Category: Ages

Grocery Store Virtual Tour

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Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand the way that grocery stores are designed, how products may be deceptively marketed, and ways to find the most healthful options in grocery store aisles. The youth will compare two similar products and then pick the healthier version. They will make informed choices by looking at the ingredients list.

Definitions

Before facilitating this lesson, you may want to review the following definitions. These can be shared with young people during your discussions.

Shelf life: This is how long a product can sit on the shelf or counter, or in the refrigerator, before spoiling, rotting or molding.

Processed food: This is food that has been changed from its original form. For example, a potato made into a potato chip. These foods usually have several ingredients. Processed foods have been packaged into a bag, box or other container. They are shipped from a factory and will have a shelf life of weeks or even years.

One-ingredient food: This is a food that has been grown, picked and washed before selling, and usually does not have an expiration date stamped on it. This type of food will not last for more than a few days before spoiling. Fruit, vegetables, milk, eggs and meat are examples of one-ingredient foods. Some one-ingredient foods can be packaged and may have a longer shelf life if stored properly, such as flour.

Perimeter: The edges of the store as you walk around; does not include the center aisles.

 

Activity: Parts of a Grocery Store

Have a picture of a grocery store layout or arrange the products that young people brought from home around a designated area to show food locations. For example, fruit, veggies, meat and dairy around the perimeter and chips, cookies and cereal in the center.

Show the youth the Sample Grocery Store Layout and point out the sections.

Perimeter of the grocery store

Point out that in this grocery store, most of the one-ingredient foods are located around the perimeter of the store. The boxed, bagged and packaged items (processed foods) are located in the center aisles.

While shopping, you will want to get the majority of your food from the perimeter of the store. The foods around the perimeter are better for your body because they have not been changed from their original form.

Caution: Grocery stores are starting to put processed foods around the perimeter, too. Sometimes you may find sugary cereals on the perimeter. You will also find one-ingredient foods boxed in the center aisles, like flours, oatmeal, and frozen fruit and veggies.

The produce section

Talk about the difference between conventionally grown produce and organically grown produce.

  • Conventionally grown produce is grown with synthetic fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides (weed killer) to protect the crops from mold, bugs and disease.
  • Organically grown produce is grown with natural fertilizers such as manure and seaweed, insect predators (like ladybugs and bats) and barriers to prevent pests. The farmers weed by hand or mulch in order to prevent weeds.

The chemicals used to grow conventional fruits and vegetables can’t be washed completely off or peeled away. For example, you peel a banana before eating it but the chemicals are not just on the outside. They can get into the soil used to grow the banana and can be found in the fruit. Peeling your banana will not keep you from eating small amounts of these chemicals.

Note: Always remember to wash your hands and your produce well before eating, even if it is organic.

The center aisles

Explain that although the center aisles are more likely to have processed foods, you can still make healthful choices here. There are several different types of processed foods on the shelves. Just walk into the chip aisle! It is floor-to-ceiling choices! For any of these items, picking the healthiest product will be most beneficial, but how do you know which product to pick?

  • Have the young people look at the grocery store picture or study the layout of the products.
  • Have the young people go through the grocery store and pick up four products that they would like.
  • Hold up the bag of regular Lay’s® potato chips and the bag of SunChips®. Ask the following questions:
    • By a show of hands: Do you think you can choose the healthier product by looking at the front of the package?
    • Read the front of the packages and then ask: Which chip is healthier? Why?
    • Do you think you can choose the healthier product by looking at the nutrition label?
    • Read calories, sodium, and fat content and then ask: Which chip is healthier? Why?

You can definitely get some important information from both of these locations, but you get more accurate and specific details from the ingredient list.

Activity: Virtual Shopping Trip

1. Ask the young people to “go shopping” in your virtual grocery store (see internet option below). Have each young person or group of young people choose at least two items (you may adjust this number based on how many food items are available in your virtual grocery store). As a larger group, have the young people separate the products they “bought” on the floor into two piles using the following criteria:

Pile A (Put the bag of Lay’s® potato chips in this pile.)

  • The product has five ingredients or less.
  • Sugar is not in the first five ingredients.
  • You can pronounce all the ingredients and know what they all are.

Pile B (Put the bag of SunChips® in this pile.)

  • The product has six ingredients or more.
  • Sugar, or any form of sugar, is in the ingredients.
  • You can’t pronounce some of the ingredients, or you can pronounce them, but don’t know what some of them are.

2. Take a look at the products in your piles. The products in Pile A have the criteria above, let’s see why they may be healthier than the products in Pile B. Talk about why the products in pile B are in this pile.

