Healthy Activities

Healthy activities are a great way to spend quality time with your family. Enjoy these ideas or create some new ones of your own!

Help your children learn to count by having them count their steps as they walk up and down stairs.
Protect your brain and wear that helmet!
Play "Follow the Leader" with your child. Jump up and down or turn around. Have your child imitate what you do. Then let your child lead and follow what he or she does.
Enjoy fun in the sun when you're playing outside, swimming, or skiing. Wear sunscreen, a hat and sunglasses with UV protection.
Ask your child to imitate their favorite sports stars: "Move like a basketball player, balance like your favorite gymnast, leap like your favorite dancer, or throw like your favorite football player."
Design a backyard obstacle course with your children and let them invite their friends over to run through it.
Challenge your children to use their imagination to create a new sport that they can play outside with friends.

Point to the Sesame Street friend on the packaging and ask your child to name and describe the character.
Point to the "whole-grain" stamp on the packaging. Emphasize that this food has a lot of "whole-grain" in it, and that "whole-grain" is good for our heart and keeps our whole body healthy and strong!
Play "Follow the Leader" with your child. Jump up and down or turn around. Have your child imitate what you do. Then let your child lead and follow what he or she does.
Check out the health tips and activities on the back of the packaging. Have fun doing some or all of them with your child.
Instead of throwing away the box, be kind to the environment and reuse it! Cover the box with colorful wrapping paper or newspaper and use it as a gift box. You can also cut off the lids, decorate it with paint or stickers, and use it as a small container.
Enjoy eating together as a family. It's a special time for bonding, talking about your day, and sharing stories.

Do a crunch contest. Try three different kinds of vegetables to see which vegetable crunches the loudest.
Play "What can we make with this?" Teach children about flour, then ask them to name various foods they could make with flour.
Visit a farm or supermarket together.
Ask your child to pick out one healthy food, then create a simple meal with that food that your child can help you make (i.e. a strawberry smoothie).
Family Foods. Cook foods that grandma and other family members used to make for special occasions and start a family recipe book that your child can help make.
Food Groups Game. Practice sorting foods by color, texture, or food group.