Monthly Archives: May 2020

Physical Activity
Handout: Finding Focus Yoga Flow
Today you will begin with yoga from Kids Work It Out. Then go on an adventure with characters from the Jungle Book!

1. Today’s KWIO yoga sequence is called “Finding Focus.” This lesson will help you identify specific focus points that will help you balance during active poses. This teaches us how to intentionally choose what to focus our minds on, whether it be focusing on staying balanced in a challenging yoga pose, concentrating during a test, and even turning our attention inward. Check out this handout to follow along!
   ○ https://youtu.be/KtB1A-HuJYI (Time: 14:32)
2. Now finish your day with a “Jungle Book Adventure” with Get Moving Family from Disney. Follow along to move like all of your favorite characters in Jungle Book.
   ○ https://youtu.be/2R_lvbiJOgc (Time: 12:34)
3. Finally, try to take a walk with your family today. Do you have a pet? Consider taking your pet on a walk too, but make sure you ask your guardian!

Nutrition and Healthy Eating
F is for Folate
Do you ever find yourself telling your children, “Don’t forget to take your vitamin!” or “Eat your fruits and veggies— they’re packed with vitamins!” But what exactly are vitamins and how do we explain them to our children? Vitamins and minerals are substances that are found in foods we eat. Our bodies need them to work properly, especially children who are growing and developing. When it comes to vitamins, each one has a special role to play.
Folate or folic acid also known as vitamin B9 is one of 8 B vitamins. It is found in nuts, fish/meats and dairy and helps our bodies by converting our food into energy. It also helps improve blood flow, lowers blood pressure, and can improve our ability to complete physical activities.
To get a daily dose of Folate have your children try one of these foods this week:
• Spinach
• Peanuts
• Romaine lettuce
• Sunflower seeds
• Asparagus
• Oranges
• Brussel sprouts
• Whole grains
• Broccoli
• Fish
• Kidney beans
• Eggs
Bonus: to learn more about how vitamins work, check out this VIDEO

Physical Activity
Handout: ABC Workout of the Day; Volleyball Quest Handout!
Today, begin with the ABC workout of the day. Then practice your at home volleying using equipment that you have around the house!

1. This ABC Workout of the Day is a great way to get a great workout in. This week our words to use are FRIENDS and FAMILY. Use the ABC workout of the day handout to perform the exercises for each letter in the work. Check out the videos that are linked to the letter if you need help!
   ○ Check out the workout handout here: ABC Workout of the Day
2. Once you are finished with your ABC Workout of the day, check out this At Home Volley Challenge! A volleyball or beachball would be ideal, but if you don’t have it, don’t fret! You can make your own ball using socks, a stuffed animal, anything that is soft and won’t hurt!
   ○ Check out this handout to determine what challenges to follow to practice your volleyball skills!
   • Volleyball Quest Handout!

Nutrition and Healthy Eating
In honor of National Hummus Day, let’s make a hummus dip for our healthy snack hack. The main ingredient in hummus is chickpeas, which pack a serious punch of plant-based protein that your children are sure to enjoy. Chickpeas are also filled with fiber, which will help fill your children up. Many times hummus also includes tahini as an ingredient- which can be expensive or something you do not have on hand at home. Use our recipe below that swaps out tahini to whip up a healthy and easy hummus your children are sure to love dipping their veggies and whole grain crackers into!
Hummus Recipe:
Ingredients
• 1 (15 oz.) can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
• 2 to 4 tbsp. water
• 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 3/4 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. salt
Instructions
• Add the garbanzo beans, 2 tablespoons of water, the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt to a food processor or blender
• Process until smooth and creamy
• If needed, add additional water to thin out the hummus and 1/4 teaspoon of salt to your taste preference
• Store covered in the refrigerator

Physical Activity
Handouts: Body Awareness Yoga Flow
Today we are going to begin by learning about body awareness with Kids Work It Out. After you are done with your yoga flow, you can try out a fun and creative dance to the Trolls World Tour hit song “Just Sing!”

