Make a List
Lists can help keep your schedule more organized as you balance family, work, and everything in between. While grocery lists and meal plans can guide healthy and budget-friendly meals for your week, a list of your family’s favorite activities can motivate your family to get moving.
Get your family together and make a list of activities that everyone can enjoy. For example, your list might include softball, going for a bike ride, tag, or a game of basketball. Put your list on the refrigerator. Plan the days you are going to do each activity. Make the commitment to try at least one activity together this week!
Here’s a list of activity ideas to help get you started:
- Everyday Activities
- Playing outside
- Helping with chores around the house
- Picking up toys
- Walking
- Active Aerobic Activities
- Playing basketball
- Playground games
- Swimming
- Jumping rope
- Biking
- Flexibility and Strength Activities
- Stretching
- Practicing yoga
- Practicing martial arts
- Doing push-ups
- Monkey bars
- Everyday Activities for the Entire Family
- Playing soccer
- Throwing a frisbee
- Dance party
- Grocery shopping
- Washing the car
- Walking the dog
For even more activities to do with your children, visit http://www.healthychildcare.org/PDF/LetsMove%20CalendarENGLCalendarFULL.pdf.
What will you add to your activity list?
Park and Play
The park is a great place to get active with your family. Many parks have playgrounds appropriate for younger children in addition to basketball courts, tennis courts, baseball fields, walking trails and many other opportunities for activity that the whole family can enjoy. You can even play games like hide-and-seek and red rover in an open grassy area. Make a day of it and pack a healthy picnic lunch!
While parks provide great ways to Move More, be aware of potential hazards that may harm your children. The most important way you can prevent park and playground-related injuries is to properly supervise your children. Here are some ways you can keep the park a safe experience for your family:
- Make sure the play area is free of rocks, tree roots, and broken glass. Check equipment to make sure it’s functioning properly before using it. Also, read any posted safety guidelines.
- Check the temperature of playground equipment before using, especially in the summer when the hot sun can make metal equipment hot enough to burn your skin.
- Teach children to use the equipment properly and to make sure no other children are in the way if they’re going down a slide or other equipment. Also, teach them not to roughhouse on the playground.
- Wear sunscreen even on cloudy days.
- Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated, especially on hot days.
For more tips, check out http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/playground.html.
Not sure where to find a park near you? Visit https://mapofplay.kaboom.org and enter your zip code to find locations and details of playspaces to help you plan your next park outing. You can also check with your local faith-based community to see if they have an open-use policy for their playground equipment.
What day will you go to the park with your kids this week?
Dance Creation
Dancing is a great way for children to be creative while they exercise. Not only is it fun, but you can do it anywhere without any equipment. You can even dance with your children and make it into a family activity!
This is a fun aerobic activity you can do with children as a family. Use a dance CD or downloaded music that is appropriate for your children. Turn on music. Have everyone stand and form a circle. If your group is larger than 10 people, form two groups. To begin, make up a move and ask everyone to do the move with you. Then, one by one ask each person to make up a move to add to the one(s) before until you have a complete dance. Each person gets the opportunity to make up a move and everyone should do each of the moves as they are added (first move; first and second moves; first, second, and third moves; etc.). All the moves together make up the dance.
Dancing is just one way to get aerobic activity. Aerobic activity helps keep your heart healthy because your heart itself is exercising and beating faster while you move! Other aerobic activities you and your children can participate in include biking, basketball, swimming, walking, and games like “Red Light, Green Light.”
Looking for more dance ideas? Check out https://healthykidshealthyfuture.org/5-healthy-goals/get-kids-moving/classroom-activities/!
Take one day this week to create a new dance!
Food-Themed Calendar For Summer
Getting ready for summer can mean plenty of things such as buying sunscreen, bathing suits, and shorts. But getting ready for summer can also mean looking at a monthly food calendar as well. There are national food days along with national food weeks and months.
Egg day is June 3 and there are many ways to celebrate and create your own recipes. There are deviled eggs recipes, egg salad sandwich recipes that enhance flavor, ham and egg frittatas, microwave omelets and scrambled eggs, and even tips on preparing eggs. These recipes and tips are useful in helping people avoid making a green ring around a hard-boiled egg, how to make homemade ice cream without raw eggs in it, and how to crack the date code on egg cartons. These tips and techniques are very helpful, especially on Egg Day, June 3.
Cheese Day is June 4th and is celebrated by making easy black beans and cheese quesadillas, vegetable cheese quesadillas, and spaghetti pie. There are multiple ways to use cheese in various recipes and there are also tips on how to freeze different types of cheeses, what the best types of cheeses are to freeze, how cheese is made, and even how it can be used for healthy eating.
A day kids and parents can enjoy together will be June 7 which is Chocolate Ice Cream Day. Kids will have fun helping parents make old-fashioned chocolate ice cream and can even learn how to make homemade ice cream without using raw eggs. This is very useful, especially if a family is vegan or does not eat eggs. This could also be useful if they wanted to cut down on egg consumption as well.
