Points of

Interest:
• Have regular
Healthy Kansas Kids
Volume 2 Issue 1 January 2010
family meals.
• Safety first,
check your
home for dan-
New Year’s Resolutions! Healthy, Safe Children!
gers
Whether you have a tod- Keep meal time pleasant corn, raw vegetables and
• Winter fitness
dler or a teen, here are and involve kids in the raisins.
can be great five of the best strategies process. Children are Balloons are the most
fun! Just be- to improve nutrition and more willing to try things common cause of toy-
cause it’s winter encourage smart eating they helped prepare. related choking death
doesn’t mean habits in children. among children of all
you can’t find a Keep Your Child Safe! ages. Make sure toys are
Have regular family According to the National appropriate for your
variety of activi-
meals. This gives you a Safe Kids Campaign, over child’s age by following
ties and events chance to model manners 17,000 infants and chil- guidelines on the pack-
to keep you and eating a variety of dren are treated in hospi- aging. Small parts often
busy and enter- foods, as well as connect tal emergency rooms each end up in little mouths.
tained. with your child. year for choking related An inexpensive way to
incidents. Most of these test items is to use an
Serve a variety of healthy choking incidents occur at empty toilet paper roll.
foods and snacks. Chil- home. Food is a choking If it falls through the
dren may need to try a hazard because infants tube, it could be a chok-
food prepared several and young children do not ing hazard.
ways before they learn to chew their food well, and Window blind cords
like it. Be a role model by larger pieces can become are choking hazards, too.
eating healthy yourself. stuck in their throat. Al- Cut them or secure them
You control what comes in ways supervise young out of a child’s reach.
the house! Children can’t children while eating. Never place a baby’s crib
This Issue: eat junk food if it isn’t Foods that have been within reach of a blind
there. Avoid battles over identified by the American cord.
Begin the 1 food. Remember to Academy of Pediatrics as Clothing with draw-
New Year off evaluate what your child presenting choking haz- strings (on hooded jack-
right with eats over the span of sev- ards include: hot dogs, ets) can get entangled
eral days rather than at hard candy, chewing gum, on playground equipment
health and
each individual meal. nuts, whole grapes, pop- and choke your child.
safety
resolutions!

Get Moving 1 Help Your Kids Get Moving

Winter 2 What you do with your children today • Buy toys that are fitness related,
Family Fun can have a profound effect on their such as Frisbees, balls, hula hoops,
adult lives. Consider these tips: and bikes.
Ellie’s 2
• Model active behavior; studies show • Allow children time to practice new
Cherry
that in families where both parents skills. Mastery of larger muscles
Vanilla are active, 95 percent of the chil- (arms, legs and core muscles) leads
Oatmeal dren were active. to mastery of smaller muscles
(hands and feet).
Fit Family 3 • Plan family outings around fitness
Life Month activities, like walking on the trails • Emphasize the fun and enjoy being
at a local nature center. together as a family!
Page 2
Winter Family Fun
Looking for some ideas 4. Indoor Playgrounds or center or attend a
for winter family fun? Amusement Centers On naturalist guided
Even when the weather a cold or rainy (or event. Explore a na-
is cold and damp, there snowy) day, kids can ture museum or get
are plenty of interesting have a blast romping outside and take a
activities to keep the around these indoor short walk in the
whole family entertained. playgrounds and amuse- woods.
Here are some sugges- ment centers. 9. Go see a Game
tions: 5. Special Events Attend See a football game.
the best events of the Attend a game and
1. Museums There is a
season with great food, teach your child
wonderful variety of mu-
music and live entertain- about one of Ameri-
seums. The best time to
ment for the whole fam- cas most beloved
visit many of them is the
ily. Check out the top sports.
winter because they are
festivals at http:// 11. Some days it is
a lot less crowded. Many
www.travelks.com/seedo just too frigid to go
of the museums have
6. IMAX Movies See im- outdoors at all. Then
special programs for kids
ages up to eight stories plan some fun family
with lots of hands-on ac-
high with wrap-around activities inside. It is
tivities.
digital surround sound. really about the qual-
2. Children’s Theater
State-of-the-art cinema- ity time that you
Take the kids to a play or
tography with stunning spend with your child.
puppet theatre and enjoy
scenery lets you feel like
a family show at a chil-
you are really at exotic
dren’s theater. Many
destinations.
children's theaters also
7. Movie
offer drama education
Theaters Win-
programs.
ter is a great
3. Ice Skating and Roller
time to go to
Skating Take the whole
the movies.
family ice skating or
Find a con-
roller skating at a rink.
venient movie
There's even a few spe-
theater and
cial places to ice skate
enjoy the lat-
outdoors. Skating classes
est films.
and hockey teams will
8. Nature Centers The
keep kids active through-
winter season is a great
out the winter season.
time to visit a nature