1. Today’s yoga is from the Kids Work It Out program and focuses on Body Awareness. Through this yoga flow, you will be better to understand how your body feels while practicing a series of poses that encourage strength, focus, and flexibility. With practice, body awareness can teach anyone to take great care of their mind, body and feelings.
   o https://youtu.be/MgUjrvC9wqg (Time: 12:01)
2. Now it’s time to do a fun dance. Have you seen the new Trolls World Tour movie yet? If so, enjoy this dance to one of their hit songs, “Just Sing”!
   o https://youtu.be/UiJACj3nU1c (Time: 4:03)

Nutrition and Healthy Eating
Hydration- Fruity Ice Cubes
We know that the best way to keep our children hydrated is to encourage them to drink water, right?! Yet as the weather heats up, water bottles also get warm, which may not be very appealing to children. I don’t know about your children – but mine do not like drinking warm water. This week help your children make our fruity ice cubes for a fun and cold way to infuse their water with flavor.
To Make:
• Choose a favorite fruit/s (canned frozen or fresh)
o Our favorites- canned pineapple, frozen berries or fresh oranges
• Chop them into small pieces
• Drop into each cube of the ice tray
• Pour water over the fruit
• Freeze for six hours or overnight

Physical Activity
Today we begin our week with a great, fun workout led by Shaun T. This Beachbody workout, Cool Moves, will make you work up a sweat, but you will have fun doing it! Then finish off with a great relaxation from Cosmic Kids Yoga.

1. Our first workout today is a Beachbody fitness video that is led by Shaun T. This workout, Cool Moves, will make you work up a sweat, but you will have fun doing it!
   o https://vimeo.com/showcase/6880106/video/398645356 (Time: 25:26)
2. Don’t forget to cool down with Cosmic Kids Yoga and their Peace Out guided relaxation.
   o https://youtu.be/9_vEZTrmtyA (Time: 5:33)
   Nutrition and Healthy Eating
   Handouts: Protein Tip Sheet; Protein Tracker
   Protein is one of the 5 essential food groups from MyPlate. It is helpful to think of protein as a building block that helps your children BUILD our muscles, bones, skin and blood. When your children feel hungry, encouraging them to grab for protein is a great way to keep them feeling fuller, longer. Yet, protein can be a hard food group to encourage children to eat if they don’t like meat.
   Did you know that there are many plant-based protein sources that are inexpensive and easy to find? Canned beans like kidney, pinto and black beans are a great source of protein. Chickpeas and lentils are also a great way to get some protein. Check out this protein tip sheet HANDOUT for suggestions on how to vary your family’s protein.
   Have your children keep track of their protein intake this week to see how much and what types of protein they are eating! Use this Protein tracker handout to help!
   BONUS RECIPE: Black Bean and Corn Salsa
   Ingredients:
   • 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, well drained
   • 1 can (8 3/4 ounces) whole kernel corn, well drained
   • 1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
   • 2 tablespoons chopped onion
   • 2 tablespoons lime juice
   • 1 tablespoon olive oil
   • 1 teaspoon chile pepper
   • 1/4 teaspoon salt
   Instructions:
   • Mix all ingredients in medium bowl
   • Cover
   • Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or until ready to serve
   • Serve with baked tortilla chips

Physical Activity
It’s National Virtual Field Day! Field Day is a fun tradition for many schools that we don’t have to miss out on just because we’re not physically together. A Virtual Field Day is a unique way that we can stay connected as a community and support one another in a fun and meaningful way! Our friends at the Online Physical Education Network (OPEN), have been working hard to put together resources for families to run their own Field Day at home. They’ve created event cards and plans for a range of activities! Choose at least four (4) activities from their plans and fill out a score card.
• Field Day Plans and Scorecards: https://openphysed.org/nationalfieldday
• Field Day Example Videos: https://openphysed.org/fielddayvideos
Be sure to share your Field Day pictures on social media using #NationalFieldDay and #HealthyKidsQuarantined! Don’t forget to tag your school too!

