Sometimes we think of Summer as a time for our children to relax and take it easy, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t keep our kids healthy and strong at the same time! Use the rest of Summer to help your kids learn healthy habits they can continue through the school year and beyond. They’ll be stronger and feel good about their accomplishments. Here are 5 strong & healthy summer habits to work on now:
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Play to be Strong
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Encourage your children to play outside every day to get a dose of sunshine and fresh air. Get them away from screen time for a while to run, jump, swim, and more. Give them strength challenges in their games to sneak in exercise:
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- Who can hang from the playground high bar the longest?
- Who can swim across the pool the fastest?
- Can you beat yesterday’s time running across the yard?
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Eat Healthy Snacks
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Help your children get used to healthier choices for their snacks and gradually move away from the packaged snacks that they might be used to. Give them plenty of choices at home and make them fun. They’ll start making healthier choices on their own before you know it! Here are some fun snack ideas:
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- Fruit Kabobs:
- Layer chunks of different kinds of fruit on skewers
- Let children choose fruits and make their own kabobs
- Mystery Veggie Dip Game:
- Give carrot, celery, and jicama sticks to dip in 3 different dips (hummus, salad dressing, salsa, etc.) making sure one is a child favorite
- Let kids be blindfolded while you mix up dips
- They have to take a bite no matter which kind of dip they get each time
- Cheese Cube Mosaic:
- Cube different kinds of cheeses and meats
- Let kids use cubes to create a mosaic on their plate
- They have to eat all the pieces they use
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Take on New Chores
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Chores can help children stay strong and healthy, too. Use this time to evaluate what chores your children are doing and add in a new and challenging chore – one that they may have to work at a while in order to become successful and get a sense of pride from accomplishing. Here are some chore ideas for a variety of ages:
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- Clean up spills and dirt
- Carry in and put away groceries
- Take trash out
- Weed, rake, mow or do other appropriate yardwork
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Exercise Your Brain
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You don’t just need school work to keep your brain strong. You can play games to exercise your brain! Help your children find new games and hobbies that will keep their brains sharp and ready for a new school year. Here are some fun game ideas:
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- Get a new puzzle:
- Make it challenging enough that the children need to work together to complete it
- Make a raised salt painting:
- Use glue bottle to squeeze and create design on thick paper or cardboard
- Shake salt over to coat top of glue
- Using brush, dab watercolor paints carefully on salt globs and watch paint spread
- Dry overnight
- Create an obstacle course:
- Let children use props from around the house to set up obstacle course
- It could involve climbing over things, running while keeping cotton in a spoon, changing doll clothes, dressing up in a costume, and more
- Time each child that goes through to see who can do it the fastest
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Enjoy Family Fun
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Spending time together as family strengthens bonds and renews that feeling of a safe and healthy family environment. Plan out some days when the whole family can do something fun together. Here are some inexpensive family fun ideas:
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- A morning at Funderland:
- With no admission to get in and the ability to bring your own food into the park, you have control over how much you spend on rides
- After getting in a few rides, step out the front gate and go enjoy Land Park
- Nature Walk:
- Find a nearby trail that isn’t too difficult for children and plan a hike and picnic
- Take supplies in backpacks
- Create a list of items for each family member to check off as they discover them – certain colors of leaves, rock shapes, other hikers, and more
- Family Talent Show:
- Let each family member come up with something that they want to “perform” for everybody else
- Plan far enough ahead to give time to practice
- Enjoy the performances – maybe even film it and watch again later
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\nWe hope all of you have a strong and healthy Summer! What new habits are you going to try?
