IT’S NOT JUST TIME TO RING IN THE NEW YEAR BUT ALSO TIME TO CELE-BRATE RINGING IN THE OLYMPIC YEAR! IT’S TIME TO DIVE INTO 2016, BUILD-ING THE AWARENESS AND EXCITEMENT THAT THE OLYMPICS ARE COMING.

JANUARY GENERAL IDEAS• #RIOREADY club! Welcome students back to the first month of the 2016 Olympic Year with an fully decorated lobby an-

nouncing your club is #RioReady.

• Create a “Road to Rio” board. On a wall in your lobby (or a bulletin board) make a “Road to Rio” board that includes some of the Olympic hopefuls on it so the kids get familiar with their names and faces. It can also include a calendar of all of the USA Gymnastics events that lead to Rio. (https://usagym.org/pages/memclub/pdfs/rio2016events.pdf

• Olympic themes. Theme your preschool and recreational lesson plans to include Olympic themes. Here are some ideas from old Technique article to get you started: https://usagym.org/pages/home/publications/technique/2004/8/olympic_lesson.pdf

• Olympic Playlist. Create an Olympic playlist of music that has Olympic or inspirational mood to it. For a list of example songs, click here. (Connect to Olympic Playlist song suggestions).

• Coloring Sheets. Coloring sheets with Olympic themes or of the Olympic rings are great handouts for your preschool classes and royalty free ones can be found with a quick Google search.

• Rio Ready Kids. Post pictures of students to social media from your #RioReady decorations/ doing class themed activities with the #YourGym’sName is #RioReady

• Facebook Ads. You may want to consider doing Facebook ads promoting your classes, as January is a time parents are looking for new activities for their kids.

• Make an Olympic Chain. Every time an athlete gets a new skill, have them write it on a strip of blue, yellow, green, black or red paper and string them together to make a long Olympic chain of success. Here is an example of one that was used as a countdown, but you get the idea http://www.housingaforest.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Olympic-countdown-Pa-per-chain-7.jpg You can post the progress of the Rio Chain on your Facebook page (i.e. How long it is).

• January Newsletter. Send a Welcome to 2016 #RioReady Newsletter to all those in your data base highlighting the plans your club has, new classes for the New Year, updates on your competitive teams, articles of interest to your clients. Re-member to make it interesting and relevant to you clients!

• Reach out to dropped students. Get your staff on the phone calling any students who dropped from the fall and said that they would be “returning after the holidays” who are not yet enrolled.

LOOKING TO THE MONTHS AHEAD• February 7 is Super Bowl Sunday. You could consider hosting a Kids’ Super Sunday where the parents can drop the kids

off for the big game so they can enjoy it kid-free. If so, plan and market accordingly.

• Beginning of month order proshop and decorations for St. Patrick’s Day, Spring theme and Easter holidays

• If you offer a Spring camp, the promotional material should be getting put together for marketing

• If you have any Easter activities (i.e. visit from the bunny, Spring egg hunt, themed Kids’ Night out) those need to be planned and marketing plan done

• Summer camp weeks and themes should be selected this month and any brochures off to the printer by months end (early bird sign ups begin as early as February in some parts of the country).

• Around the 25th of January, transition to decorations for Valentine’s Day

JANUARY HOLIDAYS

ALL MONTHNational Bath Safety MonthThis can be promoted all month (with tie ins to merchandise in your proshop if available, or just as a public service announcement on social media)http://www.quickenloans.com/blog/bubbles-babies-bathtubs-national-bath-safety-month

HAPPYNEWYEAR!

Blood Donor MonthRemind everyone the importance of giving blood. You might consider hosting a blood mobile at your gym club or organizing several staff members to go together to donate blood and post pictures to social media. http://www.redcross.org/support/blood-donation

JANUARY 1New Years’ DayWish everyone a safe New Year

Announce that the Olympic year is finally here! “2016 is here and so is the Olympic Year! And (INSERT CLUB NAME) is be #RioReady!” (add pictures of your decorated lobby)

You’ve counted down to midnight and rang in the New Year! Now install a countdown to Friday, August 5, 2016 at 8PM Brazilian Time ( 2pm PT/5PMET) on your website http://www.timeanddate.com/clocks/freecountdown.html

JANUARY 2National Motivation and Inspiration DayIt’s the beginning of a new year and time to get motivated and make plans to begin working towards your goals! What goals do you have to this year?