Nutrition and Healthy Eating
What goes better with Field Day than popsicles? A fun way to get your servings of fruits and veggies is to turn your smoothies into frozen treats! Yesterday, we learned that Vitamin D provides many benefits like keeping out bones strong and even giving us a mental boost. So, today, let’s try this green smoothie that not only tastes delicious but it’s chocked full of the good stuff to keep you healthy.
Ingredients:
• 1 chopped banana (frozen)
• 1 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen)
• 1 cup of spinach or kale
• ½ cup low fat yogurt
• 1 cup water or milk (low-fat or almond)
• 1 cup Ice
• Small paper dixie cups
• Popsicle sticks (or plastic spoons if you have them!)
Directions:
Mix in a blender and pulse until smooth. Pour your smoothie into a small dixie cup and freeze it for ½ hour. Once it starts to firm up, stick in your popsicle stick and freeze for several more hours until it’s solid. Tap them on a counter to loosen the popsicle and it will pop out of the cup! Share your smoothie-popsicle creations by posting it online, using #healthykidsquarantined!

Physical Activity
Handout: Inner Warrior Flow
Today you will begin with yoga from Kids Work It Out. Then there is a great workout from LesMills Born to Move series and end the day with a family walk.

1. Today’s KWIO yoga sequence is the “Inner Warrior Flow.” This fast-paced yoga flow focuses on powerful warrior poses that help to develop strength, concentration, and balance. Check out this handout to follow along!
   ○ https://youtu.be/WgEAKOdfX6g (Time: 14:47)
2. Now take advantage of a fitness workout from LesMills Born to Move series. This is an fun an energetic workout that will help you hit your 60 minutes of daily physical activity.
   ○ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHCqRsrQwNU (Time: 22:22)
3. Finally, try to take a walk with your family today. Do you have a pet? Consider taking your pet on a walk too, but make sure you ask your guardian!

Nutrition and Healthy Eating
This week we are focusing on Vitamin D so that we can encourage our children to build strong bones and teeth. Milk and other dairy foods like yogurt and cheese are good sources of Vitamin D, but did you know there are other ways to get your Vitamin D? One neat way we get Vitamin D is through exposure to the sun. Did you also know that Vitamin D does more than just build your children’s bones and teeth? It also protects them from illnesses like the flu, gives them a mental boost, improves sleep and even helps them build muscle and maintain a healthy weight! Have your family try one of these foods for your daily dose of Vitamin D:

Physical Activity
Handout: Coin Flip Fitness; ABC Workout of the Day
Today you will begin with a workout called Coin Flip Fitness. Then check out the ABC workout of the day, and finish with a guided relaxation that is designed to help you release all of your worries.

1. Begin with a fun activity that is called Coin Flip Fitness.
   ○ Check out this Coin Flip Fitness handout and grab any coin to get started. The coin needs to have a heads side and a tails side.
2. Now that your warmed up let’s get some good activity in with the ABC Workout of the Day. This week our words to use are TOGETHER and CARING. Use the ABC workout of the day handout to perform the exercises for each letter in the work. Check out the videos that are linked to the letter if you need help!
   ○ Check out the workout handout here: ABC Workout of the Day
3. This week check out this guided relaxation from Cosmic Kids. It is designed to help children release their worries.
   ○ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1SVHDcQH7o (Time: 7:49)

Nutrition and Healthy Eating
Handout: Word Scramble Activity
A healthy diet contains WHOLE grain carbohydrates which can sometimes be tricky to locate. One way to tell if a food is a whole grain is to look to see if the word “WHOLE” is on the food label. Some food packages may have a WHOLE grain stamp on the package instead that says, 100% of the food is made of whole grains. This week have your child check the food labels in your pantry to see how many of the carbohydrates they find say WHOLE or have a 100% whole grain stamps.
They can then compare the whole grains they found in your house to the ones listed in this WORD SCRAMBLE
For a tasty and healthy whole grain snack try our Healthy Whole Grain Trail Mix
• 1 cup walnuts, almonds, or other nuts (halves or coarsely chopped)
• ¼ cup raisins, craisins, or other dried fruit
• 3 1/2 cups unsweetened whole-grain cereal (i.e., chex, cherrios,etc)
• 1 cup popcorn
• 1 cup broken pieces of dark chocolate
• Mix together and enjoy!

