Category: 30 Minutes

Brain Boost

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Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand what they need to do to protect and help grow their brains. They will learn about activities and habits that help their brains develop and function at their best.

Introduction

The brain is a very important organ. Without it, nothing else in a body can function. Scientists are learning more all the time about how brains grow and develop, and how we can best care for them.

Guide young people through the Brain Basics online learning activity. The main points are also listed below.

  1. Nutrition: Brains need lots of fuel. What you eat can have short-term impacts on things like concentration and focus, as well as longer-term effects on how your brain grows and develop. A balanced diet that includes lots of whole foods rich in vitamins and minerals, healthy fats, and proteins, is your best bet. It’s also important for kids to to eat throughout the day…especially breakfast.
  2. Sleep: Specific sleep needs vary, but children and teenagers need more than adults do. Some general guidelines are:
    • ages 3 to 10: 10 to 12 hours each day
    • ages 11 to 12: about 10 hours each day
    • teenagers (ages 13 to 17): about nine hours each day.
  3. Stimulating thinking activities: People of all ages need to use their brains in lots of different ways to keep them sharp and effective. This means mixing it up with different activities that involve logic and problem solving, concentration and memory, reading, making plans, being silly and creative, and working hard on something.
  4. Physical activities: Exercise and movement are critical. Playing sports, free play, running, hiking, jumping, skipping…all of this and more promote health brain development.
  5. Mindfulness/relaxation/rest: Even little kids can get worried and stressed out. Too much of that isn’t good for how we feel in the moment or how our brains change over time. Everyone needs to find ways to quiet and calm their minds. Learn more through other Health Powered Kids lessons or the Change to Chill web site: changetochill.org.
  6. Protection: Our skulls, which surround our brains, are fairly hard and tough and do a good job of keeping our brains safe. But our brains are actually pretty soft and they can be sensitive and sometimes when we’re doing more rough activities, like biking, skiing, or skateboarding, it’s good to have even more protection than usual. And if our brains get injured, we need to rest and following a doctor’s instructions for healing.

Activity: Brain Drawing Worksheet

  1. Hand out the Brain Basics Drawing Worksheet (see What You Need).
  2. Explain that our brains are very important because they keep the rest of our bodies working, including things we don’t ever have to think about like our lungs breathing and our hearts beating. While we’re sleeping we don’t realize it but even then our brains are working hard to keep everything running smoothly.
  3. Explain that since our brains take such good care of us, it’s important for us to take care of them. Point out the sections on the worksheet and say that they each represent things we can do to take care of our brains. As a class, brainstorm some ideas for the sections. In the Protect Your Brain section, for example, young people could draw a picture of themselves wearing a helmet while riding a bike. For the “What Else?” category, choose another method that was discussed in the Brain Basics online learning activity, such as sleeping, meditating, or doing stimulating thinking activities. Have the youth draw pictures of things that help boost their brains.

Activity: Concentration Game

After giving students a bit of time to work on their activity sheets, play a game of concentration. There are lots of variations of this game, but here’s one: Players sit in a circle cross-legged and take a number each, starting with number one.

Students start chanting the following while slapping their thighs twice then clapping their hands twice:

Concentration (slap slap clap clap)

Are you ready? (slap slap clap clap)

If – so – (slap slap clap clap)

Let’s – go! (slap slap clap clap)

Then player one, continuing the rhythm, says their own number twice followed by another number in the circle.

For example: 1, 1, 4, 4 (slap slap clap clap)

Player 4 then does the same, starting with their own number and following with someone else’s:

4, 4, 7, 7 (slap slap clap clap)

Anybody who makes a mistake or doesn’t keep the rhythm is out but remains in the circle, making it more difficult for the other players, who must remember not to use the numbers of the people who are out.

Conclusion

After playing the game for a while, explain that games like concentration help your brain by forcing it to do more than one thing at a time (make your hands move, remember the pattern, think of a number, say and number, and so on). Ask if anyone has examples or ideas of other things that could help strengthen your brain. If anyone has an idea of a game give it a try if you have time.

If the youth did not have time to finish the activity sheets, encourage to finish working on them at home.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish so that families can continue discussing brain health at home.

