Just because it’s raining doesn’t mean you have to stay indoors. Here are some ways on how the whole family can be active outside on rainy days:
How to nurture a Healthy start with active play!
Physical literacy is the ability and confidence to move and participate in physical activity in a variety of environments. It is an important part of a child’s development that can be overlooked due to their young age. It is never too early to start age-appropriate physical activity movements that can strengthen a child’s ability to be active.
How to eat more whole grains at home
Do you think your child eats the recommended amount of whole grains
every day? Canadian guidelines recommend that half of the grain products we eat in a day
should be whole grains. Here are some ways to gradually increase whole grains in the diet.
Nutrition Literacy with Healthy Start! Cooking and Learning with Children
Cooking is a wonderful learning opportunity for children. Don’t be afraid to invite children in the kitchen to help you. Whether it’s at home, at the childcare centre or in the classroom, children have so much to gain from preparing meals and snacks.. Encouraging children to help you in the kitchen will increase their knowledge and curiosity in several areas.
Read moreNutrition Literacy with Healthy Start! Cooking and Learning with Children
Make this year’s holiday celebration active!
Looking for ways to spice up family celebrations this holiday season? Why not add some physical activity! Gather all of your family members and go caroling throughout the neighborhood, go skating or tobogganing or even go on a
nature scavenger hunt.
Active games for your Halloween party
Need some ideas on how to keep the kids active during your Halloween party? Check out these great ideas from Active for Life:
Engaging parents in health and wellness – what are some proven practices we can learn from?
Healthy Start / Départ Santé will be collaborating with an organization based in Kelowna called The Bridge and delivering the Healthy Together program. Healthy Together was designed primarily for children and youth in care (0-18y) and their families. It has been piloted with children and youth in care (0-18y), aboriginal youth (13-18y) and the general population of children (0-6y) and their families. This program is being implemented with diverse population groups and is working to extend its experience and create adaptations for other populations as well. More info – Healthy Together Program Brochure
Read moreEngaging parents in health and wellness – what are some proven practices we can learn from?
A new phase of parent participation
We know parent engagement parent, involvement, parent contribution – are all important concepts in promoting health and wellness of young children. Healthy Start made no exception in developing its evidenced based programming for early learning settings, by including a parent awareness component.
Picky Eaters
Does your child refuse to eat at mealtime or reject certain foods? It’s important to know that children’s tastes can change considerably, even from day to day. However, children should not be forced to eat foods and food should not be used as a reward. Ellyn Satter, a nutritionist specialising in the division of responsibility in feeding, believes quite the opposite, emphasizing that you must be persistent and serve a food often to children so that they can get used to it. Children should be allowed to look at food and touch it, and taste it only when they feel they are ready to do so. The most important thing is to give children the freedom to choose what they eat. She says that children need to be exposed to a food many times before they accept it.
The Perfect Packed Lunch
Fall is just around the corner and September means back-to-school. Here are a few tricks and ideas to help you prepare lunches for your young child:
Sun safety tips
Summer offers many opportunities for children to go outside and play. However, it’s important to remember the risks of playing out in the sun.
Water in winter?
People might think that water consumption isn’t as important over the winter, but dehydration can occur year round, even in the cold Canadian climate. Here are some important tips on staying hydrated over the winter months, as well as some tricks to put some colourful splash into your winter water.