Exercise and Nutrition

Wednesday is the day that I typically run errands and take my toddler to her gymnastics class. I am not a very active person; I have no exercise regimen (I think just lugging two kids around ought to count as exercise!!!). I also don't make the best dietary decisions (way too fond of cookies). However, I do want my kids to benefit from as healthy a lifestyle as I can provide for them. I'd like to establish good habits for them while they are young. In the process, I will be eating better food and exercising more, too. Besides, we have to be in good shape if we are going to be hiking all over the place this summer!

So today is for teaching my daughter the two main components of a healthy body: exercise and nutrition.

Books

The best book I have for this topic is The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food. It explains both proper diet and exercise, and also shows what poor diet can do to your body. There are diagrams of the inside of the body, and suggestions for how to fix bad eating habits.

• The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food by Stan and Jan Berenstain
• Nos Gusta Comer Frutas y Verduras/ We Like to Eat Fruits and Vegetables by Celina G. Wille
• The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body by Joanna Cole
• Why are Pineapples Prickly? Questions Childrens Ask About Food from DK Publishing

Exercise

Getting her to exercise is easy. She has tons of energy and loves running around at gymnastics. If I weren't taking her there, I would take her to a playground, pop in an exercise video for kids, or teach her yoga moves at home. However, for this class, as I help her over the balance beams and monkey bars, I will explain to her what's happening in her body: how her heart is pumping, her lungs are taking in air, she's burning energy from the food she ate, and her muscles are moving.



Food Groups


When we were at the grocery store, I showed Evie different kinds of food, and asked her what food group she thought they fell into. We did the same at every meal.


Pretend Play

• Sit down with child and make a grocery list (draw pictures of the items so that she can "read" it). Set up a grocery store at home, complete with aisles. Simply line items up in rows on the floor. Use a toy shopping cart or a basket, and have toddler go up and down the aisles, adding items (toy, real, or a mix), and then bringing them to the cashier: me. Ring the items up for her and talk about what healthy choices she made. Ask what she is going to prepare for meals with her food. Then have her take them all "home" and put them away in a toy kitchen. 

•  Choose four pieces of paper and draw pictures of the four food groups. Then, using toy food, sort them into the categories. 

• Have toddler pretend to be a personal trainer. Toddler will come up with exercises for us to do, and then we do them together (even if it is just spinning in circles or marching like an elephant). 

Crafts

• Cut out pictures from grocery store ads, and spread them out on the table. Draw a shopping cart on a piece of paper, and have toddler use a glue stick to add groceries to their cart.