Autumn Tips to Help Keep Your Kids Safe and Healthy

Autumn requires us to make changes in our lifestyle due to weather, daylight changes, school activities, and upcoming holidays. Greet the fall with ways to help keep you and your kids safe and healthy. Take steps to make sure your kids develop healthy habits that will help them now and throughout their lives.

Have an afternoon of food-tasting.

     Gather your charges together to research at least three to five varieties of one type of food (i.e. fruit, vegetable, nut, etc.). Talk about the unique qualities of the food and a little about its history (i.e. when it was discovered, what it is known for, etc). Lead a taste test of the different varieties of the food, or prepare the food several different ways and have everyone choose their favorite. For example, an apple could be prepared as apple snack wedges, applesauce, apple cider, and baked apples. You could also present similar types of vegetables, such as collard greens, spinach, kale, and mustard greens. Talk about differences in their taste. Pick fall favorites, or be adventurous and try new recipes.

Be active outdoors and indoors.

     Make fall yard work fun. Have kids come up with different ways to pick up leaves or pine cones (i.e. squatting, bending, leaning, stretching, balancing on one foot, etc.). Sing, dance, and explore. Provide kids with rakes and other tools that are kid-sized for comfort and safety. For indoor fun, play board games and computer games that encourage physical activity. Have a song-and-dance talent show. Draw, color and explore with health in mind. Remember that children and adolescents should get at least 60 minutes and adults should get at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity most, preferably all, days of the week.

(continued on next column)

Don't forget to apply sunscreen and insect repellent to protect you and the children from the sun, mosquitoes, and ticks.

Do as you say.

     It's easy to tell the kids what to do. But, it's even better to show them what to do and how to do it. Start the fall off with healthy habits. Eat healthy, be active, get check-ups, be smoke-free, manage stress, wear seat belts, wash hands, wear helmets, and more. Build and help children build healthy relationships and know how to avoid and reduce conflicts.

*     *     *     *     *

Fun Autumn Crafts

Fort
Make a leaf fort with boxes and leaves. Be sure to cut out windows and doors. Let the kids help rake the leaves in a pile for the famous leaf jumping contests.

Scarecrow
Use a pole, or an old broom as a base. Get some old clothing. Stuff clothing with hay, dried leaves, or crumpled newspaper. Make a head from a stocking, add gloves, shoes, a scarf and a hat.

Place mats
Go out and pick up the prettiest fall leaves you can find.  Use a little glue and arrange them on construction paper (child's choice of color). Use clear contact paper to cover the page and a bit over the sides. It makes great place mats for them to use or give as a self-made gift.

Fall Vest
Make a kid's vest with a brown paper bag, construction paper and some glue. Cut out leaves from the construction paper in different colors such as red, orange, and yellow. Take the paper bag and cut out the vest and have the kids glue on the leaves.

Tree Craft
Get colored construction paper (red, orange, brown, green, yellow) Trace the child's hand onto several sheets of several colors. Cut out. Then cut out a tree trunk with branches in proportion to the amount of leaves. Have the child glue the hand shapes to the tree to form the leaves of the tree. Option: Have the child think of things to be thankful for and label the leaves.

Go to page 2