Educating and influencing our children about good health seems like a big deal to us—trying to get them to eat healthy, exercise, avoid smoking, drugs and alcohol, and giving them the information and values we hope will help them make healthy choices and lead a healthy life. But, to our kids, it can just seem boring and just one more thing we are nagging them about. How can we take the “have to” out of health education for our kids and make it fun and interesting while encouraging habits for healthy living?
You might be surprised how many fun, interesting “teaching aids” that are available for parents. A trip to your local library may get you started. We have some very cool “kits” at our library for elementary and preschool-age children that are health and science based—complete with DVDs, puppets, hands-on toys and experiments, and suggestions for parents. If you have a science or children’s museum in your community, these are other great places that are generally geared toward providing some health information in a fun, playful way.
You may not realize that cooking, gardening, bike riding, and other ordinary, natural activities are actually providing solid influence for kids on living a healthy life. Trips to the farmer’s market or actual farm for fresh, organic fruits and vegetables also help connect our kids with the source of healthy food choices.
An internet search and/or a trip to the school/education supplier in your town or community could also turn up a bunch of cool resources for health education. There are companies who specialize in providing all sorts of supplies to health educators—skeletons, models of organs (lungs exposed to smoke, fat globs, etc.), and really amazing visuals, games and other resources that make even the most boring subjects entertaining and very accessible to kids. You can get fun posters and toys too. Companies who supply teaching materials to the health care profession can also be a great resource for educating older kids.
Teaching and guiding our children when it comes to health matters doesn’t have to be a dull, nagging experience. With a little legwork and creativity, we can have fun with health issues, while still providing plenty of factual and influential information.
See Also: Setting Good Health Examples For Our Kids and Teens, Health, and Habits