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We all know the obesity and overweight statistics in America today. I’m sure many of us have already spent a lot of time and effort changing our children’s diet and encouraging them to play soccer and other physical activities. Great!
But for those of us who are still gaining traction with teaching kids about how to be healthy and live an active, positive lifestyle, I’ve got just the thing. Let’s talk about 3 quick ways to encourage kids to start living healthier, be more environmentally aware, and actually like the changes.
1. Embrace Spirituality
Most adults have a hard time with this, so don’t expect everyone to be an expert at this. Spirituality is a deep, intense subject, but most parents give up on really diving into this with the kids because of that very reason. Don’t give up!
Living a truly healthy and centered life requires a growing spirituality, with you and the kids. Some easy ways to get started can be to start praying yourself. It’s hard to transmit something you haven’t got, so practice praying and meditating yourself so you can help teach your kids.
Children live in a high-stress and fast-moving world, where homework, soccer practice, TV and video games all but choke out the opportunity for spiritual growth. Help make some time for them to engage with this crucial part of life.
 2. Look into Music Lessons
All across the US, children are learning more and more about music. Marching bands, orchestras, and garage bands are springing up everywhere, especially in regions like the West Coast. If you live in a highly musical city like Los Angeles or San Francisco, getting music lessons or joining the school band might be just the thing for the kids.
More than just hand-eye coordination, music lessons demand a level of discipline and determination that homework or classes just don’t pull out of students. If you’ve been looking for a way to teach children about practice and time management that doesn’t include either video games or napping, music lessons is an excellent alternative.
 3. Recycling Products
Children already know to put bottles and cans in the blue bin and everything in the black bin (well, hopefully). But I’d be shocked to hear a child telling me why some people collect bottles and cans, though every child should know the explanation.
First, if children know why bottles and cans are collected (avoiding landfills, promoting self-sufficiency and sustainability, etc), they’ll be more aware of when they throw their own cans away. More importantly, you can use this opportunity to teach them that recycling can also earn a little bit of extra money for them. Teach them environmental awareness and educate them about poverty all in one move.
When talking about environmental awareness and genuine healthy lifestyles, some kids are harder to reach than others. Still, don’t let that stop you from making the effort. Keep working on kids in a loving way to get them on the right track.
Using these three healthy activities will not only give your child something to look forward to doing, but it will also begin them on a path of a healthy lifestyle.
Thank you to Tara for sharing this guest post.
Tanya says
I really want to have my son start some kind of music lessons. He is almost 4 and I think starting him early will be good for him.