Post motivational quotes

JANUARY 4National Spaghetti DayWho doesn’t love Spaghetti? For more info http://ilovepasta.org/#NationalSpaghettiDay

#MondayMotivation Post a motivational quote from an Olympian, tag with #YourClubName #RioReady #MotivationMonday 

JANUARY 5#TuesdayTrivia—post a trivia question about the Olympics. Could be a Facebook contest; or just for fun. #YourClubName #RioReady #TuesdayTrivia

JANUARY 7Throwback ThursdayPost a YouTube video of an old Olympic routine or an Olympian as a younger gymnast #YourClubName #RioReady #TBT

JANUARY 8Bubble Bath DayIf you sell bath products in you gift shop, offer a discount in honor of Bubble Bath Day.

JANUARY 11#MondayMotivation Post a motivational quote from an Olympian, tag with #YourClubName #RioReady #MotivationMonday

JANUARY 12#TuesdayTrivia—post a trivia question about the Olympics. Could be a Facebook contest; or just for fun. #YourClubName #RioReady #TuesdayTrivia JANUARY 13National Rubber Ducky DayUse rubber ducks in your preschool classes

Post pictures to social media

Ernie singing the rubber “Duckie Song”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh85R-S-dh8

JANUARY 14National Dress Up Your Pet DayFor more information on National Dress Up Your Pet Day, see: http://www.dressupyourpetday.com/about.htmEncourage people to post pictures of their pet dressed up

Throwback Thursdaypost a YouTube video of an old Olympic routine or an Olympian as a younger gymnast #YourClubName #RioReady #TBT

JANUARY 18Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Here are some great quotes you can make into posts about Dr. Kinghttp://mashable.com/2012/01/16/mlk-quotes-tumblr/#Wh6ua5Q1F8qn

#MondayMotivation Post a motivational quote from an Olympian, tag with #YourClubName #RioReady #MotivationMonday 

National Winnie the Pooh DayIf you have Winnie the Pooh merchandise, feature it! Otherwise Pooh quotes are great! Ask people to share their favorites! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnie-the-Pooh#WinniethePoohDay

JANUARY 19#TuesdayTrivia—post a trivia question about the Olympics. Could be a Facebook contest; or just for fun. #YourClubName #RioReady #TuesdayTrivia

JANUARY 20National Cheese Lovers DayPoll: There are more than 900 known cheese in the world. What is your favorite kind of cheese? #CheeseLover’sDay

Post a picture of kids in a cheese mat. #CheeseLover’sDay

JANUARY 21National Hugging Daypictures of kids hugging each otherkids hugging their parents #NationalHuggingDay

Throwback ThursdayPost a YouTube video of an old Olympic routine or an Olympian as a younger gymnast #YourClubName #RioReady #TBT

JANUARY 24National Compliment DayUse to compliment staff, clientsAsk people to tag friends to compliment them#NationalComplimentDay

JANUARY 25#MondayMotivation Post a motivational quote from an Olympian, tag with #YourClubName #RioReady #MotivationMonday 

JANUARY 26#TuesdayTrivia—post a trivia question about the Olympics. Could be a Facebook contest; or just for fun. #YourClubName #RioReady #TuesdayTrivia

JANUARY 28National Have Fun at Work DayEmphasize that your staff has fun at Work EVERYDAYPost pictures of your smiling staff working with kids with #HaveFunAtWorkDay

THROWBACK THURSDAYPost a YouTube video of an old Olympic routine or an Olympian as a younger gymnast #YourClubName #RioReady #TBT

Happy Birthday, Ernie! (from Sesame Street)http://www.kidscd.co.uk/Sesame-Street-Colouring-Pages.html

JANUARY 31National Backward DayPost lots of pictures of kids doing backward skills with #NationalBackwardDay