Adopting Play & Fitness as a Way of Life for Kids

Most children are not ready to play organized sports until they turn 6. Until that age, encourage your young ones to be active with free play—like running, climbing, and leaping!

More than just a chance to have fun, play is serious business when it comes to a child's health and development. To help keep play a key part of childhood, pediatricians may begin writing a "prescription for play" at every well-child visit through age 2.

Learning is best fueled by tapping into a child's natural urge to play, rather than just outside factors like test scores.

Play is also a great stress buster. In one study, 3- to 4-year-old children, anxious about entering preschool, were two times more likely to feel less stressed when allowed to play for 15 minutes, compared to classmates who listened to a story.

Giving your child plenty of opportunities to play is one of the best ways to help them grow into curious, creative, healthy, and happy adults equipped with the skills they need today.

Some examples of ways to do this:

Kids Love to Dance!

Kids love moving to music and there can be nothing more fun than dancing! Whether your child is in formal ballet lessons or just likes jamming out with the family to your favorite tunes, there's no doubt that a love of dance is a fantastic way for kids to have fun, express their creativity and exercise!!

If you're looking for some illustrative books that inspire and invoke the imagination of dance and movement for your little ones, here's our top list. These colorful stories will delight children that love to step, twirl, plie and jump! 

Baby Dance by Ann Taylor is a perfect book for reading aloud or dancing to! Ages: 0-2

I Can Dance by Betsy Snyder is an interactive board book with cut holes so kids can use their fingers to get into the dance groove. A great way to add fun into story time. Ages 1-3

Do Princesses Boogie? by Carmela LaVigna Coyle is a fun, rhythmic, read-aloud book that will have your child dancing along. Ages 3-5

Kitchen Dance by Maurie Manning is a celebration of family dancing together and is one of our favorite books for young readers. Ages 3-6

Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle is a wordless picture book about a girls amazing interaction with a flamingo. Fans of Flora will love this and the whole series. Ages 3-7

Thunderstorm Dancing by Katrina Germein is an energetic story that will get everyone moving the next time they hear thunder in the distance. Ages 4-7

Ruby Rose Off to School She Goes by Rob Sanders is full of silly humor and esxaggerated fun, your dance-loving kids will love this book. Ages 4-8

Dance Is For Everyone by Andrea Zuill is larger than life and full of laughs. The book celebrates passion wherever it may lie. Ages 4-8

Other favorites for ages 4-8: My Mama Had a Dancing Heart, Dancing in the Wings, Frances Dean Who Loved to Dance and Dance, Brontorina, Deer Dancer, Jingle Dancer, Suki's Kimono, Firebird.

Happy dancing and reading everyone!  

Drinking Water Improves Your Child's Brain Function

Children need to drink more water than adults. The effects of dehydration on a child's ability to think has been well studied and researched.

Research shows that dehydration is a common occurrence and even mild dehydration can impact a child's mental functioning. The good news is when given just a cup of water (300ml), a child's memory recall is significantly improved. 

Another study showed that children who drank additional water performed better on attention tests compared to those who didn't. 

So drinking water can have a positive impact on your child's mental performance and wile we can't make any definitive claims on increasing IQ it seems that like a good health measure to ensure your child is adequately hydrated as developing healthy hydration habits while children are young is a smart thing to do!

How Much Water Should Your Kids Be Drinking?

The Institute of Medicine of the National Academics has the following recommendation for kids:

• Infants:  breast milk is enough
• Children  1-3 yrs: 4 cups per day
• Boys and girls 4-8 yrs: 5 cups per day
• Girls 9-13 yrs: 7 cups per day
• Boys 9-13 yrs: 8 cups per day
• Girls 14-18 yrs: 8 cups per day
• Boys 14-18 yrs: 11 cups per day

(I cup = 250ml = 8 fluid ounces)

Tips to Encourage Kids to Drink More Water:

• Total water intake comes from all sources: drinking water, beverages, food with lots of water content. Offer fruits and veggies with a high water content such as apples, cabbage, cantaloupe, cherry tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, grapes, pears, sweet peppers, watermelon, zucchini. A side of soup with meals can be an easy way to increase water count.
• Encourage your children to drink water regularly throughout the day and be a good example by drinking regularly yourself!
• Use fun drinking straws, special drinking cups and colorful water bottles. Stainless steel or BPA free are the best containers. 
• During physical activity, kids need more water, especially in hot weather. Encourage another 1/2 cup for every 20mins of activity.
• It's helpful for kids to make drinking water a part of their daily routine. Encourage 1/2 to a full glass on waking, offer water with meals, snacks, and when they arrive from school, and again before they brush their teeth.
• If your child says they aren't thirsty, encourage them to have a few sips of water. Generally this will encourage them to drink more on their own. Younger kids may need to try water about a dozen times over a two week period before they start to develop a taste for it. You can infuse water with sliced lemons, limes, berries, cucumbers or sprigs of fresh mint. For older kids, you can freeze berries or sliced fruit in ice-cubes, and add these to water for a hint of flavor.
• Consider a reward system to motivate younger kids to drink such as posting stickers on a daily water log which can help (and you) track their consumption amounts. Even consider doing something special to celebrate their new healthy habit, like a trip to the water park or lake perhaps?

Exercise is ADHD Medicine

Physical movement improves mental focus, memory, and cognitive flexibility; new research shows just how critical it is to academic performance.

Exercise programs for kids remain underfunded and underprioritized in many school curricula, even though exercise is clearly integral to maximizing the utility of time spent in class. 

You can read the whole article from The Atlantic, here: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/09/exercise-seems-to-be-beneficial-to-children/380844/?utm_source=atlfb