Did you know that the Steelers were originally named the Pirates, or that since the Pro Bowl's post-war revival in 1951, there has only been one game played without a member of the Steelers? True fans know a little bit about their team's history. Ask kids to learn more about the Steelers by reading articles from the official Steelers website or completing a webquest you design that prompts them to search sites all over the Internet to locate specific information. If the kids are not proficient readers, read the information to them. Then set up a trivia game, asking questions based on the information they learned.
The Steelers symbol was based off of the American Iron and Steel Institute's logo. The Steelers had to ask permission to copy some aspects of the logo and change others. Hold up a picture of both logos and ask kids to identify the differences. Pose the question of what would happen if the Steel Institute decided that it did not want to share its logo anymore. The Steelers would need something different, so ask kids to create a new team symbol. For kids too young to create their own, print a team-related coloring page.
Prepare for a Go Steelers party by making snacks that require some mathematical thought. Bake a cake and decorate it as a football field. Ask kids to pipe a line of icing down the center for the 50-yard line, and then continue with the other lines, numbering them by counting down in tens just like a real football field. When the cake is finished, make a batch of sugar cookies and decorate them with the Steelers logo. Use icing to pipe on the astroids, the diamond shapes with curved sides, or cut out the shapes from fruit leather. Then kids can impress party guests with good snacks and math skills.
Kids love language. That's why Dr. Seuss has been so popular for so long. Ask kids to write a cheer to help root on the team during a game. They may make it a general chant to be used anytime or make it specific for a game played against one particular team. In either case, ask kids to use at least one rhyme and make up a dance or hand movements to match the words.