Tips and Recipes

Group Games for School-Age Kids

Once children reach elementary school, they might have outgrown group games like “Duck, Duck, Goose.” Games can help children develop cognitive and motor skills, so group games are still great forms of physical activity for school-aged children. Rethink group games for your elementary schooler! Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Snake in the Gutter: This game is for 6 or more people. Make half of the group “snakes,” who form a gutter by standing in a line with a large amount of space between them, facing the rest of the players. The players who aren’t snakes should be standing at a distance from the snakes. One player (could be you, another adult, or a child) yells, “Snake in the gutter!” and the players try and run through the gutter without being tagged by one of the snakes. Players who get tagged become snakes and stay with the other snakes. Players who make it through without getting tagged can go back to the starting line and try and go through the gutter on the next turn. The game goes on until all players become snakes.

Giants, Wizards, and Elves: This game is for at least 4 players, but the more players you have the better! Its played like Rock, Paper, Scissors, but you engage your whole body instead of just your hands. Explain these rules to the players:

• Giants conquer wizards. To be a giant, raise hands high above your head.
• Wizards conquer elves. To be a wizard, make a triangle with your arms over your head (like a wizard hat).
• Elves conquer giants. To be an elf, place your hands alongside your ears with index fingers extended.

Divide the group into two teams with about 4 feet in between them. In secret, each team decides if their team will be giants, wizards, or elves (they should also pick a backup choice). After that, the teams are ready to take the turn. On the count of three, both teams yell who they are and do the motion. The team that beats the other chases the opposing team to a safe zone, and anyone who gets tagged before they get to the safe zone becomes part of the opposing team. If both teams give the same answer, they should go again and use their backup choice.

Blob Tag: This is a variation of tag. When the tagger tags someone, they join hands to form a “blob.” When the blob tags someone else, that person becomes part of the blob. Keep playing until all players are tagged.

For more group game ideas for school-age children, visit http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/school-age-games.html.

What other games can you play with your elementary schooler?

7-Minute Workout

It can be hard to fit physical activity in your day. Finding ways to be active as a family can make it easier for everyone to fit in physical activity. A short, high-intensity workout that works all parts of the body can be a great way to fit in exercise with your school-aged children. Also, it can help your children stay active during the hot summer months where they can’t spend as much time outside.

This workout only takes 7 minutes–which you and your children can simply get back from your day by leaving out some screen time. Try each of these exercises for 30 seconds each with 10 seconds of rest in between–you can even repeat the routine depending on you and your children’s fitness level.

1. Jumping Jacks
2. Wall Sits
3. Push-Ups
4. Abdominal Crunches
5. Step-Ups
6. Squats
7. Tricep Dips on a Chair
8. Planks
9. High Knees Running in Place
10. Lunges
11. Push-Ups & Rotations
12. Side Planks

Having a whole list of ways your children can be active every day, no matter the weather or how much time you have, can help ensure they get the exercise they need. Workouts like this can be done as a family without much time, so keep a 7-minute workout in mind when you’re thinking of ways you and your children can be active together.

Supporting Your Children Playing Sports

Next week (July 16-22) is National Youth Sports Week. Sports help children and adolescents develop character while keeping them fit and active. Children who play sports learn how to work with others as a team, self-motivation, and how to deal with emotions when a game is lost.

As a parent or caregiver, you can play a role in building your children’s character and sportsmanship through sports. Here are some ways you can do so:

• Be There: Go to as many of your children’s practices and games as you can. They’ll love seeing you out there cheering them on, no matter how they perform. Focus on positive cheering and be respectful to everyone–coaches, referees, opposing team members, and other spectators–even if you don’t agree with a call that was made.
• Help Improve: Try and learn the different skills involved in playing your children’s sports. This is great activity for you and it can be fun to participate with your children. Plus, they’ll get a “built-in coach” at home as you can help them improve their skills.
• Promote Hard Work, Not Winning: Sports are a great way to learn that winning isn’t everything. Encourage your children to put in their best effort, but not get down if they lose. Remind them the importance of trying their best and being respectful, whether they’re winning or losing.
• Look Out For Unhealthy Behaviors: Playing sports can put a lot of stress on children, especially pre-teens and teens. If you see your children putting pressure on themselves, talk with them and remind of their successes, not their failures. Remind them that their value isn’t based on their performance in sports and that you love them no matter what. Also, pay attention to unhealthy weight-control practices, especially in sports like cheerleading, distance running, diving, figure skating, gymnastics, swimming, and weight-class football and wrestling where “making weight” is considered important for success. These might include overexercising, self-induced vomiting, avoiding eating, and using medications to lose weight. Talk to your child’s pediatrician if you suspect any unhealthy practices like these.

While sports can be fun and promote both emotional and physical health, sports can turn into an unhealthy practice when children have negative attitudes about themselves, others, or the game. Do your best to be involved with your children as they play sports and be their biggest fan!

For more information on youth sports, visit https://healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/sports/Pages/default.aspx.

