Food Safety
It is exciting that businesses like the St. Louis Zoo and the St. Louis Aquarium have started opening, allowing lots of opportunities for children to still have a fun and educational summer. However, it is very important to keep your family healthy and safe especially given that COVID-19 is still a major public health concern. Proper handwashing is very important in reducing the spread of germs. Singing the “Happy Birthday” song or the “ABC’s” while you wash is a great way to remember how long the recommended 20 seconds of handwashing is. Food safety is another important part of keeping your family safe and healthy. Check out the following video made by SLU Dietetic Intern Victoria Wannemuehler for a virtual nutrition education where she discussed the steps to keep your food safe to eat
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COVID-19 has changed our world significantly. To reduce the spread, regional leaders closed parks on April 2. While many parks remain closed, several parks reopened on April 28. This reopening may relieve cabin-fever, but it is still important to be cautious to prevent spreading the virus further. Here are a few helpful tips to keep your family safe and healthy as parks, and the world, begin to reopen.
Stay safe and well as parks and businesses begin to reopen. For more information about keeping your families safe during this time, check out the CDC website dedicated to COVID-19.
Staying Happy And Healthy Through COVID-19In this time of COVID-19 uncertainty, the one thing that is certain is that our children are not able to go to school right now. This definitely comes with the complexities of working from home or figuring out childcare for essential employees while educating children and keeping them from bouncing off the walls. This time doesn’t have to be daunting, though. Think of it as an exciting time to start new activities together as a family! Below are some ways to live this “new normal” while teaching the little ones important lessons:
Whatever circumstances you are going through, we recognize that this time of uncertainty can bring about many fears and anxieties. Keeping the kids happy and content can be hard, but know that you are doing your best, and they will benefit from these tips that promote ways you can all work together. Feel free to share your pictures or ideas with us – we would love to know what you are doing!
Stuck At Home?With spring break or any break from school, it can be easy to throw your feet up on the couch and binge watch your favorite shows or movies. However, breaks from normal routines can also include breaks from sitting on the couch! Have fun being active as a family with the following tips:
1. Take a walk around the block – jazz up a family stroll by allowing every member of the family to choose a way to move around the block for 20 seconds at a time. Some ways to move can be to walk backwards, dance (like salsa dancing), or skip. Make it fun and show your community your moves! 2. Come together for a spring clean – did you know that you can burn between 150-200 calories per hour doing housework? Everyone can take a job and work together to make your house sparkle! Vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, and scrubbing baseboards tend to burn more calories, but even light dusting gets your body moving and burning calories! 3. Make some healthy recipes – pick out recipes as a family and prepare them together. Even kids as young as one can help mix everything. This break in routine can give you lots of time to pre-make meals full of fruits and vegetables. Portion out and freeze leftovers for healthy meals when the routines get busy again. Check out the Let’s Move! STL recipe page for some tasty dishes! Breaks in schools can allow for some great opportunities to keep your family healthy! Have fun and share the active and healthy things your families have done! Heart Health for the FamilySince February is American Heart Month and full of heart-shaped goodies everywhere you look, it is also a great time to teach your young ones of the importance of keeping the heart healthy! Here are some fun and colorful ways to add increase your family’s fruit and veggie intake and make everyone’s heart smile this month. 1. Look for the Heart! Strawberries, raspberries, and even cherries are naturally heart-shaped. They also contain powerful antioxidants that will help keep your family’s heart healthy. And, letting your child dip them into melted dark chocolate will add some additional antioxidants while adding the fun. 2. Make a Colorful Heart. Allow your child to choose different colored fruits and vegetables and create a heart on their plate. Cut up red peppers, orange or yellow carrots, green grapes, blueberries, and purple cabbage and let your child put the food together to create a ROY G BIV heart! 3. Shapes for the Heart. Let your child play with their food and make some fun shapes! What about a fruit and vegetable flower arrangement? Set a celery stalk on a plate and place cut up apple slices and clementine oranges around the top to design a tasty flower! Or, make fruit and vegetable bugs as a family by using this easy recipe! Another favorite of ours is making apple donuts with this recipe: Ingredients:
Supplies:
Instructions:
Whatever you choose to do, just adding more fruits and veggies to your family’s diet will help keep your hearts healthy. Feel free to share the fun ways you and your family have incorporated more fruits and veggies into your diet on our social media accounts!
As you set your New Year’s Goals, don’t forget the young ones in your home. Be an awesome role model, and don’t forget to include them in your activities! We have included a couple of ideas of “achievable New Year’s Goals” for 2020 as reported by Good Housekeeping:
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/wellness/advice/g985/achievable-new-year-resolutions/ Break From School, Not Fitness With the low temperatures and break from school, it can be easy to curl up with a blanket and watch hours of Disney+ as a family. However, just because there is a change in the normal daily routine, there doesn’t need to be a break in the fitness regime! We have included some fun ways to stay active during this winter break!
Thanksgiving is a time where food is often more plentiful than usual. Meals may include many more side dish options and lots of tasty desserts. With all the excess food, it is important to remember that children have little tummies. They need smaller portions to start.
A good rule of thumb is 1 Tbsp for every year of age. Encourage kids to try the main parts of the meal before moving onto dessert, but avoid rules around eating vegetables to get to dessert. Save beverages for after the meal and keep the choices healthy. Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving! #ICYMI: With Halloween coming to a close, the Halloween and holiday season can seem difficult to keep your family’s health goals in mind. Halloween is a fun holiday meant to be enjoyed, not feared (well, not always). Let’s Move! STL is brought you our best tips to keep this Halloween safe and healthy. Take a look at our Halloween tips to prepare for next year!
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AuthorWritten by the Let's Move! STL team. Check out our bios here! Archives
June 2020
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