This is a guest blog written by Stephanie Haywood of mylifeboost.com.

It’s every parent’s responsibility to teach their children to look after themselves. An effective way to do this is to create a simple wellness routine for them to follow. It builds up good habits and also shows them how to look after their needs in a practical way. If you follow the routine as a family, you can all achieve good health together. 

Below, Happy Camper Live offers everyday health strategies for families that are easy to follow and effective to boot:  

 

A Healthy Morning Post-wake-up Ritual

The way you start the day affects your mood, energy levels, and everything else. It’s important you wake your kids up right – grumpy kids are unhappy kids. Nurture and Thrive offers several expert suggestions: Letting in the light, playing music to set a positive mood, and waking them up earlier than usual (to give them more time to get ready for school). Creating a visual chart with morning activities like making the bed, washing up, brushing hair, getting dressed, having breakfast, and going to school can help. 

 

Eating Three Healthy Meals Together

Eating all your meals together (or as many as you can manage) as a family can go a long way toward making your child feel emotionally secure, stable, and happy. Also, needless to say, nutritious meals contribute to your child’s bodily well-being. Serve plenty of fruits and vegetables and avoid sugary foods and drinks. Verywell Family covers food children need. 

 

Stress-busting Activities

Children have stress too, just like adults. They’re arguably even more susceptible to it, seeing as they don’t have any stress-busting skills yet. Make sure your child’s day includes activities that help them manage stress – play dates, creative coloring, mindfulness, music, listening, and processing feelings. 

 

Weekly Fun Family Activities

Spending quality time with your kids is essential for their overall development. Planning a weekly family activity is a great way to spend time together and have some fun while you’re at it. It also gives your kids (and you) something to look forward to each week. Happy Camper LIVE offers fun, adventure-filled activities that help your child grow in an enjoyable way. 

 

Limiting Screen Time

Too much screen time is not good for your kids. This is especially true before bedtime – it can stimulate them instead of relaxing them, messing with their sleep. It’s a good idea to only allow 1-2 hours of screen time each day. Make it a family rule to not have any electronics around during mealtimes. Also, make sure to put screens away at least 30 minutes before bedtime. 

 

Bedtime Routines

Kids need a lot of sleep, much more so than adults, because they’re constantly growing and their body is doing a lot of work. Providing your kids with a solid bedtime routine can help them unwind and get a good night’s rest. Some suggestions are having a fixed bedtime, not eating a few hours before bed, setting the thermostat to hibernate, taking a warm shower, and playing relaxing music.

 

Don’t Skip Well-child Doctor Visits

“Well-child” visits are the ones where you go to the doctor to check if your child is healthy and developing normally. Going periodically to the doctor can help you spot problems early before they snowball. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, children between 5 to 10 years should visit the doctor at least once a year. 

 

Keep Your Medical Files And Documents Organized

Keeping your medical files and documents organized helps you furnish information in a timely way when asked, not to mention stay informed on what’s happening with your child’s (or family’s) health. PDFs are often the preferred format for sharing files with doctors. If you want to split a large PDF into multiple smaller files, a PDF splitter tool lets you quickly separate PDF pages. Once you save the file, you can rename, download, and share the new PDF with others. This tool will split a PDF. 

For the best results, make sure you teach your kids to look after not just their bodies but also their minds and emotions. Keep in mind that kids don’t do what you tell them to do but, instead, imitate you. If you follow a wellness routine yourself and, generally, prioritize your health, so will they!