 

Skin: Caring for the Largest Organ

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Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand the basic structure, function, and care of skin. Youth will be introduced to the topic with an online interactive quiz. They will read about the skin, including tips for its care, then get creative by designing products and giving persuasive presentations.

Introduction

This lesson focuses on three aspects of skin: its basic structure, the jobs it does for our bodies and how to care for it. You can introduce the topic by having young people take the Online Quiz either individually or as a larger group. Discuss the answers. Were there any answers that surprised you?

Give each of the young people a copy of the Skin Handout. Review the diagram and headings. If time permits, youth may want to read this before starting the activity below.

Activity

  1. In small groups, invent new skin-care products and try to “sell” them to the rest of the class. The youth can do this as a written advertisement (preferably with some art…like a magazine ad), a pretend radio ad (spoken with no actions) or a pretend video/television ad (incorporating actions). Be sure to include:
    • a description of your product (a cream, a cleanser, or something less common…be creative!)
    • the problem it solves
    • why people should buy it.
  2. Young people do skits or presentations for others about skin health and skin care. Tell them the goal is be persuasive…to convince their peers to do their best to keep their skin healthy. If they have access to the Internet you can allow them to look up additional information.

Conclusion

Skin health and skin care will always be an important part of our lives. Encourage young people to take the handout and newsletter home as references they can keep and perhaps share with other family members.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, which also includes these tips, so that families can continue discussing skin health at home.

Additional Instructor Resources

Eye Protection

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Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand how their eyes work, how to keep them healthy, and ways to protect them during different activities. The topic is introduced with whole-group formative assessment questions to generate interest and discussion. Then, youth complete an activity where they learn the parts of the eye. Finally, they learn tips for taking care of their eyes.

Introduction

Start with an interactive voting activity. Use the lesson for the interactive whiteboard (see What You Need) or write the questions on the board.  Let the young people vote.

1. An eyeball is about the size of:

  1. A marble
  2. A grape
  3. A tennis ball
  4. A ping pong ball (correct answer)

2. Our eyebrows are useless and just for appearance:

  1. True
  2. False (correct answer; eye brows kept moisture, like sweat, out of our eyes)

3. You can get a sunburn on your eyes.

  1. True (correct answer; You can protect your eyes by wearing sunglasses with UV protection.)
  2. False

4. Which of the following can be a sign that someone has an eye problem?

  1. Blinking or rubbing their eyes a lot
  2. Eyes looking crossed or one seems to be going the wrong way sometimes
  3. Squinting when looking at objects
  4. All of the above (correct answer)

Ask if any of the answers were suprising. Which ones? Let young people talk about any problems they’ve have with their own eyes if they volunteer that information, but keep the conversation relatively brief and focus on what they can do to keep their eyes healthy, no matter what problems they’ve had in the past.

Activity: Parts of the Eye

After the opening quiz, have the youth work in small groups to do the Eye Didn’t Know That activity on the worksheet or at the interactive whiteboard. Once the small groups have identified the parts of the eyes, discuss the answers as a large group.

Conclusion: Taking Care of your Eyes

You only have one set of eyes and they have to last you your entire life. There are several ways you can take care of your eyes that will help them work better for you now and in the future. Discuss these tips with the youth.

  1. Give your eyes a break from the screen—Our eyes need rest just like the rest of us does…when working on a computer or using other electronics take breaks every 15 minutes or so.
  2. Make sure you have good light when reading, writing, doing puzzles, or otherwise focusing closely for an extended period.
  3. Protect eyes from bright light and sun exposure. Say something like, Research is linking UV rays from the sun to eye problems. Problems range from temporary blindness to developing something called cataracts, which cause cloudy vision and can only be repaired with surgery. Buying the right kind of sunglasses can help prevent problems from UV rays. For the best protection look for at least 98 percent protection from both UVA and UVB rays. Then ask for examples of other ways to protect eyes during different activities. If not mentioned, talk about the following:
    • Outdoor cold weather sports with lots of sun exposure such as skiing or snow boarding—Sport goggles with UV protection.
    • Outdoor warm weather sports with lots of sun exposure such as sailing or other water sports
  4. Protect eyes from possible injury.
    • Swimming—Swim goggles, especially in chlorinated water
    • Contact sports such as basketball or soccer—Sport goggles if a prescription is needed
    • Shooting sports, using power tools, doing science experiments—Protective glasses or goggles
  5. Eat foods with lots of beta carotene—Ask if anyone knows of foods that contain this nutrient. Beta carotene is food in large quantities in orange foods such as carrots, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins. It helps keep your eyes strong and working well.