A fun way to spice things up on June 10 is by adding herbs and spices for flavor in foods without the added calories! There are many healthy cooking recipes that involve fresh herbs and since herbs are in season in the springtime, it is a great way to enjoy the flavor of foods. Not only do herbs and spices add flavor, but they can also be combined with different types of foods. There are herb and food combination charts and seasoning mixes to make for Herb & Spices Day as well.
For those who are new to cooking and who have been making attempts, there is even a day for you! Kitchen Klutzes of America day is June 13 and this day is dedicated to anyone who has made a mess in the kitchen. There are multiple lessons to make recipes successful and to make sure it is not a recipe for disaster. There are even newsletters including easy to-do recipes for kids as well.
Newsletters about physical activity are also available to these kitchen klutzes and how to get involved in some family fun on the run.
For veggie lovers, June 17 is national Eat Your Vegetables Day. There are tips and tricks on how to add more vegetables to your day and for help eating vegetables along with quick, easy recipes that make vegetables taste great. Making baked kale chips, black bean & corn salsa, foil-baked veggies, roasted baby carrots with garlic, vegetable pasta salad, and roasted broccoli and red peppers are all great ways to make the flavor of your vegetables pop! These are great recipes and easy ways to incorporate higher vegetable consumption, which will benefit health-wise. For those who love the outdoors, International Picnic Day is June 18. This is a great way to get outside and celebrate the beautiful weather. There are grilling tips on how to grill meats and vegetables properly and since Herbs & Spices Day has taught you ways on how to season, this would be a great opportunity to put that to use while grilling meats or veggies. There are also resources to use for practicing good food safety while having a delicious picnic as well. Keeping foods fresh and in the right temperature is highly important.
The First Day of Summer is June 20th and a great way to celebrate is by hosting a family and friends barbecue. Knowing barbecue safety practices will help things go smoothly. Cleaning, separating, cooking and chilling the meats properly will make the barbecue twice as delicious and fun. If you and the kids decide to go camping, there are even ways to eat healthy in the wilderness. Making foil packet potatoes on a camping trip could really bring the family together. There are also ways to handle food safely on the road and practice good food safety that way as well, such as planning ahead by bringing a cooler
Men’s Health Week is June 13th-June 19th Men’s Health Week is established for the purpose of raising the awareness of preventable health issues and the diagnoses and treatment of disease in boys and men. This week leads up to Father’s Day and educational newsletters are available online. There is also a Men’s Health Month as well.
There are many months and times to be celebrated such as Beef Steak Month, Dairy Month, Ice Tea Month, Vegetable and Fresh Fruit Month, Papaya Month, and Turkey Lover’s Month. There are recipes for each month available online and tips and tricks for these as well. For more information on how to celebrate the national food days, weeks, and months, visit the site listed in the references.
Taylor Davis
Taylor is a student intern working with EFNEP at N.C. Cooperative Extension, Pitt County Center.
Source: For more information on daily, weekly, or monthly food calendars and recipes, check out this site :http://food.unl.edu/june-food-calendar#summer
Milk Alternatives
People may not drink milk because they have an allergy, lactose intolerant, or just do not like the taste of it. However, milk is our body’s main source of calcium, which is needed to make strong bones and teeth. If you or a family member aren’t drinking milk, don’t worry, as there are several other ways to get the calcium your body needs.
I personally do not like the taste of milk and found myself searching for ways to meet my calcium needs. I starting looking for smoothie recipes that were made with yogurt, as one cup of yogurt is the equivalent in calcium to one cup of milk. I began making a different smoothie every day for breakfast. To assure I was also getting enough fruits and vegetables, I began adding these to my smoothies. Bananas, berries, peaches, spinach, and kale are among some of my favorites. I love having my breakfast in one container and eating at least three of the five food groups daily just for breakfast.
Lunch was a bit more of a challenge, since I did ‘t want to eat a sandwich with added cheese on a daily basis. Finding that broccoli, collards and greens are good sources of calcium, I began adding these to my salads and side dishes. When it was dinner time, I would add some of these vegetables to soups, stews, and casseroles, as well as eat as side dishes or in salad. I found that not only was I getting the calcium my body needed, but that I was enjoying the new and healthy way I was eating. Of course, my family reaped these benefits too.
When you now go to the grocery store, you can find soy, almond, and coconut milks that contain calcium but not lactose. These beverages are very tasty and come in different flavors too. You will find that having a lactose intolerance or allergy doesn’t have to hurt your calcium consumption. There are many ways to keep your bones and teeth strong.
Enjoy!
Judy
Source: http://www.eatright.org/resource/food/nutrition/dietary-guidelines-and-myplate/dairy-alternatives-for-kids-who-wont-or-cant-drink-milk