3. Have the young people pick an ingredient (one they can or can’t pronounce BUT don’t know what the ingredient is) and research the specific ingredient to find out what the ingredient is. An example to look up would be ‘Red 40,’ or any other food coloring.

Internet shopping option: If internet-enabled devices are available to the youth, they can do a digital version of this activity using an online grocery store such as Coborns Delivers or Fresh Direct. Nutrition labels are available for most items in the item detail view. Young people can take a screenshot of the item they’d like to “purchase” and share it with the instructor. The instructor can sort the images of products on the interactive whiteboard or any mobile app that allows you to import and sort images.

4. Here are some questions to answer about the ingredient:

  • What is it?
  • Why is it in the product? For example: thickener, coloring, etc.
  • What other product is the ingredient used in? Any non-food item?
  • Is the ingredient banned in other countries? Why?

Here are some additional questions to answer about the products.

Question: Is the product advertised on TV? Why do you think this is significant?

Answer: Products that are advertised on TV, radio and Internet are usually produced by big companies who spend a lot of money on marketing and research to get you to buy their products. Think about cereal! While watching cartoons or any other kids show, cereal commercials market to kids. The commercials are very exciting and make you want to buy their products. The commercial almost makes it ‘cool’ to eat the product.

Question: What do you think about the food commercials you see on TV? Which ones are your favorites and why? Do you make your decisions on what to ask your parent to buy at the grocery store by what you hear or see on the commercial? Have the youth give some examples.

Possible answers and discussion topics:

  • These processed products are mass produced; usually contain modified food stuff, things that are not naturally found in one-ingredient foods. An example is major chemicals, like food coloring, and makes the company very wealthy. The products usually don’t cost much because the commercials help sell the products which keeps the prices low.
  • Processed foods usually have ingredients that make the food more flavorful and addicting. This can make processed foods more appealing than fruits, vegetables or other healthful choices.

Question: What products are not advertised? Why do you think this is significant?

Answer: One example is apples. They are not advertised on TV, radio or the Internet. Farmers do not have money to make commercials to advertise their products.

Conclusion

Remind young people to think about what they’ve learned the next time they visit a grocery store with their families. Ask them to look for products with the following criteria:

  • The product has five ingredients or less.
  • Sugar is not in the first five ingredients.
  • You can pronounce all the ingredients and know what they all are.

Challenge the youth to find the most healthful options, even in the potato chip aisle! Visit our virtual care package for more virtual health and wellness resources.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can practice shopping for healthful foods together.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog(s)

Additional Instructor Resources:

Self-Esteem and Body Image Activities for Kids

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Self-Esteem Lesson Plan Overview

This lesson helps young people reflect on the messages they get and give (including to themselves) about personal worth and value. They learn steps they can take to feel confident and good about themselves.

Instructor Notes

Before facilitating this lesson plan, you may want to review the following information about self-esteem. These facts can be shared with young people during your discussions.

  • Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself. These feelings can change as things in your life change, such as going to a new school or becoming a brother or sister.
  • Self-esteem can be positive (you love, respect, and trust yourself) or negative (you feel insecure and helpless).
  • Body image is part of self-esteem. It is how you feel about how you look. Body image also includes how you think others see you.
  • Having a positive body image means that you:
    • feel comfortable in your body and with the way you look
    • feel good about the things your body can do
    • feel empowered to take good care of your physical health.
  • It is common to struggle with body image, no matter who you are, but there are things you can do to help yourself feel good.

Introduction

Ask young people to brainstorm a list of ways people are different from each other. Include physical differences (such as eye color) and non-physical (such as favorite kinds of music). Make a list on a whiteboard or flipchart. Things on the list might include:

  • likes/dislikes
  • abilities (some people are good at math, some at writing, some at art, some at sports, some at music, etc.)
  • interests
  • height
  • weight
  • body build (slender, muscular, etc.)
  • complexion
  • hair colors/type (straight, curly, etc.)
  • eye color
  • preferences

Point out that some things we can change through effort (by studying, practicing, learning), some things are out of our power to change (height, race, who our parents are), and some will change over time (our natural hair color, our joints and muscles, our experiences).

