Health Lessons- Starting the New Year Healthy

This lesson goes along with the Life Skill I just posted. We're staring a New Year & looking at our goals for the year ahead so it makes sense to take the time for including a plan to have a HEALTHY New Year!


1.) Ask the kids WHY we need to be healthy? What are the benefits for ourselves & for those who love us? Remember that they are going to either type, write or draw about this to go in their health notebook so they need some ideas.
Share your thoughts on the matter. Mine include that our bodies work better when they are healthy, we don't get sick as much if we take care of our bodies & so we don't miss out on fun things because we are sick & that it's important to take care of ourselves so that we can be around for a long time enjoying the world that God has given to us & for all those who love us to have time with us.


2.) What kinds of things did you do last year to make yourselves healthy? This could include exercising that you did, family physical activities or sports played. It could be things you did to relax or enjoy yourselves. It could be how you ate healthy food together.
Activities: This could also be done as a scrapbook, collage or drawing. Perhaps your kids could make a scrapbook of their year in sports. Another idea would be to start up a cookbook with healthy recipes that your family makes & enjoys.


3.) Work together to come up with some goals & ideas for ways to be healthy in the coming year. Don't forget that being healthy encompasses a lot of things. (Look back to the master list if you need any ideas.) You can include goals for exercising & eating right. You can also include goals on friendships to work on & learning how to de-stress & control anger. Make sure & include some goals that you can try to achieve as a family. Perhaps you want to do a marathon together or go hiking every month.
Activities: Make a list of what you want to do & put stars in front of family activities. (Kids will realize that this is important if you all do some things together! In the same vein, share with them YOUR health goals for the year.) Perhaps you want to try different cuisines every month so set us a list of different countries to make healthy food from.

4.) Set specific health goals for this month. Do you want to go hiking together or get the kids signed up for winter sports. Do you want to have a Junk Food Free day? Do you want to try yoga to see if it helps your family learn to relax?
Whatever the goals are, write, type or draw them & put them somewhere important. Then make sure that you mark on your calendars & do some of them! Review at the end of the month & make a new health goals list for the next month!

It's especially important to teach our children to be healthy. We have so many children in this country who are couch potatoes & it's going to affect their health in the long run. However, if we teach them how to take care of their bodies & why it is important, if we make it FUN & we join in with them then they will learn & have an easier time putting into practice their own health plans. They will grow up knowing how to keep themselves healthy, & isn't that what we want?
Good health!- Bj