Continuing the Conversation 

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, which also includes these tips, so that families can continue discussing eye health and eye protection at home.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog

Seeing clear around eye protection

Additional Instructor Resources

Phillips Eye Institute
Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month
Children’s Eye Safety – Gear Up! Poster

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

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

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

Milk Matters

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Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand the health benefits of low-fat milk by analyzing nutrition labels.

Instructor Notes

Beformide facilitating this lesson, you may want to review the following information about low-fat milk products. These facts can be shared with kids and parents during your discussions.

  • The 2015 Dietary Guidelines recommends Americans switch to fat-free or low-fat milk. According to researchers, fat-free and low-fat milk is essential to children and adolescents’ development and overall wellness. In fact, fat-free and low-fat milk and milk products provide four of the five “nutrients of concern” that children don’t get enough of: calcium, potassium, Vitamin D and magnesium.
  • White milk comes in four varieties: whole (full fat), 2%, 1% (low-fat) and Skim (no fat). Flavored milk also comes in different varieties such as low-fat and fat-free.
  • Who should drink whole milk? Answer: Children 12 months to 24 months (1-2 years old). After that, kids may switch to 2%, low-fat or skim milk. (As long as the child isn’t gaining weight quickly, they can drink 2% milk.)
  • Babies (0-12 months) should drink breast milk or infant formula as cow’s milk isn’t digested well by babies under 12 months, and it lacks essential nutrients.
  • Some children are allergic to some nutrients/items found in milk, like protein. A milk allergy is an overreaction of the immune system to the protein found in milk and can trigger a range of symptoms from mild (rash, hives, swelling, etc.) to severe symptoms (trouble breathing, wheezing, loss of consciousness, etc.) This means that they may need to choose a milk substitute. Make sure to choose a milk alternative that is fortified with 30% DV (Daily Value) of calcium. If you have young people in your class that fall into this category, ask them to complete the activity with the understanding that this may not specifically apply to them.
  • Other children may have an intolerance to lactose found in milk, which means they are missing the enzyme lactase, which breaks down lactose, a sugar found in milk and dairy products. This results in the inability to digest milk or other dairy products which may cause symptoms such as nausea, cramps, gas, bloating and diarrhea. Lactose intolerance can cause great discomfort, but it is not life threatening.

Activity

  1. Ask the youth: What kind of milk do you drink? If they don’t know, show them examples of cartons of each type to see if that helps them identify the type of milk they usually drink.
  2. Let’s figure out which type of milk may be the healthiest for us to drink by looking at what’s on the Nutrition Facts labels of four different types of milk. Pass out the Milk Nutrition Facts Labels worksheet and the Compare Milk Activity worksheet you printed at the beginning of the lesson. Tell the youth to use the milk Nutrition Fact labels to fill in the chart and answer the questions on the worksheet.
  3. Ask young people to share what they learned about the type of milk they drink.
  4. Review answers to questions with the youth using the Instructors Answer Key.

Conclusion

Encourage kids and parents alike who don’t already drink 1% or skim milk to work towards that as a goal. Tell them if they don’t like it at first, try mixing 1/2 their milk with the lower fat milk, changing it gradually each week until you are drinking only the lower fat milk. Most people really do get used to the skim milk after awhile. The same idea works for flavored milk. If you are used to drinking flavored milk, try mixing 1/2 white skim or lower fat milk until you get used to not having the added sweetness.

Or you might want to try this approach: If you usually drink whole milk, switch to 2% by the end of one week, 1% by the end of two weeks, and skim by the end of three weeks. If you usually drink 2%, switch to 1% by the end of one week, and skim milk by the end of two weeks.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue discussing their milk choices at home.

