Healthy Kids Challenge

Welcome to Wednesday WOWS! April 12, 2006
W-wonderful O-opportunities W-with S-schools

....Easy HEAR, SEE, DO action tips each week

HEAR >>>> Provide a message to increase awareness of knowledge/skills
SEE   >>>> Show people HOW to make healthy changes
DO    >>>> Help people practice and make healthy changes


The WOWS Message: Return to Simple, Active Fun: Bicycling

< HEAR >

For many kids, learning to ride a bicycle is an important developmental accomplishment. There's a great sense of freedom; an opportunity to explore greater distances on a bike than can be covered on foot. Organized sports and exercise classes provide an avenue for active play, but spontaneous activity like bicycling provides more chances to move and stretch whenever a child chooses for the rest of their lives. Encourage kids to take up this uncomplicated pleasure which provides healthy movement, transportation, creativity through exploration and sheer FUN!

< SEE >

Choose to organize a re-birth of the bicycling habit for the kids at your school! Spend the next month focusing on fun biking activities that will get kids bicycling now and throughout the summer. Seek out KidLink members with a special interest in bicycling who can help. Contact the local Parks and Recreation Department for bicycle paths and share with parents in a newsletter. Notify teachers at staff meetings and through e-mails, and contact community members with letters about your upcoming events!

Share the following  Web sites for bike safety and helmet information:
 < DO >
  1. Kick off your bicycle event with an "ounce of prevention" presentation! Contact your local police department to give a demonstration on bicycle safety and helmet use at your school. Check if the police department offers a summer bicycle safety workshop/class in which kids learn traffic safety and proper bicycle care on their own bikes! Share that information in a take-home parent newsletter.
  2. As a classroom art assignment, have kids draw, paint, or use mixed medium to create an image of their bicycle from home. ( If kids don't own a bike, have them design one they would like to have.) Hang the finished pictures in the school hallways to advertise the upcoming bicycling activities.
  3. Designate a "Bike Around Your Neighborhood Day". Kids bike around looking for special glimpses of foliage, animals, weather changes, and people; then report back in class the next day about what they saw. Encourage kids to use their bike for exploration. ( If kids don't have their own bike, encourage them to borrow or allow walking instead of bicycling, if needed. )
  4. Enlist the P.E. teacher and/or a KidLink member to organize a "Bike After School Program". Choose one day a week for the next month to encourage kids to come bike together on the school grounds. Each week set up an event; such as an obstacle course, race day, or a decorated bicycle parade. Recruit parents or interested teachers to assist and join in the biking fun!

<><><> HEAR_SEE_DO Tips for Newsletters <><><>

Cut and paste a HEAR_SEE_DO tip each week into your own parent newsletters!

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Parents Support Safe Bicycling and Healthy Snacks
The whole family can benefit from bicycling activity! Parents can role model by wearing helmets and practicing traffic safety. Enjoy a safe family ride to the park or favorite rest stop. Bring plastic bottles with refreshing water to satisfy your thirst and a quick snack of cereal trail mix or dried fruit for a quick energy boost!
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Thought for the Day

"I love people. I love my family, my children... but inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that's where you renew your springs that never dry up."
 --Pearl S. Buck
 
For questions about Healthy Kids Challenge, please contact:
Vickie L. James, RD, LD, Director
vickie@healthykidschallenge.com
www.healthykidschallenge.com
1-888-259-6287