Healthy Habits for Your Family to Kickstart 2022

Happy New Year! This year, we’ve resolved to have no resolutions. Rather, we will plan!

New year resolutions can be wonderful but they can also be the undoing of many people. The past few years have placed so much pressure on everyone (including the kids). The last thing you want to do is add more by loading yourselves and the kids with a lengthy list of new year's resolutions.

What you CAN do, is create a realistic plan to support your family lifestyle (and improve it). As they say, ‘fail to plan, plan to fail!’

Kids and parents can feel excited, anxious and sometimes uncertain by the ‘newness’ around Back to School. New teachers, friends, sports, work, routines etc. We’ve created a list of healthy habits tips you can pick or choose from to suit your family, to start before the return to school.

 
1. ENCOURAGE HEALTHY EATING HABITS

• Healthy eating ‘awareness’ doesn’t have to be stressful! There’s a range of things you can do to build knowledge around nutrition and balance for your children such as:
• Involve them in the meal planning process. What do they want in their lunch box? On their dinner table? Let them have a few favourites if they agree to try a few new things too.
• Let them help with cooking. Like the above point, if they show an interest in the preparation they’ll be more likely to show an interest in the food itself.
• Talk to them about the value in having a wide range of textures and colours in their diet from the food groups. Colours make it fun!
• Don’t skip breakfast. Mornings can be busy and rushed. Have easy and healthy breakfast options ‘to go’ for those mornings e.g. pre-made muffins or frittatas.
• Be a good role model. Monkey see, monkey do! They will model the behaviour they see and grow up with.
• Be creative! Give them bowls with various chopped foods and challenge them to create patterns or faces.

 

2. SET A ROUTINE AND REWARD GOOD BEHAVIOUR

Routines rule! Routines help life run more smoothly and they help children to feel safe, less stressed and to develop healthy habits that will last a lifetime. Ultimately your routine should have time for work and time for fun and connection. A balance of these will help your child feel their needs are being met. Your routines for kids could include:
 

• Family connection - Time to just be together whether it be outdoors, at the dinner table or watching a movie.
• Active time - Have set times in the week or day for activities whether they be scheduled sports or just an hour here or there jumping on the trampoline, going for a bushwalk or playing in the backyard.
• Device time - Create rules around time allowed on devices AND time of day allowed on devices (ie. not near bedtime).
• Playdates - Foster good friendships for kids by allowing them a certain number of playdates outside of school.
• Chores - Get the kids involved in helping around the home and garden. Cleaning up after meals, setting the table, putting away their washing, walking the dog etc. Schedule everything so it becomes a habit.
• Reward them - Reward your children for being a responsible and helpful family member who follows the routine. But remember it’s about ‘progress, not perfection’. Set achievable goals and find a reward that is motivating for your child. Discuss the goals and rewards so your children feel invested in the process. You can print this Reward Chart  to get started.

 
3. PROMOTE GOOD SLEEP

• The best way to encourage good sleeping habits is to lead by example. Set a bedtime and a routine for each family member and demonstrate the importance of it. Some other handy tips we love are:
• Bedtime routines are key. Before sleep, your child should have a regular routine that includes wind down time without devices for at least an hour before a set bedtime.
• Tidy bedrooms. Before bed, encourage your child to tidy up any clothes or toys so they have a clear and peaceful place to rest. 
• No negative associations. It’s easy to feel frustrated if your child won't go to sleep or if they wake up early. Try to keep it positive as you don’t want to punish them for getting up. Negative associations with bedtime can be very stressful and damaging.

 

4. FOSTER GOOD HYGIENE PRACTICES

• Kids these days have much better hygiene awareness than we did as kids (thanks for one thing COVID!). However it’s our responsibility as parents and caregivers to keep talking about its importance. Here are some good tips:
• Get kids to wash the front and backs of their hands and in between fingers, for the duration of the Happy Birthday song. Get singing!
• Cough cave! If your child doesn’t have a tissue to sneeze or cough into, teach them to cough into their elbow or ‘cough cave’.
• Germs love wet hands! They need to dry their hands properly.
• Have sanitiser on hand for them at home, in the car and attached to their school bags.

 

5. CULTIVATE GOOD COMMUNICATION

Our kids require quality communication with us. That’s a no brainer. But they also require one on one, deeper connections every day in order to feel safe and loved. Here are some ways you can improve communication with your child:
 

• Listen with your body - When your child talks to you (especially when emotional), show them you are really listening but kneeling on their level, looking at them and stopping anything else you were doing.
• Step into their shoes - Often as adults we expect children to understand how we need them to behave as adults. Try to see how they might be viewing a situation and use words like ‘I understand’ or ‘I see why you feel that way’.
• Set dedicated time with each child, every day. Even if it’s 5 minutes before bedtime, they’ll know they have special time with you where they can rely on you each day.
• Set aside family time. Dinner time is a brilliant time to get the whole family talking (not watching TV) about their day and how they feel.
• Be willing to talk about all types of emotions so they too feel safe doing so. If they see you acknowledging your emotions and talking about them, they’ll develop a strong emotional vocabulary.

 
We wish you and your families a wonderful, healthy and happy 2022.