In the past, the summer period offered an opportunity for kids to spend time with their friends and family. They used this season to engage in recreational activities such as swimming, playing ball games, bike riding, and exploiting nature in parks and backyard. However, today’s children face a lot of distractions that prevent them from participating in physical activities. Childhood is an essential part of someone’s physical and mental well-being. For instance, keeping your kids engaged physically and mentally during summer can better their chances of excelling in their academics. The following are ways you can keep your kids healthy and engaged during summer.
Eat Healthy, Homegrown, Foods, and Snacks
So, how does eating healthily for children vary during the summer season? Summer is conventionally a period for vacations, cookouts, and parties. These events are typically abundant in hotdogs, sweets, cupcakes, dips, and chips, among other indulges. Although it’s not bad to let your child enjoy a sweet during a family reunion or a funnel cake at the state fair, the summer diet should include vegetables, lean meats, and fruits. However, it is also crucial to pay close attention to your diet. According to WHO, over 200 diseases are spread through food.
There are also tricks that you can use to make your diets healthier. You can consider mixing lean turkey with ground beef for a lower-fat hamburger, or you can also opt for turkey hot dogs over the typical ones. A grill can also be used to make chicken skewers and vegetables. You can consider adding some color to your meals. It is also essential to add five servings of vegetables and fruits daily. Lastly, kids should take at least four glasses of water daily.
Limit Screentime
Spending a lot of time on screens can limit a child’s ability to observe and experience usual daily activities. Physical and mental engagement are essential in maintaining a child’s general development. Therefore, limiting a child’s screen time improves their psychological and physical development.
It also helps in improving their academic, social skills, behavior, and creativity. Spending less time on screens also helps kids with preventing their exposure to inappropriate videos and violence. If kids spend too much on screens, it prevents them from reading books, playing outside, interacting with their family, and engaging in other creative activities.
Stay Active
When a child develops the habit of being physically active, it also leads to active adult life. There are many benefits of being physically active. Physical activities enhance growth, healthy weight, development, improve posture, build strong muscles and bones, burn excess energy, and improve mental health.
Lack of regular exercise endangers your child’s health. Research also indicates that many first graders and kindergarten children increased by almost twice during summer than in other seasons. This indicates during summer, kids can improve their physical and mental health. Additionally, the average hospital stay for kids is 4.5 days, which you want to avoid whenever possible.
Establish a Consistent Sleeping Schedule
Due to the exciting and extended summer days, kids spend much of their time awake much more than in the regular seasons. These inconsistent sleep patterns can disrupt their usual sleep routines. However, rest is crucial for a child’s growth and development. Therefore, a child should have a consistent sleeping schedule. Kids should sleep for at least eight hours daily.
Send Your Kids to a Reputable Summer Camp
Although recreational activities are essential for all ages, they are crucial in children’s formative years. Socialization activities such as taking them to a reputable summer camp can help in improving their social and emotional maturity into healthy adulthood. These activities need intentional support and instruction.
Providing safe and adequate opportunities for martial arts, dance, basketball, yoga, and other sports, children develop high discipline levels, teamwork spirit, and healthy exercise habits. For instance, a study conducted on thousands of high school students indicates that students who have studied in foreign languages performed better than on the American College Test (ACT) for English and Mathematics.
A child’s physical and mental well-being is essential. Children should develop healthy habits since they can help them avoid the risks of various health conditions. The above are tips that you can keep your kids healthy and engaged during summer.
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