2%)

Fairy (2.8%)