Every Kid Healthy Week Celebration Resources

Practicing mindfulness with children and adolescents can be incorporated throughout the day and can create opportunities to connect, to reflect, and to grow together. And mindfulness is more than just sitting quietly! It is the practice of paying attention to what’s happening around you, and there are lots of ways to practice this in a way that strengthens relationships, sparks creativity, and spreads joy. 

At School

1. Consider hosting a family learning session for your community to learn more about youth mental health. Check out our facilitation guides for ideas and materials to get started.  
2. Having a calm down corner in your classroom can support regulation for all students. Check out our tips for how to do this to promote safety, learning, and social emotional skill building.  
3. Offering students the opportunity to journal is a great way to promote self-regulation, responsible decision-making, and self-awareness. Read our suggestions here.  
4. Incorporating breathing exercises throughout the school day can help kids focus, transition between activities safely, and create a culture of calm.  
5. The mind-body connection is important for social emotional wellbeing. Offer students the chance to move their bodies in this game of yoga freeze dance.  

At Home

1. Read a book together. These books for preschool to grade 2 and for grades 3 to 5 are a great way to start a conversation about big feelings, navigating friendship, and practicing self-awareness.  
2. Challenge your family to practice self-awareness, responsible decision-making, social skills, and self-regulation through these Family Bingo Challenges 
3. You can bring mindfulness to your everyday activities at home! Check out these suggestions for mindful meals, making a family self-care plan, and creating spaces and tools to practice self-regulation.  
4. Playing games together is a great way of practicing self-regulation and social skills. Check out these tips for making the most of your family game night.  
5. Tired of one-word responses to your wondering about “how was school?” Check out these ideas to create more meaningful and interesting afterschool conversations.  
6. Social and emotional development is dynamic at every age! Learn about the typical social emotional milestones and how to encourage healthy growth for your child. 

Check out even more activities by exploring our Resource Library and discover tools, tips, and strategies to support your community’s health and wellness. 

Build lifelong healthy eating habits by exposing kids to new foods, healthy cooking, and growing their own produce.

1. This Smarter Lunchroom Guide provides schools with the knowledge, motivation, and support needed to build lunchroom environments that make the healthy choice the easy choice for all students. 
2. Stay in the know on future funding, resources and other support to help incorporate local foods into school meals with this Farm to School program. 
3. Our Family Meal Toolkit provides schools with all the resources needed to plan engaging, educational events that bring families together. From taste tests to interactive activities, this toolkit makes it simple to highlight the importance of school meals. 
4. Find more resources, join a conference and connect with your state’s Farm to School Network. 
5. Calculate Your MyPlate Plan with this online tool. The MyPlate Plan shows you what and how much to eat from the food groups over the course of a day. MyPlate Plans are available in multiple languages and reflect foods from various cultures. 
6. Get inspiration for healthier school meals from cafeterias across the nation on the Cafeteria Chronicles blog. Discover new ideas, learn best practices, and find practical tips to improve child nutrition in your own community! 

Check out even more activities by exploring our Resource Library and discover tools, tips, and strategies to support your community’s health and wellness. 

Get moving! Physical activity fuels not only the body but the mind, too.

1. 1. Family game night is a great way to practice social skills in a supportive environment while having fun! Use this resource to do a family game night doing a physical activity together.  
   2. Take a brain break as a class or at home with the AFHK Physical Activity Dice. (En Espanol)
   3. Discover ways to turn common objects around the house into active fun and games as a family! Use your imagination and use common household objects for fitness fun. (En español)
   4. Active sensory spaces are a fun and engaging way for children to refocus during a transition or self-soothe after facing a difficult challenge. Turn a passive environment into an active one! 
   5. Classroom energizers are short, fun activities help break up the day and provide mental and physical boosts. Incorporate classroom energizers during the school day!  
   6. Watch this video to learn more about how to boost student engagement through physical activity. 

Check out even more activities by exploring our Resource Library and discover tools, tips, and strategies to support your community’s health and wellness.

Celebrate Thoughtful Thursday by exploring valuable resources designed to empower young minds with essential knowledge on risk education and prevention strategies. Take action today to equip the next generation with the tools they need to stay informed and safe! 

At School 

• From Catch My Breath, invite students to complete a 10-minute self-paced learning module, that teaches about the harms of vaping and encourages making healthy choices.  
• Utilizing the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids resources, invite students to use their voice and participate in civic engagement by telling the FDA to get rid of flavored tobacco and nicotine products.   
• Straw Activity: Help students understand the relationship between smoking and the physical limitations it causes, by participating in the straw activity.  
• Watch a short video of real teen experiences with vaping.  Videos address peer pressure, athletics, the future, and mental health. Follow-up with a classroom discussion.
• Support students in understanding the connection between nicotine and mental health using this infographic from Truth Initiative.   

At Home & School Staff 

• Second Chance alternative to suspension program. A non-punitive, educational program for students found vaping and using other nicotine products.  
• Use the CATCH My Breath parent toolkit. (En español) 
• Explore the Tobacco Education Resource Library. (En español) 
• Listen to this Screenager’s podcast, where Stanford professor, Dr. Robert Jackler, shares how Zyns are being deceptively marketed to teens, how they lead to nicotine addiction, and what parents and teens can do to help those who are hooked. 
• Nicotine pouches are being called the next vaping epidemic. Read this article from Yale Medicine: What parents should know about nicotine pouches 
• Receive guidance to help a young person quit vaping/nicotine products by joining Ex Community.  

Check out even more activities by exploring our Resource Library and discover tools, tips, and strategies to support your community’s health and wellness. 

Family and caregiver engagement is essential to the healthy development, learning, and educational equity of all students. Celebrate Family Engagement Friday with resources designed to strengthen the connection between families and schools.  Together, we can build a supportive, healthy environment for every child to thrive! 

1. 1. 1. Family engagement is essential to the healthy development and learning of all children. Use the  Family Engagement Work Plan for ideas on how to create family-school partnerships.  
      2. Host family and caregiver learning sessions with customizable slide decks and facilitation guides for family-serving organizations to use to talk about youth mental health
      3. Host a family fitness night. Family Fitness Nights expose students and families to inexpensive, fun and easy physical activities that can be enjoyed together at home or with the school community.  
      4. Kids and adults need time to refresh, recharge and unwind from work, school, and current events. Create a family self-care plan. (En español)  
      5. Just like parents are dealing with different, sometimes conflicting, emotions and feelings, so are kids. Use these family conversation starters to help your kids talk through and process what they’re feeling.
      6. It’s important for children to learn how to make healthy and responsible decisions so that they are able to tackle all of life’s curves with resiliency and self-autonomy. Role models help children feel more secure and confident in making responsible decisions.   
      7. Here are 40 Tips for an Active Family (En español). Have your children draw from the jar each night to help plan the next family activity night or event! 
      8. Nothing brings people together like good food! Connect with family and loved ones over a shared meal. 

Check out even more activities by exploring our Resource Library and discover tools, tips, and strategies to support your community’s health and wellness.