As a mom, I am constantly thinking about how I can add healthy activities for kids to our daily life
I want the very best for them, and overall health is really important for that
There are two types of healthy activities for kids, everyday habits and once in a while activities
Both are important in their own ways
Everyday habits are what adds together to be a healthy lifestyle and they set them up for success in their future
Once in a while activities as some variety to life and they’re just a lot of fun
Teaching your kids to take care of themselves will be a gift that will give for the rest of their life
What Healthy Habits Do Your Children Need To Know?
There are a lot of different healthy habits and healthy activities for kids
but here are a few that are extremely helpful
- Make Eating Colorful
when we have a lot of different colors in our diet we are getting a variety of health benefits too
that doesn’t mean that every meal needs to have a rainbow on it
but diet, in general, should have a variety of fruits and vegetables
- Skipping Meals Is Not Good For You
it’s common for people to start skipping breakfast when they want to lose weight or when they’re just busy
this can be devastating in many ways
without a real Calorie deficient plan, the only thing you’re doing is harm
eating a healthy breakfast every day can:
- Kickstart your brain
- give you energy
- keep you feeling strong
- and helps avoid chronic diseases
Harvard found that eating a healthy breakfast is essential to losing weight, and there are many fast breakfasts
That brain activity and energy will help encourage other healthy activities for kids as well
So there are no good reasons to skip it!
- Stay Active With Physical Activities That You Enjoy
not Everyone likes Sports and that’s okay
but finding healthy activities for kids to enjoy is essential for a healthy lifestyle
encourage your kids to try different things and find things that they like
make games out of outside time
kids will naturally want to do things more if they find them fun
- Read Everyday
having a habit of reading often is amazing in so many ways
it helps you build knowledge
it’s great for self-care and personal development
keeps the brain happy and healthy
reading can also help build self-esteem, create better relationships, and overall success in life
the important part as parents is to help kids learn that reading is a treat, not a chore
encourage them to read things that they like and then they enjoy
- Drink More Water
I know… Water is super boring
but it is so important for our health in general
water plays a part in every part of our health
one of the ways you can do this is by setting an example
make a limit of other kinds of drinks for everyone in the house
and maybe make a game out of who can drink the most water
get creative and get involved
kids learn best by following Model Behavior not just listening to what you say should happen
- Look at Food Labels
Teach your kids how to read food labels
this will serve them so well in life
teach them what they’re looking at what everything means and how to understand every part of the food label
then teach them to check it regularly
You can make slight changes to the products you buy by looking at labels and make a huge difference for your health
- Is Spend time With Your Friends
Friendships and relationships are so important for development
Encourage it
Playing with friends teaches:
- social skills
- communication
- cooperation
- problem-solving
- and can have a huge effect on their performance in school
Most healthy activities for kids can be done in groups too!
- Stay Positive
Mental health is huge in today’s world.
It can be so easy to sink into frustration and fear
That makes more healthy activities for kids feel impossible
Teaching your kids to be positive and grateful will be a huge benefit for their life!
The brain cannot be grateful and fearful at the same time.
It is so much better to be grateful!
How Can Kids Eat Healthy at Home?
I know it can be kind of scary, but adding cooking into your family routine can help a lot when it comes to eating healthy
Get your kids involved in cooking and teach them to cook for themselves
When they’re old enough to do it on their own, they can even take over a night or two
How Do You Teach Nutrition in a Fun Way?
What are the best ways to have fun while teaching nutrition is just to start cooking together
By getting your kids involved in choosing the meals, looking at the nutrition, and making the meals…
They are learning about nutrition while having fun
Other ways to teach nutrition in a fun way include:
- Using board games
- Start your own cookbook
- Recipe sharing
- Nutrition Jeopardy
- Learning to meal plan
How To Get My Child To Try New Food
We know that it’s important to teach your kids to eat healthily but sometimes that is easier said than done
As a mom as picky eaters, it’s very frustrating when they refuse to try new things
There are a few different ways of getting your child to try new foods
These are two that I personally tried and enjoy
- Two safe foods and a new food
When giving your child their food, add two foods on their plate that they either usually like or always like
And then on a napkin on the side, add a new food
There is no pressure or frustration to try the new food
And having it off of their main plate usually helps avoid those big emotions
But the more of that a child interacts with the food…
The more likely they are to try it
Be patient because this could take time
When a child is involved in cooking or preparing the food
They are more likely to be willing to try it
They are excited about the hard work that they put in
Or the fun that they put in
And are likely to be more open to giving it a try
This is one of the best healthy activities for kids!
Teaching your kids to cook does not have to be as hard as it sounds
check out this post for some tips to get started
How To Make Physical Activity Fun
Physical activity is something that a lot of kids naturally enjoy, adding some structure into it can be a lot of fun
You can do things like visiting a trampoline park or going to the skateboard park
Or just play outdoor games at home
There are so many healthy activities for kids outdoors, and they often create more on their own!
What Activities Can Be Done On a Rainy Day?
If you’re like me where it rains for half the year
Been keeping your kids active gets more challenging
But there are still things you can do
Some examples are:
- A dance party
- getting activity songs from YouTube
- relay races
- adding physical actions to board games ( like do the number of jumping jacks that you roll on the dice)
- painters tape mazes
- or creating a fort
Creating Better Sleep Habits
Having good sleeping habits is a huge part of a healthy lifestyle
Healthy sleep habits are becoming rarer and rarer
But it’s something that we need to prioritize
The other healthy activities for kids will suffer greatly without quality sleep
They are supported by good sleeping habits…
Create a schedule that you follow every day
It’s okay to go away from the schedule sometimes, but don’t do it often
And remember that if you don’t have a schedule now that it will take time to set one at a good time
My family, for example, starts bedtime routine a half-hour before bedtime.
We clean up all the toys, get changed, watch faces, brush teeth, read a book, turn on the white noise machine, and then turn out the lights
By having a routine set in place at the same time every day…
Kids know what to expect and are usually more likely to go with it
Mental Health Activities For Kids
Mental health is getting more and more important
Is getting more attention, but I believe that’s a good thing
Paying attention to your mental health and taking care of it improves a healthy lifestyle greatly
Your mental health is the back door end of everything
If your mental health is struggling so is everything else
So apart from improving nutrition and exercise, there are other things that you can do to improve mental health for your kids as well
- Do you have formations with your kids
- Talk about the things that they’ve done well
- Care about their thoughts and opinions
- And try to take a little time for one-on-one interaction every day
Take Time For Your Health Too
One thing that’s important to remember is that kids learn by watching you
So to teach them to be healthy and live a healthy lifestyle
You need a model with
That means you need to take time for your help too
Make sure that you cook for yourself
Implement some self-care into your day or week
Work on talking nicer to yourself
And just generally loving yourself as much as you love your kids
you want your kids to be happy and healthy, but you need to love yourself like that too
When they watch you…
They will copy you
Where To Start With Your Family
Where to start with your family’s going to be different for every family
We all start in different places and have different priorities
But the important part is not to try to start everything at once
Choose one thing that you want to improve in your family and keep working on that until it’s just part of life
Then you can add something else
Getting another family to do it with you helps too
If you try to start too many new habits at the same time, you Are far more likely to do none of them
It’s better to take baby steps than no steps at all