Ellie’s Cherry Vanilla Oatmeal

Oatmeal is a great 1 teaspoon vanilla extract For old-fashioned oats
source of fiber, protein 1/4 cup cherry jam, or to or 1 minute for quick
and important nutrients. taste cooking oats.
What a healthy way to 1 cup nonfat milk, or to Remove from the
start your day on a cold taste heat. Stir in the vanilla
winter morning! Cooking Instructions and cherry jam. Place
Ingredients Combine the water, salt in serving bowls, pour
3-1/2 cups water (if using), oats, and cher- 1/4 cup of milk over
1/4 teaspoon salt ries in a medium sauce each bowl, and serve.
(optional) pan. Bring to a boil; re-
2 cup old-fashioned or duce the heat to low and For more of Ellie
Krieger's recipes, eat-
quick-cooking rolled simmer, stirring a few
smart advice, and tips,
oats times, until the oats are check out her column,
1/2 cup dried cherries tender, about 5 minutes www.kaboose.com
 Page 3
Fit Family Life Month
Is your family healthy? Is your family Grab your BFF
plagued with stress? Does your family watch and have some
excessive amounts of TV and proudly claim- fun~ team
ing to be couch potatoes? Do you have a his- sports not your
tory of health problems? Do you make sure thing? Need
that your family gets the right nutrients and some new
sufficient amounts of exercise? How are you ideas in the off-
helping to improve your family's health and season? Here's
a list of activi-
well-being?
ties you can do
this fall in your
Although January is Family Fit Lifestyle
own backyard
Month, integrating healthy habits and becom-
(and beyond)
ing health conscious should be a lifelong en- that don't re-
deavor. Promoting outdoors and sports activi- quire anything
ties is a great way of ACTIVELY hanging with but your en-
the family. The whole family can try indoor ergy, enthusi-
rock climbing, capoeira, or related indoor ac- asm, and imagination!
tivities. (Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art • Check out the changing leaves on a
with over 400 years of history. In recent hike with your BFF or family.
years capoeira has exploded out of Brazil and •Grab your BFFs and play
continues to grow in popularity. There are some old recess games like Red Rover,
now capoeira schools in every continent ex- Red Rover or Red Light, Green Light.
cept Antartica and over 2,000 schools listed • Throw the Frisbee in the park or, for an
on capoeirista alone.) extra challenge, play Ultimate Frisbee
(learn how at http://
Also being “fit” isn’t solely about eating better www.ultimatehandbook.com/blog)
and exercising; being fit all includes doing • Host a dance party with your BFFs.
activities that are intellectually stimulating. • Check out a workout video from the li-
Play fun games like chess or sudoku with the brary and get moving!
family every Friday. • Hiking around the mall is a great way to
get moving! Take the stairs and power walk
A family gets fit together means there can be to your favorite stores. Don't forget to grab a
much stronger and healthier unit. smoothie for a yummy calcium boost while
Some great you're there!
• Play some active video games — the
websites for kinds that get you off the couch and dancing
or competing against family members in a
fun ideas: boxing match.
• Set up an obstacle course for your family
or neighborhood.
• http:/www.presidentschallenge.org/ • Run or walk in a race for charity.
home_kids.aspx
• Enjoy the cooler weather together as a
• http://www.bam.gov sub_physicalactivity/ family by playing lawn games like croquet,
physicalactivity_activitycards.html badminton, or horseshoes.
• http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/Resources/ • Having a sleepover? Play sar-
mpk_poster.pdf dines (reverse hide-and-seek where one per-
• http://www.bestbonesforever.gov/ son hides and as each person finds the hid-
• http://www.smallstep.gov/kids/ ing person, they have to pack in with that
redirect.cfm person, and so on).
• http://www.brunsconsult.com/docs/
FitForChangeCalendar.pdf