Body Image Activity for Kids

  1. Ask your students to list on a piece of paper or in a journal, three things they like about themselves and three things they are good at. These can be the same things. Ask for volunteers to share examples of what they wrote. Write down these things on a whiteboard or flipchart. Point out that everyone has strengths and that these strengths are part of what make us unique and special. The fact that we are all different is also part of what makes the world interesting.
  2. Ask if anyone has ever been teased or picked on for something that makes them unique or picked on someone else for being unique. How did that feel? How did you deal with the situation? How might you deal differently with the situation today? Allow this to be a sharing time without a lot of processing or attempted problem-solving. Don’t let it turn into a time to make fun of or further tease participants. Thank young people who are willing to share these reflections. Acknowledge that being made to feel different or weird can hurt a lot. Reinforce positive actions or thoughts that are shared. If young people share things that are currently happening and are of concern, follow-up privately with them afterward to learn if they need additional support or intervention.
  3. Ask the class to make a list of things they can each do to have a positive self-esteem and body image. Encourage them to be creative; they may come up with surprising and fun suggestions. The list might include:
    • Spend time with people who treat you well and help you feel good about yourself.
    • Use positive self-talk, such as “I am strong, self-confident, and capable.”
    • Keep a journal to help you see what areas in your life need attention.
    • Celebrate what you like about yourself and work on changing things that you don’t like as much.
    • Remind yourself that you are unique, special, valued and important.
    • Get out and participate in activities with your family and friends.
    • Eat foods that are good for you and make you feel great, such as lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats such as from nuts, avocados and olive oil.
    • Be active at least 60 minutes each day.
    • Talk with a trusted family member or friend if you are feeling low.
    • Treat others with the kindness and respect that all unique individuals deserve.

Conclusion

Self-esteem can’t be taught, but it can be strengthened. This self-esteem lesson plan could spark difficult feelings for young people who are highly insecure, depressed or otherwise struggling. During these body image activities, encourage young people to talk to a trusted friend or adult if they find themselves feeling down about themselves on a regular basis or over a long period of time. Health Powered Kids offers wellness resources for parents that can help them talk to kids about positive body images, and teach important lessons on self-esteem and healthy living.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue discussing positive self-esteem and body image with their kids at home.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog(s)

Additional Instructor Resources:

How to Stay Safe During Physical Activity

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Lesson Overview

This health safety lesson helps young people understand the equipment they need to stay safe during different sports and activities. They will color images of athletes and then label the different gear that keeps them safe.

Introduction

Explain to the youth that using the wrong or improperly fitted equipment is a major cause for injuries in playing games and sports. For example, playing tennis with a badly strung racquet while wearing worn-out shoes can be just as dangerous as playing football without shoulder pads!

Ask young people if they can think of any equipment they have used or have seen others wear while playing sports or doing other physical activities.

Remind young people during this health safety lesson, that before wearing protective equipment or playing, they should always check equipment for proper fit and replace worn-out equipment. For example, replace a child’s bike helmet if it:

  • has been in a bike accident
  • is damaged from being used (such as cracked or dented).

Activity: Staying Safe Coloring Sheet

Distribute the Staying Safe Coloring Sheet. As you walk through the different kinds of equipment below, have the youth color the athletes and label the different gear that keeps them safe.

Here are the “Most Valuable Pieces” of equipment that you should mention when teaching kids how to stay safe during physical activities.

Helmets:

  • Always wear a helmet made for the sport you are playing.
  • Bike helmets should have a CPSC sticker. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) set up the federal safety standard that all bike helmets must meet. Helmets that meet this standard will have this sticker attached.
  • Helmets should fit snugly but comfortably on your head and shouldn’t tilt backward or forward.

Eye Protection:

  • Eye gear for sports is made from a plastic called polycarbonate.
  • Facemasks, either a guard or shield, attached to helmets should also be made of polycarbonate.
  • Goggles should be worn to cover prescription eyeglasses. You can also purchase prescription polycarbonate goggles.

Mouth Guards:

  • Mouth guards can protect your mouth, teeth, and tongue.
  • Mouth guards should be worn in contact sports.
  • If you wear a retainer, always take it out before you start to exercise, practice or play.

Wrist, Knee, and Elbow Guards or Pads:

  • You should wear guards or pads when doing any activity that requires moving on wheels, such as skateboarding.
  • Guards or pads can prevent breaks, cuts, and absorb shock from falls.
  • Guards or pads should fit snugly and comfortably.

Protective Cup

  • Boys who play contact sports should wear a protective cup.
  • Boys should wear an athletic supporter when playing non-contact sports that involve running.
  • If you are unsure, ask your coach if you need a protective cup for your sport.

Footwear:

  • Football, baseball, softball and soccer are some sports that require cleats.
  • Skateboarding and biking have special types of shoes that are best for performing well.
  • Replace cleat and shoes that have worn out or are no longer supportive.

Activity: Safety Tips

Here are a few other tips on how to stay safe during physical activities.

Warm Up for Injury-Free Play: Muscles that have not been warmed up the right way tend to be injured more easily.

  • Start out with some light cardiovascular activities, such as easy jogging, jumping jacks, or brisk walking, to get your muscles moving and blood circulating.
  • Follow your warm-up with some stretches. Stretching works best after a warm-up because your ligaments and tendons are more elastic (flexible) due to the increase in heat and blood flow to the muscle.
  • Do not overdo your play, game, or sport. If you increase how often, how long or how hard you play too fast, you might see better performance at first, but this can lead to injuries later.

