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. Don’t forget to check out our Program Service Menu for personalized programs that make a lasting impact on kids’ well-being! 

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

At school

1. Learn how to Rethink Your Drink.
2. Spruce up the school cafeteria.
3. Plant an indoor or outdoor school garden.
4. Use Food Art to teach nutrition 
5. Encourage Mindful Eating as a regular practice  
6. Boost Nutrition Promotion  
7. Organize a Farm-to-School program 
8. Recognition Awards – Action for Healthy Kids (healthymealsincentives.org)
9. 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.
10. 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. 
11. Find more resources, join a conference and connect with your state’s Farm to School Network. 

At home

1. Explore what farm-to-table means.
2. Play with your food using food art. (En español)
3. Use kitchen scraps for gardening.
4. Highlight what’s special about your community through art. 

Check out even more activities by exploring our Resource Library and discover tools, tips, and strategies to support your community’s health and wellness. Don’t forget to check out our Program Service Menu for personalized programs that make a lasting impact on kids’ well-being! 

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

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 with the AFHK Physical Activity Dice. (En Espanol)
3. Use common household objects for fitness fun. (En español)
4. Create active sensory spaces.
5. Limit screen time with these strategies.
6. Learn more about Active Classrooms Month. 
7. Incorporate Classroom Energizers during the school day.
8. Learn more about School Recognition 
9. Host a talent show to promote social inclusion. 

Check out even more activities by exploring our Resource Library and discover tools, tips, and strategies to support your community’s health and wellness. Don’t forget to check out our Program Service Menu for personalized programs that make a lasting impact on kids’ well-being! 

Empower young minds with comprehensive resources on risk education and prevention strategies.

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 

• 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.  
• Second Chance alternative to suspension program. A non-punitive, educational program for students found vaping and using other nicotine products. 

Check out even more activities by exploring our Resource Library and discover tools, tips, and strategies to support your community’s health and wellness. Don’t forget to check out our Program Service Menu for personalized programs that make a lasting impact on kids’ well-being! 

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. Drive systemic change and promote 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. 
   4. Create a family self-care plan. (En español)
   5. Use some family conversation starters to talk about feelings.
   6. Role model healthy behaviors.
   7. Engage in physical activity as a family. (En Espanol)
   8. Connect with family members over a shared meal.
   9. Learn more about the 4 Versions of Family-School Partnerships 

Check out even more activities by exploring our Resource Library and discover tools, tips, and strategies to support your community’s health and wellness. Don’t forget to check out our Program Service Menu for personalized programs that make a lasting impact on kids’ well-being!