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r child achieves fitness through exercise,
a growing self-confidence will be another benefit of a fitness
routine.
Let's Stay Well.
Reducing the risk of disease is a major goal in helping
your child grow up healthy. Bacteria and viruses cause disease
and sickness, and cleanliness can help prevent the spread of
these germs. Sharing such items as a comb, toothbrush,
hairbrush, or cup, even among family members, can also spread
disease. Having clean clothes and daily baths shows children
that being clean not only feels good, but also helps them stay
well.
You can teach your children to wash their hands at an
early age. Tell your children that skin can stop germs from
entering the body, and washing can reduce the risk of infection
if your child has a cut or scrape.
Explain, too, that harmful germs and viruses can be spread
by a sneeze or a cough. Teach your child to stay away from
people who are sneezing and coughing. Children can help prevent
the spread of disease if they cover their sneezes or coughs
with a tissue.
Everybody has an internal disease fighting system (immune
system) made of antibodies and white blood cells. Your child
can help that immune system function well by getting enough
sleep, by eating nutritious meals, and by exercising.
Vaccinations also prevent disease and play an important
part in helping your child grow up healthy. The idea of having
a shot may be frightening to a child. Help your child
understand that this vaccination is a medicine that prevents
disease. It's a lot more fun to be playing with friends than to
be sick.
A vaccination chart for keeping track of immunizations can
be found on the inside front cover. The importance of
vaccinating children at the appropriate ages cannot be
overemphasized.
Activities
The activities that follow are designed to introduce your
child to some of the basic ideas of good health. There are
activities that focus on understanding emotions and developing
self-esteem, those that emphasize nutrition, those that stress
cleanliness and caring for your body, and those that promote
exercise (see the symbols to the right that indicate the type
of activity). These activities are just samples of the many
things you can do with your child to enhance awareness of the
benefits of good health throughout life. So, get started and
have fun!
Face File
Young children love to cut and paste. They can learn about
their emotions at the same time.
What you'll need
Magazines
Pieces of cardboard or construction paper
Paste or glue
Box or folder
What to do
1. Have your child find pictures in magazines to illustrate
different feelings.
2. Have your child paste each face on cardboard or
construction paper.
3. Together, decide what feeling is expressed by the face and
label the picture.
4. Sort the faces by categories of feelings, such as sad,
funny, surprised, happy.
5. Use a box or folder to file the pictures.
By looking at the pictures, children can recognize how
people feel by their facial expressions.
A Mirror of Me
Help your child frame a mirror with items that represent
the things your child likes.
What you'll need
Small pocket mirror
Lid of a shoebox
Magazines, photographs that that can be cut up, paint or an ink
pad for thumb prints, or other items that represent your
child's interests
Scissors if you wish to cut out pictures
Glue that is strong enough to hold the mirror
What to do
1. Help your child attach a small pocket mirror inside the
lid of a shoebox.
2. Have your child decorate the inside of the lid with
objects that reflect special interests. Some of the
decorations might include
a thumb print
photographs
pictures of favorite foods, sports, and hobbies.
3. Have your child look into the mirror to see a wonderful
face and the things that make it smile!
4. You might want to hang the framed mirror on the wall of
your child's room.
This activity recognizes the things that are important to
your child and helps your child realize that an identity is
based on one's own interests.
Quilt of Many Feelings
Traditionally, making quilts has been a way for people to
express themselves through the use of color and pattern in a
practical way. A quilt of faces can help your child understand
how emotions are conveyed through facial expressions.
What you'll need
Colored paper
Markers or crayons
Paste or glue
Large piece of paper (poster paper, a large paper bag cut and
laid out flat, wrapping or computer paper)
What to do
1. Using different colors (pastel colors work best), cut the
paper into 6" x 6" squares.
2. Have your child draw faces representing feelings th
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