Stay Off the Court When You Are Hurt: If you have been injured and you try to come back too soon, you run the risk of re-injuring yourself – maybe even more seriously than before.

  • Concussion: A concussion is a blow to the head that affects how the brain works. A concussion can also happen after a hit to the body that causes the head to move quickly back and forth. Because you cannot see this type of injury, it is easy to come back too soon from a concussion. Always listen to your doctor and get the OK from him or her to play again.
  • Pain relief: Some athletes use pain relievers to avoid pain. Pain is your body’s way of signaling it is not happy with what you are doing. If you have pain, get treatment so you can fix what’s causing it.

The Rules of the Game: Rules are made to keep you and your teammates in the game and to avoid injuries. Follow all the rules to have a safe season.

  • Rules are made to promote safety so that everyone can enjoy the game.
  • You need to follow other rules even if they don’t relate to the sport. For example, if you are inline skating on a public street, pay strict attention to all traffic laws.
  • You need to use the right techniques when playing a sport. This will help you or your opponent not get injured. For example, when playing football, always keep your head up when tackling, neck injuries are common when players tackle with head down. In hockey, high sticking is a violation because it can be dangerous to other players. The right technique would be to keep the stick below waist level. It is also important to use the right technique when lifting weights. This will keep you from holding your breath and possibly fainting.

Whether you are following rules, regulations, or proper techniques, remember that they are not there to restrict you, they are there to keep you safe and injury free.

Conclusion

At the end of this health safety lesson, ask the young people to think of one way they will keep themselves safe during sports or other activities this week. If time permits, allow the youth to share their reflections. Conclude this lesson on health safety by reminding young people that rules and protective equipment are not there to restrict you, they are there to keep you safe and injury-free! Depend on Health Powered Kids for safe and simple exercises for children.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue discussing ways they will stay safe during sports and other activities.

Additional Instructor Resources

Concussions in Sports: What You Should Know

 

Hungry for Breakfast

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Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand the importance of breakfast. The youth will think about good food choices by discussing “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle and singing The Breakfast Song.

Instructor Notes

Before facilitating this lesson, you may want to review the following information about the importance of breakfast for children. These facts can be shared with young people during your discussions.

  • If young children learn important concepts about eating breakfast it will lay a foundation of eating right for years to come. Studies have shown that eating breakfast improves a child’s concentration and mental performance.
  • Young people who skip breakfast are less focused and alert and often too tired to complete morning tasks.
  • Young people who are hungry experience more learning difficulties as compared to well-nourished children.
  • The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics says that children who eat a healthful, well-balanced breakfast are more likely to:
    • meet their daily nutrient requirements
    • have better concentration
    • have better problem-solving skills
    • have better hand-eye coordination
    • stay alert
    • be creative
    • miss fewer days of school
    • be more physically active.

Activity: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Read the book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle.

  1. After reading the book, talk with the young people about all the foods the caterpillar ate. These include apples, pears, oranges, plums and strawberries. Talk about how fruits are good, healthful foods that give our bodies energy. Then talk about all the junk foods the caterpillar ate, such as chocolate cake, ice cream and candy. What happened to the caterpillar after he ate those types of foods? Why?
  2. Ask young people to raise their hands if they had breakfast this morning. Let a few share what they ate.
  3. Tell the young people that today we will be talking about breakfast as one of the most important meals of the day. Breakfast is the first chance to get nourishing food into their bodies and their brains for a great start to the day.
  4. What does it mean to be hungry? Let the youth answer and have them give examples of how they feel and look when they are hungry. Explain that it would be hard to think, learn and play if they felt hungry and tired. That is how they may feel if they don’t eat breakfast.

Activity: Breakfast Song

Ask the youth what happens when we feed our body with nourishing foods for breakfast vs. eating no breakfast or a breakfast without healthful foods. Invite young people to stand to learn a song that will help us remember what foods to eat for breakfast to help our brains and our bodies start the day!

Teach young people the lyrics to the Breakfast Song.

Conclusion

Remind young people that what they eat in the morning has the power to energize them throughout the day. Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue discussing the importance of breakfast at home.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog

Rise and dine! The importance of a healthy breakfast

Additional Instructor Resources

Get Out and Enjoy Nature

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Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand the benefits of outside play for their bodies and minds. The youth will participate in three hands-on activities that show some of the many ways they can enjoy being outdoors.

Instructor Notes

Before facilitating this lesson, you may want to review the following information about the benefits of outdoor play. These facts can be shared with young people during your discussions.

