After a year’s delay and five years since the last Olympic Games, the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony will occur on 23 July 2021. Personally, we couldn’t think of a better way to watch our Team GB athletes than from the comfort of a summer garden room.

The Tokyo Olympics will mark the largest GB delegation in another country. What’s more, we’ll have more women than men competing for the first time in the Games’ history.

If you’re lucky enough to have a summer garden room for the Tokyo Olympics, you’ll be spoilt for choice on what to watch. There are 376 athletes and 22 reserves set to complete across 26 different sports. The team’s size is second to the London Olympics in 2012 that saw 541 Team GB athletes compete.

With the excitement of the Euros 2021 still in the air, the Tokyo Olympics will once again give us all something to feel positive about as 51 athletes are returning Olympic medallists.

We know it’s a random fact, but there will be eight sets of siblings competing for Team GB. So with this in mind, how can you use your summer garden room to make the Olympics a family affair?

Create the Ultimate Olympic Space

When it comes to replicating that allusive Olympic feel at home, you’ve got a couple of options.

Any at-home Olympics celebration is not complete without an opening ceremony. If you’re lucky to Friday 23 July off (after all, it’s the summer holidays), you might want to screen the opening ceremony from your garden room at 12 noon (8 pm in Japan). You can watch the Games live on Eurosport and the Eurosport app if you don’t want to miss any of the action!

If you have children or some particularly agile adults, you might choose to run your own Tokyo Olympic-themed events.

Your choice of activities will depend on your athletes’ age and the size of your garden but try and mix things up with some different activities. Of course, you can always keep the equipment in your garden room for easy access. Here are a few ideas, which we’ve grouped. So rather than having track and field events, you might choose water-based activities, fun relay races, and games.

Relay Races

• Egg and spoon race
• Three-legged race
• Balancing bean bag race
• Hula Hoop pass
• Crab walk
• Parent race
• Potato sack race

Water Activities

• Water balloon racing
• Water sliding
• Fill the bucket (using a sponge)
• Dodge the water pistols

Fun Games

• Plank challenge
• Tug of War
• Volleyball
• Tennis racket golf

Whatever you choose to do, just don’t forget the all-important decorations. For example, if you enjoy cooking and really want to get creative with your garden room buffet, you could recreate the Olympic rings with food. Think strawberries for red, crisps and mini cheddars for yellow, cucumber and peppers for green, Oreos for black, and perhaps some Wispa bars for blue.

If you have a fire pit next to your garden room, you could even have a torch lighting ceremony.

Team GB flags can be purchased in most local shops, but you could make your own if you’re not a fan of plastic. Rope the children into getting creative. It’ll be a good use of a summer holiday morning as you turn your garden room into an art studio.

Host Family and Friends

Your garden room will be the real winner this summer as you play host to a series of gatherings. After all, not everyone will like all the events – your family might like cycling, for instance, and your partner’s family may enjoy gymnastics.

To stop the party planning from becoming a problem, it’s a good idea to list all the events. They’re usually grouped, and the best place to find the most up-to-date times is on the Olympics website. An at-a-glance timetable can also be found on the Japan Rail Pass website.

Next, you’ll want to work out when you’re at home to play host from your garden room this summer. Once you’ve got a few dates in mind and know what your family and friends really want to see, you can start popping dates in the diary.

 

Rather than sending lots of individual texts, you could create a WhatsApp group chat to arrange times, and most importantly, delegate responsibilities and teams. For example, each family member or friend could bring an Olympic buffet ring!

Let the Tokyo Olympics Inspire You

This year has been monumental for sport. England made the final of the Euros 2021, Andy Murray returned to Wimbledon and Lewis Hamilton continues to inspire at F1. When you bring the Tokyo Olympics into the mix, it’s hard not to be motivated.

Already, we’ve seen an uptick in garden room orders for people looking to create their very own gym. Water rowers, Peloton bikes and yoga equipment appear to be a firm favourite and certainly a more accessible alternative to the local gym. In fact, a chance conversation with one of our clients revealed that Peloton coach, Becs Gentry, missed out on a place at Team GB by a small margin.

Order Your Brochure Now

It’s a little late to order a summer garden room for the Tokyo Olympics (we’re efficient but not record-breaking!), but you could order one in plenty of time for the next Winter Olympics.

At SMART Garden Offices, we have a garden room to suit almost every outside space you could imagine. Starting at just £10,020, you can choose from 7 ranges and over 60+ sizes. Excitingly, you can even start designing your own summer garden room from your PC or tablet using our AR visualiser app.

Before you start creating, please feel free to download a copy of our brochure. It’s full of real-life designs from gardens across Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex and London if you’re looking for ideas!