GUIDING PRINCIPAL #1: Healthy Choices

The evidence from years of medical research is very clear - adults and children have a much better chance of staying healthy when they:

• get enough sleep every night
• make healthy eating choices
• stay hydrated
• get regular exercise
• choose healthy methods to manage stress and maintain mental health

What activities can you do together to model these behaviours and help your child develop healthy habits?

SLEEP

Have a regular bedtime and a regular routine to get ready for bed.  This can include:

• calming activities
• reading together before bed
• a warm bath
• a bedtime snack
• a bedtime story told from memory

HEALTHY FOODS

1. Look through the Canada Food Guide or other current guides together.  Make a grocery list, planning meals and snacks that your child will enjoy, that maintain a healthy balance.
2. Bake cookies, cakes, jelly squares, etc. as special home-made treats.  They are less expensive and healthier alternatives to many mass-produced commercial treats.  (And of course, you're doing practical Math using fractions, temperatures, measurements, etc.)
3. Start planning and cooking meals together. This develops valuable life skills!
4. Plan a picnic (to eat outdoors, if you can)
5. Cut out food pictures from magazines and advertising flyers to make your own food group chart, or a collage.

WATER

The human body sends uncomfortable signals when a person is getting dehydrated.  Headaches and constipation are two well-known symptoms, but there are others.  If your child has a headache or stomach ache with no other obvious cause, start with a glass of water.  Even if your child is just feeling uneasy or grumpy and can't say why, start with a glass of water.  If your child doesn't want it, or asks why, tell them it is the first step to feeling better. If they are doubtful, set a timer together for 15 minutes, and check then to see if they are feeling better than before.

Of course, children watch adults and others, and learn by copying their behaviours. (see Guiding Principal #2)  Drinking water regularly is your opportunity to be a positive role model and stay hydrated at the same time!

EXERCISE

Exercise is a natural part of so many outdoor childhood activities.  If you are confined indoors, get creative about safe ways to exercise together.  Some ideas include:

1. Hide and seek
2. Doing Yoga together
3. "Just Dance for Kids" YouTube videos
4. GoNoodle dance videos at https://www.gonoodle.com/
5. Do you have one or more Nerf™ guns? After you put the valuable tchotchkes away in a safe place, play Nerf™ tag!

MINDFULNESS & MANAGING STRESS

Throughout history, people have experimented with many ways to "cope" with stress. Today, we know about many healthy ways to manage our stress.  This is a great opportunity to help your child become aware of many possibilities, and for you to explore and practice them together.  This develops another key set of life skills!  Try a few minutes of familiar activities, but also explore some new, less-familiar activities.  You may discover something new that you enjoy together!

      Physical

1. Yoga
2. Tai Chi / Qi Gong introductory YouTube videos 
3. Tapping - a fairly new trend that is being taught in many schools give children more self-calming strategies
4. GoNoodle mindfulness videos at https://www.gonoodle.com/

      Passive

1. Read picture books where the theme is about dealing with challenges, then talk about how the characters were feeling in different parts of the story.  What solutions did they try that didn't work, and how did they solve the problem at the end?

• Younger children often enjoy the Franklin the Turtle series and the Berenstain Bears series.
• Middle elementary school students often enjoy the Howard B. Wigglebottom series
• Google "mindfulness for kids" for many more possibilities