Additional Instructor Resources

Stretch for Your Best!

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Lesson Overview

This lesson helps children understand that stretching their muscles is a part of a healthy lifestyle at all ages. This activity will teach several easy stretches for kids to do together.

Introduction

Provide kids with information on the positive benefits and importance of stretching:

  • Stretching is important at any age
  • Stretching:
    • helps move joints through a full range of motion, by keeping ligaments (attach muscle to muscle) and tendons (attach muscle to bone) flexible
    • prevents injury
    • improves athletic performance
    • encourages a healthful lifestyle
    • helps ease sore or tight muscles
    • promotes better posture
    • avoids stiffness and speeds recovery of muscles after running or playing sports
    • encourages blood to circulate to the muscles and joints throughout the body
    • reduces stress

Before the beginning of these stretching exercises for kids, inform participants of the proper way to prepare:

  • The President’s Council for Physical Fitness and Sports states, “warmed-up tissues are less likely to be injured.”
  • Stretching before warming up increases the risk for pulled muscles and doesn’t promote increased flexibility, so it’s best to wait until the end of physical activity, or at least warm-up, by walking or jogging and gradually increasing heart rate, for five to 10 minutes before stretching. Warming up helps to deliver more blood to the muscle and helps the muscle become warm and able to stretch easier.
  • Warm-up phase should not cause you to feel tired. Tell the kids to stretch for the feeling of a gentle pull, not a painful feeling. Advise them to stretch after exercising.

Activity: Stretching

On yoga mats or other dry, soft, flat areas, such as in the grass, lead the way in the following easy stretches for kids. Note the parts of the body that each pose stretches.

Toe Touch

A toe touch stretch is a basic stretch for kids, an easy one for most to perform. This stretch targets largely the muscles of the legs, especially the calves and hamstrings. From a standing position, the kids will bend over at the waist and reach for their toes with feet together. If the kids can’t quite reach their toes, they can stretch just as far as is comfortable. From a sitting position, each kid sits with legs outstretched and together. They then bend forward, reaching for the toes or as far as is comfortable. In both stretches for kids, they should hold the stretch for 15 seconds and then release.

Neck Half Circles

This stretch for children starts by touching the right ear to the right shoulder. The kids then roll their heads around, chin to chest, in a half-circle to the left shoulder, and then back again, chin to chest. Slow movements in this stretch for kids are important to protect the neck muscles from injury.

Shoulder Circles

Begin this kids’ stretching exercise by having them shrug their shoulders and rotate them forward and down in a circle. Switch directions after five or six turns by shrugging the shoulders and then moving backward in a circle.

Arm Circles

Arm circles can be used to stretch the muscles supporting the elbow and shoulder joint where the arm attaches to the shoulder. The child holds their arms out to the side, creating a horizontal line with their arms. The child then draws circles with their hands, starting with small circles and slowly growing to large circles, then back to smaller circles. Start first by drawing circles clockwise, and then switch to counter-clockwise. Keep the movements slow, and prevent the child from just flailing his arms around.

Side Bends

Have each child stand up straight with arms to the outside of each thigh. Slowly move the fingers down toward the outside of one knee, while bending at the waist. Alternate sides, do 10 side bends on each side.

Reach for the Stars

Just like the title of this stretch for kids, have the kids reach up as high as they can while standing on their tiptoes. This stretch can even be done while lying down on a mat. The goal is to reach their hands and feet away from each other.

Child’s Pose

The child’s pose is a stretch for kids, taken from yoga. It can be used outside of yoga as part of your child’s stretching routine for more of a full-body stretch. To perform the child’s pose, the child gets on their knees with feet together. The child then sits on their heels and bends their body forward until the forehead touches the ground. Bring the arms around to each side of the body, resting with their palms facing towards the sky. Hold the pose for 30 seconds, and then return back to an upright kneeling position.

Conclusion

After these stretching exercises for kids, ask them to recall the reasons for stretching offered in the Lesson Introduction above. Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue stretching together at home. Find more health lessons for kids from Health Powered Kids to help children and families live their happiest and healthiest lives.

Additional Instructor Resources