Outdoor play can help the body by:

  • increasing fitness levels and building active, healthy bodies
  • raising levels of Vitamin D which helps protect bone strength and may help in the prevention of chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes
  • may help improve distance vision
  • may help you breathe easier.

Outdoor play can help the mind by:

  • improving focus throughout the day
  • helping kids score higher on tests
  • improving critical thinking on projects.

Outdoor play can help the spirit by:

  • lowering stress levels
  • protecting emotional development and lowering the risk of anxiety and depression
  • enhancing social interactions and helping kids value community
  • enhancing sleep duration and quality.

Activity: Outdoor Energy Boost

This activity demonstrates how our mood can improve simply by going outdoors for a short period of time.

  1. Before going outside, have each young person report on how they are feeling. Write their answers on the whiteboard or smart board.
  2. When they come back inside, ask them again how they are feeling. Write their answers down again. Ask the youth what differences they see. Do they feel happy or sad, tired or lively, restless or calm? Did they feel like they have more energy since going outside?
  3. After all the results are in, show the young people some of the differences. For instance if 5 people were tired before going outside, and 1 was tired after going outside, then you can form a hypothesis that going outside makes most people less tired. If your group of young people would rather play on the computer or watch TV, let them know that these ‘screen’ activities could make them feel more tired and less energetic. So, the more you are able to get outside creating, playing, and working the more energy you will have.
  4. Tell them some of the positive benefits of outdoor play, such as builds healthy bones, improves mood, fresh air can help us breathe easier, and help us sleep better at night.

Activity: Creature – An Outdoor Art Project

This activity allows youth to use their imagination and creativity to look at nature in a whole new way.

  1. Give each young person a paper bag to bring outside to collect treasures. Tell them they will be making a creature/bug/monster when they have all their supplies.
  2. Have them think about the creature they want to make, then offer clues like collecting a rock for the body, twigs for legs, leaves for wings, and tree seeds for scales. Let them be creative.
  3. Once all the supplies are collected, have the youth glue their creature together and allow time to dry. Have each young person show and tell about their creatures.

Activity: Dig in the Dirt

Most children do not even know what soil ‘feels’ like, they walk on sidewalks. Some days kids do not even get to walk on grass, most have never gardened. This activity has proven to slow kids down and ground them, meaning to get them back to the basics of earth, away from technology. Spending time feeling, touching and describing soil and other nature made materials has been proven to reduce stress and anxiety.

  1. Have a bucket of soil for the young people to feel the texture.
  2. Have the young person describe the feeling.
  3. Write their descriptions on the board.

Conclusion

Remind young people that playing outside has many benefits for their bodies and minds. Ask the youth to brainstorm other fun activities they can do outside. Encourage them to get outside and enjoy the outdoors everyday!

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can discuss ways to get outside and have fun together.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog

Exercise to help the body, mind and spirit

Additional Instructor Resources

Book: Growing Vegetable Soup, by Lois Ehlert
Outdoor Activity Finder by the National Wildlife Federation

 

Your Happy Heart

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Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand why it’s important to exercise for a healthy heart. Through a series of active movements, the youth will learn how the heart functions and why a strong heart is more effective at circulating oxygen throughout your body.

Instructor Notes

Before facilitating this lesson, you may want to review the following information about the heart. These facts can be shared with young people during your discussions.

Aerobic means “with oxygen”.

Endurance means how well you are able breathe, take air into your lungs, and use the air throughout your whole body.

Heart rate is the number of times your heart beats each minute. This amount will increase when you are active.

Air has oxygen in it. When you breathe and expand your lungs, the oxygen goes into your lungs. After that, it makes its way into your bloodstream where your heart then pumps it to every part of your body.

When you become physically active, your muscles call for more oxygen, so you start to breathe faster and your heart rate increases to meet the demand of oxygen that your muscles need. The more oxygen your body gets the more energy you will have. The more you are able to get physically active, the stronger your heart will be.

Introduction

Provide young people information on the positive health benefits of physical activity.
Exercise:

  1. Helps your body maintain overall good health.
  2. Helps build and maintain healthy and strong bones and muscles.
  3. Increases flexibility and aerobic endurance.

Ask young people for more ideas on the benefits of being physically active. Other tips the instructor may want to add:

  • have a leaner body because exercise helps build muscle
  • decrease chance of becoming unhealthy
  • have a better outlook on life.

Activity: About Your Heart

Now let’s take a closer look at the human heart and how it ties to overall health and physical fitness. When we become physically active, our muscles call for more oxygen, so we start to breathe faster and our heart rate increases to meet the demand of oxygen that our muscles need. The more oxygen your body gets the more energy you will have.

