Wellbeing

Children from Holy Family and across Australia are about to go on school holidays. Parents – are you looking for some ways to amuse them over the Summer?  I’ve collected a few healthy holiday activities that your children and yourself may enjoy. The emphasis is on health!

One: Be active for at least 60 minutes a day.

Research shows that during the Summer holidays some children can lose fitness and increase their body mass index. Children over 5 years should be physically active for at least 60 minutes a day. Dance before dinner, scooter or walk to the shops instead of driving, go for a family bike ride, play tiggy in the park. Put away the devices, suspend your Netflix subscription and get your kids – and yourself – “puffing.”

My plan – “I’m going to do beach yoga at least twice a week, and hopefully some flamenco dance workshops.”

Two: Swimming.

Another great way to be active is to swim. Building your child’s confidence in the water is important because as you know, Australia is surrounded by water! A pool is fun, and the beach is a great day out for families.

My plan – A friend just rang me and said that my Christmas gift is a paddleboarding voucher. Fun – but I’m pretty sure I’ll be spending quite a bit of time in the water rather than on the board.

Three: Sleeping

Children require more sleep than adults. It facilitates their growth, learning and development.  It can make them happier, help them concentrate and improve their behaviour.  While it can be tempting to stay up later in the school holidays — and the odd late night for a special occasion is unlikely to hurt them — try sticking to their normal bedtime routine:

Ages 3 to 5: 10 to 13 hours       Ages 6 to 13: 9 to 11 hours        

My plan – “If I get up any time after 6.00 am in the holidays it will be considered sleeping in!”

Four: Go on a geocaching adventure

Geocaching is a real-life, outdoor treasure hunt. You follow GPS (global positioning system) coordinates on your GPS-enabled device (such as a mobile phone) to find a ‘geocache’ (a container) hidden at that location. Inside the geocache are a logbook and ‘treasure’, which might include inexpensive small toys, ornamental buttons, books or interesting coins. Your child can take one of the treasures and replace it with something of equal value.

My plan – Well I downloaded the app; that’s a start.

Holy Family Community,

Your wellbeing over this period is important. I hope you get the time to relax, think back over the challenging year we have all experienced and look forward to an active new year.

Connie Drossaert

Wellbeing Leader