FollowUsing Summer Activities to Teach Physical Health & Nutrition
Teaching our kids in homeschool lessons or life lessons is so easy when you are using summer activities to teach physical health & nutrition. Every parent wants to know their child understands how important their health is. Not only do you want your kids to grasp health and why a healthy body is important, you want them to have a healthy outlook on nutrition. Nutrition is all about what your body needs to grow and operate, and we want to build healthy outlooks on nutrition in our children so they have a healthy body for the rest of their lives.
Start in the Garden
One of the best places to teach your children about nutrition and physical health is in your very own vegetable garden. From understanding the health benefits, vitamins and nutrients in each plant you grow, to grasping how the calories are converted in your body to energy this is a perfect place to begin.
• Research each vegetable and teach your kids what vitamins they include, as well as how many calories each serving includes.
• Talk about different cooking methods and how they can add calories to the food
• Talk about the importance of a well-rounded diet with fiber, vitamins and healthy options
Cook Together to Teach Nutrition
Once you have harvested your crops out of the garden, it is time to cook the food. Spending time in the kitchen together is one of the best ways to teach nutrition.
• Teach portion control by examining what actual portion sizes should look like
• Talk about how to cook foods in healthy ways without added unhealthy fats
• Show your kids examples of good well balances meals that include protein, grains and vegetables
• Explain the differences between healthy fats and unhealthy fats.
Use Fun Summer Activities for Physical Health Lessons
There are a multitude of activities in the summer that are great for teaching your kids about physical health and nutrition, but none is more fun than swimming. Kids enjoy time in the pool, lakes or at the beach in the summer months and all the swimming is a great way to teach your kids about how our bodies need physical activity to thrive.
• Teach about how exercise builds muscles and strength
• Talk about how many calories your body needs to operate, and how your body burns calories with activity
• Teach your kids fitness can be fun when doing things like swimming, hiking, playing with friends and doing fun sports like basketball, softball and even football
Using summer activities to teach health & nutrition is really a natural process for any family. Whether you homeschool or not doesn’t matter. These are natural life lessons you can use in a simple way as you navigate through the summer months, or in depth as unit studies. Watch for cues from your kids on what they are interested in, and build around it. Sometimes children will find more interest in one thing over another, and you can do things like check out a few books at the library, or simply do online research together to learn. Learning happens best when you are doing something naturally that your kids have shown interest in.
You could also get some summer activity ideas from my Kids Summer Bucket List.