Do a quick activity that demonstrates how to increase the amount of oxygen in the body. Instruct young people to do the following:

  1. Sit up tall with both legs relaxed. Rest your hands in your lap. Do not cross your ankles or legs.
  2. Take slow deep breaths as you expand your lungs, slowly exhale, or breathe out.

Inform young people that breathing like this helps your body build up its supply of oxygen. When you are getting physical activity, the pace of your breathing will increase because your muscles need more oxygen to work harder. After you play tag, for example, it may take a little while to “catch your breath,” or for your breathing to come back to normal. At this time you may have a hard time taking in slow, deep breaths.

Then explore the heart’s role in helping you get enough oxygen throughout your body. Instruct them further:

  1. Make a fist and squeeze your bicep muscle, then relax. (For very young children, show the move as they may not know what a bicep is.)
  2. Now flex your quadriceps (the thigh muscles), then relax.
  3. Finally, flex your “heart.” Pause while the youth wiggle and shift their bodies in an attempt to flex their hearts.

Inform young people that the heart while the heart is a muscle, it’s not one we can flex when we tell ourselves to do so. We need physical activity to get the heart muscle to flex and get a good workout. Ask the youth what they could do to get their hearts flexing and pumping faster. If prompts are needed state a few examples – ride our bikes, play a game of tag, etc.

Activity: Exercise for a Healthy Heart

Lead the youth in one or more of these activities that teach young people ways to strengthen their hearts.

  1. Heart Walk Activity: Pass out a blank piece of paper and pencil to each young person. Have each of them trace their foot prints/shoe prints on the paper – left foot on the front side of the paper and right foot on the back. Brainstorm short and rather simple physical activities the youth can do to get their hearts pumping (e.g., 5 sit ups, 10 jumping jacks, run in place for 10 seconds, 3 push-ups, etc.). Have them each write  a separate activity on each side of their papers in the center of the foot print. They each get to choose what to write and you want to encourage a variety of activities. Move to an open physical fitness space. Have the young people lay their papers down in a pattern on the floor. Space them so there is room  to do each activity before moving on to the next paper and doing the activity written on it. Each young person should visit each paper one time. Once they’ve made it around to each of the footprint stations, have the youth flip the paper over (exposing a new exercise) and lay them back down on the ground and start the rotation over.
  2. Distribute the Happy Heart Coloring Sheet. Tell the young people to color the boy on the bicycle, and that bicycling is a heart healthy activity. Give the youth time to color the sheet.
  3. Strong Heart vs. Weak Heart Activity:
    • For one minute, have each young person squeeze their dominant hand (the hand they write with) into a fist, then relax and stretch out their fingers, as many times as they can. Most of the youth will not even be able to make the full minute.
    • Then have each young person do the same thing with their non-dominant hand, but this time have the youth slow down the fist/stretch. A good way to have them slow down would be to say a three syllable word like elephant (squeeze on ‘el’, release on ‘e’ and stretch on ‘phant’). Each fist/stretch should take about one second.
    • When the minute is up, ask “which hand became tired faster?” Relate the hand activity to the how the heart pumps blood through the body. A weak heart has to pump/beat more times each minute, moving less blood with each beat. While a strong heart can beat fewer times each minute, while pumping out more blood with each beat.

Conclusion

To conclude the lesson, remind young people that the more you are able to get physically active, the stronger your heart will be.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish so that families can continue discussing heart health and the importance of physical activity at home.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog

Stay active to keep your heart healthy

Additional Instructor Resources

The Heart on KidsHealth.org

Vegetarian Basics

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Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand healthful ways to follow vegetarian diets by researching the different types and how to get enough nutrients while following each one.

Introduction

Ask the youth:

  • Has anyone has heard of vegetarian diets?
  • Do you know of anyone or do you follow a vegetarian diet?
  • What do you think it means to be a vegetarian?

Explain that a vegetarian diet is one way of meeting an individual’s nutritional needs. A person may follow a vegetarian diet for cultural, ethical, environmental or health reasons.

Activity: All About Vegetarian Diets

Introduce young people to the different kinds of vegetarian diets in the Vegetarian Online Learning Activity. Young people may explore the lesson independently on computers or mobile devices, or it can be projected on the classroom’s SMART or Promethean Board.

Review the 4 types of vegetarian diets listed in the presentation.

  1. Strict Vegetarian or Vegan: This diet includes only plant-based foods. It doesn’t include any kind of animal food sources, such as meat, fish, eggs and dairy products.
  2. Lacto-vegetarian: This diet includes all plant-based foods and dairy products. It doesn’t include meat, fish or eggs.
  3. Lacto-ovo Vegetarian: This diet includes all plant-based foods, dairy products and eggs. It doesn’t include meat and fish.
  4. Flexitarian: This diet includes mostly plant-based foods and occasionally includes eggs, fish, dairy products and meats.

