Healthy and Active Non-Food Rewards
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Read MoreTen Tips for Hosting Healthy Celebrations at School
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Has your school made the switch to healthy celebrations? Change is tough, and it’s easy to feel stuck in unhealthy habits, but we’re here to help! Check out our top ten tips for making the switch to healthy celebrations.
With your School Health Team… (Gather Your Team)
- Review your district’s wellness policy. Does it include information about what can be served during school parties? Use your policy as your guide.
- Take inventory. What does your school currently celebrate and how? Consider school-wide and classroom-level celebrations.
- Make your case to your school administrators to get their support.
- Meet with staff, your school parent group, and students for feedback and to brainstorm ways to get buy-in.
- Commit to it in writing. Add language to your school’s handbook and website.
- Ask school staff to pledge to have healthy celebrations. Download and use our template pledge.
- Send a letter home to families. Customize our template parent letter (English| Spanish).
- Plan a healthy food taste test to kick off the new initiative.
- Regularly share ideas for healthy & active celebrations with staff and families.
- Sustainable change happens slowly; if you get significant pushback, focus on changing one or two school-wide celebrations during the first year and build from there.
Tips
Ask parents to volunteer to help prepare snacks for healthy celebrations.
Ask local businesses around your community to donate non-food celebratory materials or gift cards. Or, better yet, recruit an outgoing “go-getter” volunteer to find the donations.
Ask teachers to identify artistic students and parents that would be interested in volunteering to make celebratory banners, hats or decorations to make your school parties festive.
Consider an “adopt a classroom” idea where local businesses can sponsor a monthly celebration and do something different from the usual (think healthy thoughts). You may have parents that work for or own local businesses that would be interested – all you have to do is ask!