Many of us know that as adults, establishing positive health habits every day can be quite a struggle.

Finding the time, having outlets, learning new skills, and maintaining the practices once we have routines and schedules can be exceptionally challenging. As children, we often follow our parents’ lead, and learning basic wellbeing practices for children is dependent on what we observe when we’re kids. So many of us were never taught the basic skills of cooking, or the importance of being outdoors, or the need for daily exercise at an early age, thus developing those practices in adulthood is all the more difficult.

If you have kids that may be struggling with their overall health and wellbeing practices, there are plenty of things you can start with each day to encourage healthy habits (and they don’t all have to be done at once!). Here are some simple ways you can encourage kids to be well, every day:

• Let them help to prepare part of their meal or the family meal. This encourages them to develop a relationship with the food that they consume. It’s not just something that miraculously appears before them every day. Preparing food takes time, energy, some skill, and concentration. Even if it’s letting them stir the pot, pour their cereal, arrange some ingredients on the counter, or make their own sandwich, these little steps keep them involved in the preparation process, and learn essential cooking skills and at a young age.

Read More: Batch Cooking: The Basics of Meal Planning

• Where possible, let your kids enjoy the outdoors. Sunlight and fresh air are essential for us all, and viewing the natural world is so important for children to develop a sense of connection with the home they will eventually steward. Take a few extra moments to point out the little details around them – the ants going and coming from their hill, different flowers in the yard, the birds overhead, earthworms, the shapes of different leaves, or the first three insects they see outside. If your kiddos are old enough to write, have them jot down a sentence or two about their time outside each day. What they saw, what they heard, or the cloud shapes they observed.

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• Grow something together. Even one pot with a tomato or basil plant growing is a huge, magical process to observe for a child. Give them the responsibility to water the pots during the week, or ask them to grab a tomato, some basil leaves (or whatever herb you grow!) for dinner that night. Seeing the process of food growing teaches them that the food supply is an actual time-intensive, delicate process.

Read More: 10 Tools For Making a Positive Change In Your Health

• Get moving: Kids have loads of energy, and they need an outlet (as do parents). If their energy spikes and you have a yard, let them run around. Go for walks, stretch, or go for a bike ride together. Encouraging movement every day helps to reinforce the necessity of it, especially if they sit doing schoolwork or watching TV most of the day.

Read More: Children’s Health

• Practice being still and quiet for 30-60 seconds at a time. These brief pauses can be such a challenge for hyperactive kids (and adults), but they are a great practice to learn how to pause, take a breath, and then carry on. This interrupts our overactive brain and connects us back to our body, even briefly. Try this yourself throughout the day, and do it together with your kids before a meal, before bed, or in the car. Take two big deep breaths together at a time.

Read More: Using Mindfulness to Reduce Stress

 

These daily practices are all foundational habits that we need as adults. Eating well, cooking and growing our own food, connecting with the outdoors, and regular exercise are all basic life needs that so many people do not get exposed to at a young age. Try them yourself, and start with one at a time if you feel overwhelmed.

Need help setting these positive habits? Our naturopathic doctors can help you create new lifestyle habits that are key on the road to health & healing. Request an appointment online or call our office, (804) 977-2634 to learn more.