Conclude that there are many different types of vegetarian eating styles. One is not necessarily better than the other and all can fit into a healthy lifestyle. Explain that if a person chooses not to eat a certain type of food or food group, he or she may not get the right amount of some nutrients. Some of these nutrients include calories, protein, and calcium, Vitamin D, Iron, Zinc and Vitamin B12.

Activity: Vegetarian Nutrition Research

Have the young people research one type of vegetarian diet and create a poster board and the nutrients that may be missing from that diet. Have them include what food sources may be included instead that would provide the nutrients they need. Each poster should include the following:

  • The name of the type of vegetarian diet
  • Nutrients that may be missing or hard to get from this diet
  • Pictures of allowed food sources to meet those nutrient needs.

Invite each young person or group to present their project to the class.

Conclusion

Remind young people that it is possible to be healthy while following a vegetarian diet if you know about healthful sources of protein, calcium, and Vitamins D and B12. Young people considering vegetarian diets should refer to MyPlate’s Information for Vegetarians to get more information.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, with information about vegetarian diets so that families can continue discussing balanced nutrition at home.

Additional Instructor Resources

Vegetarian Lifestyles from Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

 Vegetarian Nutrition

Tips for Vegetarians from ChooseMyPlate.gov

Stress Busters

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Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand the symptoms of stress and learn some techniques for dealing with it. The youth will practice relaxation techniques that focus on calming the body in order to relax the mind.

Introduction

Explain to the youth that stress can have a powerful impact on your body. Here are some ways that stress can affect you physically:

  • upset stomach
  • headache
  • trouble breathing
  • dizziness
  • chest pains
  • heartburn
  • muscle pain, aches, cramps
  • change in sleep habits
  • change in appetite
  • change in weight.

Ask the youth if they can think of others that they’ve either experienced or heard of.

The good news is that because our bodies and our minds are so connected we can also do things with our bodies that help our minds, and our whole body, relax.

Activity: Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Read the instructions for this relaxation activity aloud to the youth and ask them to follow along.

  1. Get into a comfortable position. You can sit or lie down.
  2. Close your eyes, if you feel comfortable doing so. Focus on relaxing your entire body as much as possible.
  3. Start by tensing your toes; curl them up into your feet and hold them tight for 3 to 5 seconds. Release them. Take a deep breath and repeat for another 3 to 5 seconds.
  4. Next, tighten all your muscles from your feet up to your waist. Do a quick mental scan and make sure you have them all: your calves, your things, your bottom. Hold for 3 to 5 seconds Release and repeat.
  5. Now do the same thing with your stomach. Tighten it as much as you can. Hold it. Then release and repeat.
  6. Then do the same thing with your chest. Tighten, hold, release. Two times.
  7. Now your whole torso, including your shoulders, which will probably lift slightly off the ground or away from your chair when you tense them.
  8. Now move to your hands. Tighten them into fists, hold for a count of five and release. Repeat this two times.
  9. Then tighten your entire arms, bending your fists back at the wrist. Hold for five seconds and release. Then repeat.
  10. Tighten your neck by turning your head as far to the right as you can without feeling any discomfort and holding it for 3 to 5 seconds. Then release. Repeat this one more time.
  11. Do the same thing on the left.
  12. Now scrunch and tighten your whole face and hold it for five seconds. Do this one more time and then you are done.
  13. Now that you’ve tensed and released every part of your body, do a quick scan. How do you feel? Are there are places you’d like to tense and release again for a little more relaxation? Go ahead and do that.
  14. When you are ready, open your eyes and begin to slowly move around. Enjoy the calm feeling this activity is sure to bring!

Activity: Whip Share

Do a “whip share” reflection about the above activity. A whip share is where everyone stands in a circle and one at time quickly makes one short statement. In this case ask them to share one thing that they do to help themselves de-stress such as go for a walk, talk to a friend, or listen to music.

Optional Activity: Breathe In, Bubbles Out!

Take a deep breath in through your nose. Fill your lungs full of air! Hold your breath for 1 to 2 seconds. Put the bubble wand up by your mouth and blow! Repeat 3 to 5 times, trying to blow more bubbles each time. After the exercise, ask the youth where in their bodies do they feel the stress or anxiety being released.

Conclusion

Remind the youth that stress can have a powerful impact on us, but that when we relax our bodies, we can also relax our minds. Progressive Muscle Relaxation is one activity we can do any time we’re feeling stressed.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, which also includes these tips, so that families can continue discussing stress and healthy ways to deal with it at home.

Additional Instructor Resources

Water: Making Living Things Grow!