Physical Activity
Handouts: Flexibility Flow; Chalk Your Walk
Happy Cinco de Mayo! Starting the day with some exercise will offset the tacos and guacamole you may eat later! Today’s combination of gentle yoga and a chalk walk are great ways to have fun and stay active!

1. Today’s yoga, the Flexibility Flow, from the Kids Work It Out program focuses on poses that lengthen and stretch the muscles, prevent injury and improve athletic performance. Stretching with yoga is a great way to get your kids moving in the morning or a way to relax after a long day.
   o https://youtu.be/9HswrvWMgNc (Time: 15:50)
2. Now it’s time to do a Chalk your Walk obstacle course. This one is bigger and better than before. Use the handout to create your course on the sidewalks or driveway. You could even leave it up for your neighbors to try out.
   o Learn how to Chalk Your Walk with this Handout

Nutrition and Healthy Eating
Handout: Hydration Handout
Spring is in the air and warmer weather is around the corner. As the weather warms up it’s even more important to stay hydrated- but it’s important to make sure your children do so in a healthy way. Sports drinks may seem like a good healthy option to keep your children hydrated BUT they are loaded with sugar. The next time your children ask you for a sports drink perhaps you can have them try coconut water instead! Coconut water is a great lower-sugar, lower calorie alternative to sports drinks.
Try this Citrus Coconut water recipe this week:
• 1/2 lemon washed and sliced
• 1/2 lime washed and slices
• Fill a large cup or water bottle with ice
• Squeeze and drop in lemon and lime slices
• Pour in 2 cups of coconut water
• Serve and enjoy!
For other healthy hydration ideas check out this handout from Food Hero
• Remember to stay hydrated!

May is National Physical Fitness & Sports Month. May is National Physical Fitness & Sports Month! The President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition is excited to encourage everyone to #MoveInMay, but remember to continue to practice social distancing while you’re being active.

Physical Activity
May the 4th be with you! It’s National Star Wars Day! Today we’ll train with some Jedi, Kylo Ren, and Obi Wan to get a great Star Wars-themed workout! Don’t have a light saber handy? You can pretend or you can use whatever you may have handy, long spoon!

These are short videos from Get Kids Moving – so combine a few of your favorites and get your Star Wars training on!
• Star Wars Jedi Workout: https://youtu.be/yVY_awAiV5k (Time: 3:46)
• Star Wars Kylo Ren ‘SITH’ Workout: https://youtu.be/2eI9BoQLTfo (Time: 5:00)
• Obi Wan Star Wars Workout: https://youtu.be/OHOTNEtC3Rc (Time: 4:19)
• Star Wars Light Saber Tabata: https://youtu.be/3h9am97W4Rc (Time: 4:22)
#
BONUS: Challenge your friends on social media (Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook), to work it like Obi Wan too! To tag us, use #healthykidsquarantined.

Nutrition and Healthy Eating
Eating fruits and vegetables can help you “fuel your force!” Starfighter Pilots must keep their energy up when headed into battle, and these fruity TIE tributes are just the snack they need when fighting against the Rebellion!

Fruit TIE Fighter (find this recipe – and pictures! – on the Star Wars website)
Ingredients:
• ½ a banana
• 2 apples
• 1-2 tablespoons of nut butter
Directions:
• Slice the banana into rounds
• Slice the apples into rounds, then trim the edges to form a hexagon

• Use the nut butter to secure the apple ‘wings’ to the banana
• Stand them upright to serve – and don’t play with your food too much before you enjoy!
Want to see how fruit, like in these TIE Fighters, fits in with a healthy diet? Check out the Star Wars Check for an easy guide for families to identify healthier food and beverage options!