Larchmont Is the New Vancouver

Olympic fever is sweeping the nation this week, but you didn't need to be in Vancouver to experience the fun and excitement of the Games. There were plenty of sports fun, medal winning and memorable Olympic moments at the Larchmont Library's inaugural Winter Olympics earlier today.

The day was divided into three separate events, with the youngest kids (ages 2-4) participating in the morning, the middle kids (ages 5-7) playing next, followed by the oldest kids (ages 8-11) making like Olympians in the afternoon.

"I think the Olympics is very inspirational for the kids to see the athletes and I think promoting athletics is good as well," said children's librarian Rebecca Eller, who served as master of ceremonies. "Incorporating those two things into the library, where people may think of it as just a sedative place for relaxing, but it's an exciting, vibrant place as well, which is why I wanted to bring the Olympic Games here."

The day started with Story Time and a few Olympic-inspired kid books, which were a big hit with the little ones. Next came a fun dance and the children looked like Olympic athletes getting ready for battle.

"We're here to celebrate the Olympics," said 6-year-old Selia Coady. "There's no school today and this is much more fun."

Knowing that the Olympics would be nothing without the famous torch run and lighting ceremony, Eller had the children lined up a foot apart throughout the Library floor, and then they proceeded to pass the "torch" from one to another, until finally they pretended to light the final flame.

"The torch run begins in Greece in October," Eller explained. "There are a lot of interesting things about the Olympics that I wanted to teach them."

In their unique attempt to recreate ice sculptures from the Winter Olympics, the middle kids made sculptures out of toothpicks, frosting and different sized-marshmallows.

They also did an Olympic ring toss, where the kids earned medals for their accuracy, while Olympic music played behind them.

"I think the Larchmont Library does a great job with activities for children and we are always coming and taking part because the kids just love it," said Maria Galland, who brought her two children to compete. "We are watching the Olympics at home, and the kids were excited to come here and take part in their own."

The older kids learned more about the history of the sports and origins of the Games.

"They learned about the rules of curling and we watched a small clip of Olympic highlights and talked about some of the symbolism of the Olympics," Eller said.

Her presentation touched on what the different rings mean, the mascots and the number of different flags represented.

The 8-11 year-olds took part in some Olympic-inspired events as the library provided a make-shift curling game, followed by a biathlon, where the kids were shooting marshmallows at targets.

"Everything was fun," said 4-year-old Alannah Brocklebank. "It was a great Olympic celebration."