Tuna Burgers

Makes 6 servings
Serving Size: 1 patty
Ingredients

• 2 (4.5-ounce) cans low-sodium tuna
• 1 cup breadcrumbs, divided
• 1 cup low-fat cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• ½ cup nonfat ranch salad dressing
• ¼ cup finely chopped onion
• Non-stick cooking spray

Directions

1. Drain tuna, separate into flakes using a fork.
2. In a medium bowl, combine tuna, ½ cup bread crumbs, cheese, egg, salad dressing, and onion.
3. Form six patties; coat each side with remaining ½ cup breadcrumbs.
4. Spray non-stick skillet with cooking spray; heat to medium heat.
5. Cook patties 3-5 minutes on each side until golden brown.

Source: Cooking with EFNEP

Sugar Breakdown

Sugar is a hot topic today because of the belief that it causes all kinds of health problems like obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. While sugar isn’t the only thing that contributes to health problems, we still need to limit how much of it we eat. There are a couple of things that make sugar a problem for our health. One problem is the amount of sugar we eat. As Americans, we eat about twice as much sugar as we should. Another problem is the type of sugar that we eat. Natural sugar is found naturally in foods like fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. On the other hand, added sugar is added to a food or drink when it’s being made, like in packaged foods, soft drinks, or homemade desserts. Added sugar is the type of sugar that can contribute to health problems like obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.
To understand the difference between natural and added sugar, think about an orange versus orange juice. The orange has natural sugar, but when it is made into orange juice, a lot of sugar is added. The whole orange also has more fiber than orange juice, which helps prevent blood sugar spikes. Fiber is one reason why whole fruits and vegetables are better choices than juices. Like oranges, plain yogurt and milk also have natural sugar, but when flavored yogurt or milk is made, sugar is added. That added sugar is what we want to avoid.
We should limit how much sugar we eat daily to less than 10% of our calories. So, if you eat 2,000 calories every day, you should only have 200 calories or less from added sugar. That means you should avoid eating more than 50 grams or 12 teaspoons of sugar daily. To help you picture this, a 12-ounce can of cola has about 10 teaspoons of sugar. That’s over 80% of the amount of sugar most of us should be eating in one day!
All kinds of packaged foods and drinks can have added sugars, but the main sources of added sugar are sodas, energy drinks, sports drinks, fruit drinks, sweetened teas, candy, cakes, cookies, pies, pastries, donuts, and dairy desserts like ice cream. It can be hard to find added sugars in packaged foods’ ingredient lists because sugar has other names besides “sugar.” Here are some of those other names that mean sugar has been added:

• Anhydrous dextrose
• Brown sugar
• Confectioner’s powdered sugar
• Corn syrup (or corn syrup solids)
• Dextrose
• Fructose
• High fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
• Honey
• Invert sugar
• Lactose
• Malt syrup
• Maltose
• Maple syrup
• Molasses
• Nectar (e.g. peach nectar)
• Pancake syrup
• Raw sugar
• Sucrose
• Sugar
• White granulated sugar

You may hear that sweeteners like honey, agave, and cane sugar are natural sugars. While they may be grown naturally, they aren’t found naturally in the foods they’re added to and don’t have any health benefits. So they are still considered added sugars that can be harmful to your health. When you think about natural sugars, think about fruits, vegetables, and dairy products.
Sugar can also hide on Nutrition Facts labels because the label may not say if the sugar is added or natural. That’s because a food or drink may have both natural and added sugars. By the year 2021, all food labels will have to show added sugars on the Nutrition Facts label, making it easier to find how much of the sugar in a food or drink is added sugar. Some food labels already have this new label (see an example here). Also, while some packages may say the food or drink is made with “less sugar,” it might still have a lot of sugar. This is why it’s important to read the Nutrition Facts label to see just how much sugar is in a food or drink.
As you can see, sugar is in a lot of foods and drinks, making it hard to eat less of it. Here are some tips to help you eat less added sugar:

• Drink more water and non-fat or low-fat milk instead of drinks sweetened with sugar.
• Instead of soda, try a fruity fizz using seltzer water. Seltzer water is fizzy like soda, but has less sugar.
• Pay attention when you’re grocery shopping and buy products without added sugar. We know that desserts and soft drinks have added sugar, but look out for foods like breakfast cereal, granola, frozen foods, granola bars, sauces, dried fruit, and other condiments that you may not expect to have added sugar.
• Keep lower sugar snacks on hand. It’s easy to go overboard with added sugar when you’re snacking. Try satisfying snacks with less added sugar like an apple or banana with peanut butter; whole grain crackers with low-fat cheese; plain yogurt with berries; mashed avocado with whole grain tortilla chips; a hard boiled egg with a piece of fruit; or raw vegetables (like carrots, cucumber, broccoli, celery, or bell pepper) with hummus.
• When you want a sweet treat, bake from scratch instead of buying sweets at the store so you can control how much sugar you add. Try using apples, bananas, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin for extra sweetness and flavor instead of sugar. Ripe bananas that have started to turn brown are naturally very sweet, so you may try mashing one up and adding it to muffin batter. This way you can add less sugar and still get a sweet taste.
• You can still enjoy some food and drinks with added sugar. Just try eating less at a time and eating them less often.

What are some other ways you can eat less added sugar?
-Cara Mowery