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Lesson Overview

This lesson provides a visual example for young people of what happens to a living thing (in this case a plant) when it is hydrated with water vs. liquids with added ingredients such as sweeteners, flavors and colors.

Introduction

Every living thing needs water to survive. Nearly every system in your body depends on water to work right, including our organs, muscles, joints, and nervous system.

Ask the youth, what would happen to plants, animals and babies if they were given beverages that have lots of sugar and other ingredients in them?

Answers:  Sick, tired, wouldn’t grow right, might die

The same is true of bigger kids and adults: If we depend on flavored drinks for our liquids, our bodies won’t grow right, we won’t feel well and we might get sick.

Ask: What do you think might happen to our bodies if we stopped drinking mostly water or milk and drank mostly pops, fruit drinks and sports/energy drinks? (Same answers as for babies/animals/plants.)

Activity

Explain that you are going to do a classroom experiment involving water and growing. Present the three plants. Explain that you are going to care for the three plants in three different ways:

  • The first one will get water every day or as needed.
  • The second one will be “watered” with soda.
  • The third one will get no water or other liquids.

Create (or have young people create) labels so you can keep track of the plants.

Explain that when doing a scientific experiment like this one it’s important to keep notes about your findings because otherwise when it’s over you might not remember the details.

Give each person a copy of the “Plant-Water Experiment Notes” worksheet. Ask the youth to complete the first row by jotting down notes about the color of the leaves, the texture of the plant, and other details. You can also do this activity with the interactive whiteboard template (see What You Need) and keep track of it as a class.

Ask the youth to take notes every day for several weeks to track what happens to the three plants over time. Younger kids can simply describe what they are seeing.

When doing this activity with younger children ask them to describe what they are seeing and you write the notes.

Consider taking regular photographs of the plants in order to visually track the change over time.

Conclusion

Even if the results of this experiment aren’t dramatic, there will be differences the young people can discover if they pay close attention. Encourage them to think about this the next time they are choosing how to “water” (hydrate) their own bodies.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue discussing the importance of hydrating with water at home.

 

Nutritional Supplements

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Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand how whole foods stack up against protein bars, powders and shakes. The youth will compare the nutrients in a supplement product against the amount in whole foods. Young people will also consider cost as they recommend healthful sources of protein and other nutrients in a presentation or poster.

Instructor Notes

Before facilitating this lesson, you may want to review the following information about supplements. These facts can be shared with young people during your discussions.

  • The food we eat for daily meals and snacks should supply our bodies with enough vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients for normal growth and development. This means we probably don’t need additional nutrition supplements such as vitamins and minerals or protein shakes/bars/powders.
  • In some cases, a child’s doctor or dietitian may recommend a supplement to make sure he or she is getting needed nutrients, or if the child has an extended food dislikes, a food allergy, or an intolerance that prevents him or her from eating an entire food group.
  • Some over-the-counter vitamin/mineral supplements and protein supplements claim to help you get over colds or help you build muscles or other benefits. These types of products are not usually supported by science and may even be harmful to children.
  • Please refer to the additional instructor resources for further information on dietary supplement use.

Activity: Nutritional Content Comparison Poster

  1. Introduce the topic by letting the youth know that the food we eat for daily meals and snacks should supply our bodies with enough vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber, and other nutrients to keep us healthy. This means most of us don’t need additional nutritional supplements in the form of pills, capsules, shakes, bars, or powders. Points to emphasize:
    • Nutrition supplements should be used only if recommended by a healthcare professional.
    • Nutrition supplements can come in colorful packages and shapes but they aren’t candy.
  2. As an example, ask young people to research and compare the amount of protein in a protein shake, powder or bar against the amount of protein in healthful food items such as milk, meats, eggs, nuts, and beans. Young people may choose instead to select a vitamin/mineral supplement to compare with healthful food items.
  3. Have the youth compare the cost per serving and other nutritional benefits they may get from eating a healthful food item. This will present a good case as to why it is better to get nutrients from whole food vs. a supplement.
  4. Create a poster with their comparison and recommendation for the healthiest choice. Young people are encouraged to include pictures/photos/graphics and Nutrition Facts Labels on their posters.
  5. Young people may use the nutrition facts label to find nutrition information or the USDA nutrient database.

Conclusion

Invite young people to present their findings to the group. Remind the youth that healthful whole foods are almost always the best choice for healthy bodies and minds.  Encourage young people to read the Nutrition Facts Labels when choosing their meals and snacks.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can prepare healthful meals full of protein and other nutrients at home.

Additional Instructor Resources

Blank Nutrition Facts Label
MyPlate
USDA Dietary Supplements
NIH Dietary Supplements Fact Sheet
Dietary Supplements: What You Need To Know
Consumer Protection