Building Habits For a Life Time
Teaching children healthy habits can be fun or it can be a challenge, depending on how picky your children are at the dinner table? I had to be creative when our kids were little, for example, I told them that the "Fish sticks" were cheese sticks so they would eat them. Hard to find a fish for kids! I also put berries in our cookies, I was not that good of a cook, but I was darn creative! I even went through a wheat germ phase and made homemade pizza crust, can you imagine how that went over in an Italian family, and me being the 'outlaw' I still catch flack today from it! But I always tried.
Today there are so many platforms to find fun recipes to make and do with your own kids, I found some on Pinterest and had to share because I remember how hard it was at times to get our kids to each healthy. While we did the apple dipped in peanut butter, today they make slices with marshmallows for teeth and the peanut butter to hold them in place....times they are a changing!
Remember that healthy eating is only a small part of forming healthy habits. When we were kids we drank water out of the hose and played outdoors in the sun all day, until the street lights turned on if you will! Today there are bottled waters, fun water bottles and so many different varieties of water to choose from, whatever works because water is so important to drink and so much better than sodas or pop, shoot, we had the Kool-aid man, remember him?! Try adding a sticker to your own children's water bottle with an important message!
Exercise is another part of having healthy habits, walk, run, skip, jump, dance or get involved in sports, but get out and move that body around, move those limbs and stretch. You can find an outdoor or indoor Yoga class, some form of movement which is important, too.
And, let's not forget to exercise our minds, read, write, play crossword or word search, paint, be creative, have conversations with others, tell jokes and stories, just keep your mind active.
Make it fun to eat healthy snacks, breakfasts, lunches and dinners! Be creative and involve your own kids to help you prepare them. Let them create their own fun snack, you’d be surprised with what they come up with!
You might have some fruits and vegetables already prepared and then let them go to town! Make your own family fun with every one!
Hello, my name is Miss Joni and I'm the creator of Characters of Character NFP and one of the nine characters that I created is Healthy Hippo to help teach and reinforce healthy habits for our children. Kids relate to the characters and want to become like them, too! When I taught preschool I had so many parents thank me for the characters because it made their struggles a bit easier when teaching their children the importance of healthy habits. Life is busy, can be hectic and it's important to remember that our kids are watching our habits, listening to our conversations and wanting to be like us, we are their role models.
These are some ideas for fun foods to do with your kids!
Enjoy your summer!
Miss Joni and Team Characters