Olympic logo

When the Olympic logo for London 2012 was launched it became a huge talking point. Nobody seemed to like it; even children who it was supposedly aimed at have condemned it. What was meant to be cool is very uncool. They say it will grow on people and it will become popular. But love it or hate it, the logo is here to stay. What really angers me is not so much the bad logo, the money spent and time taken to create it. It is the fact it should have been designed not by experts but children. In 2005 I wrote an article in Children’s Web Magazine about London being chosen to hold the Olympics. I said “It is impossible to pin point anyone thing that swung it for London, it could have been several things. But I hope what really clinched it was Lord ( Sebastian ) Coe's final speech and his description of watching his Olympic heroes on a screen in his school hall with his fellow classmates. And being so inspired by it that he knew what he wanted to do and be when he grew up. For this is what the Olympics are about inspiration, sportsmanship and the blending of culture and education.” So what went wrong why aren’t the children involved more after all 2012 were going to be an Olympics for them. The logo should have been run as a competition in schools they could have got the children’s television programme Blue Peter to help out. The money that would have been spent on paying an advertising agency could have been given to a school or schools for encouraging sport and the next generation of Olympians. I hope they don’t make anymore mistakes as the dream will rapidly become a nightmare. Sebastian Coe loathed coming second a silver medal inspired him even more to go out and win gold. He needs to win gold again this time it is for the children that he so wanted to be a part of London 2012 because silver isn’t good enough for them either.

Family days out

Have you recently had a great family day out? It can be anywhere in the world. Can you list the best days out and explain why they are so good. If there are any places you think could improve or that were bad or just boring then Children’s Web Magazine would like to hear from you.

Good Day, Bad Day

We have all had one. But what constitutes a good or a bad day? And are they different according to where you live in the world? Children will also have good and bad days. They won’t be the same as adults but they could affect the whole family. Parents are probably often left with the difficult task of handling their child’s bad day. When something starts to go wrong then everything can seem to be going wrong or it does go wrong. How we cope with it determines whether it is going to have a domino affect that will then turn it into a bad day. Consequently when something goes right everything seems to click into place. A good day can also give us a high and make us feel really good. The problem is we are not always in control of what happens and that can be frustrating. Sometimes we can turn things around this is a real positive and can be a feather in the cap. But how the day has gone and how we rate it could ultimately have a dramatic influence on our mood. Had a good or a bad day? Then share it here.