1. Fuel your child. A body uses food as fuel. Not all fuels are equal. Fill your child's day with healthy meals and snacks to keep their bodies running at its best. Try to cut out sugar where you can, and get plenty of fruits and vegetables in their system. Whole grains also give long lasting energy. Check product labels. Go back to basics. A good way to get healthy snacks in your kids is to have them always handy. At the beginning of each week, cut up fruits and vegetables and put them in a container in the refrigerator. Make this the "free" container. When your child needs a snack, let them pick something from the container.
2. Get moving with them. When you take your kids to the park, play with them. Your children want to play with you. They want to know that you want to play with them. It will help get you healthier and help your kids' self esteem.
3. Don’t overschedule their day. We go from school to soccer to karate. You know how it goes. Remember kids need routine, but they also need down time. They need time to be creative and time to relax. Even when their day is filled with fun things to do, it's stressful to be scheduled from morning to night. Don’t do this to your kids. Children need a break too. Make sure there is some down time during the day to just relax. Also, let them be in control of parts of the day. Let them decide sometimes what to wear, where to go, what to eat. It will help them become more creative, independent thinkers. You may also need to teach them how to relax. Let them have some quiet time each day to read, take a nap, or just be alone with their thoughts.
4. Don't be afraid to be silly. Children are naturally silly and love to see you giggle with them.
3. Don’t overschedule their day. We go from school to soccer to karate. You know how it goes. Remember kids need routine, but they also need down time. They need time to be creative and time to relax. Even when their day is filled with fun things to do, it's stressful to be scheduled from morning to night. Don’t do this to your kids. Children need a break too. Make sure there is some down time during the day to just relax. Also, let them be in control of parts of the day. Let them decide sometimes what to wear, where to go, what to eat. It will help them become more creative, independent thinkers. You may also need to teach them how to relax. Let them have some quiet time each day to read, take a nap, or just be alone with their thoughts.
4. Don't be afraid to be silly. Children are naturally silly and love to see you giggle with them.
Try some silly activities they're sure to love. Act like animals. Choose an animal and act out their personalities. Have tickle time, dancing time, running time. Throw out your inhibitions and laugh! Once you get started, you may find it hard to stop.
5. Limit media time. Kids have so many media options now. There's TV, computer, Wi, cell phones, text messaging and more. Make meal times media free. Have meals as a family as often as possible. Also, turn off all media 30 minutes before bed. As great as all this media is, it can be extremely stressful also.
5. Limit media time. Kids have so many media options now. There's TV, computer, Wi, cell phones, text messaging and more. Make meal times media free. Have meals as a family as often as possible. Also, turn off all media 30 minutes before bed. As great as all this media is, it can be extremely stressful also.
6. Above all, make sure they know you love them. Tell them every day why they are special.
No comments:
Post a Comment