As we’ve started back into a school routine this year, I’ve been trying to get all of us headed into better healthy habits. As the kids get older, I lose more control over what and when everyone eats and even over how much sleep and exercise they get. When I had little children, I could feed everyone at once and control what they ate. I took everybody outside or to the park regularly, so I controlled how long they had to run and play. As they get older, they have separate schedules. It’s not so easy to get everyone together now. This summer was especially hard with Charles working quite a few weeks as a camp counselor, Kathryne working one week at camp, and Ashlyne and Rachel attending two weeks of camp. Our schedules got crazy, and our health habits suffered.
With the advent of a new school year, I’ve worked on getting back into a routine of lunch together and monitoring screen time while encouraging activity time. We’re getting there. Because that’s been on my mind, I’ve collected a round up of healthy living read alouds for today’s Read Aloud Wednesdays post. The key to helping kids maintain these habits as they grow and spread their wings is to have established the importance of the habits early on. These read alouds are some that will be fun and encourage healthy habits while the kids are young.
{We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Occasionally posts contains other affiliate links as well.}p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px ‘Helvetica Neue’; color: #454545}I’m also introducing a new cohost for our Read Aloud Wednesday link up. Sasha Mills blogs at Such a Time As This. She also has a passion for reading and is going to be sharing the link up and a reading related post on her blog each week. Keep reading and link up your reading posts below.
Healthy Reads for Very Little Ones
Wiggle by Doreen Cronin– from the author of one of our favorites- Click, Clack Moo: Cows That Type- this book has lots of great pictures that will get little ones moving and exercisingGrowing Colors by Bruce McMillan has some beautiful pictures of fruits and veggies that will help teach little ones their colors as they learn to appreciate the beauty of good, healthy foods.From Head to Toe by Eric Carle is from another favorite children’s author of mine. This is another one that will get little ones moving and identifying body parts while they have lots of fun.
Healthy Reads for Kindergarten and Elementary
Babar’s Yoga for Elephants by Laurent de Brunhoff features favorite character Babar the elephant teaching kids simple yoga poses.Picky Peggy by Jennifer Dussing– I can’t be the only parent who wants to introduce healthy food but has picky kids. This book addresses that in a fun way.I.Q. Gets Fit by Mary Anne Fraser- I.Q., the class pet mouse, wants to follow along as the teacher introduces good health and fitness habits during the class’ health month.Max Goes to the Farmer’s Market by Adria F. Klein is an easy reader book that introduces kids to healthy foods by sharing Max’s trip to a farmer’s market.The Vegetables We Eat by Gail Gibbons– I love the art in Gail Gibbons book, and this one is beautiful, looking at vegetables and all of the good things they contain that make our bodies healthy.Yummy Stories: Fruits, Vegetables and Healthy Eating Habits by Lil L Alexander– This book is a collection of folk tales that also encourage healthy eating. The author is a food artist and organic gardener as well as a teacher and parent, so the book is an excellent combination of story telling and encouraging good eating habits.I Will Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child– I love, love, love Charlie and Lola. It’s especially fun when you read them aloud with a British accent. In this book, Lola, the very picky eater, learns that perhaps those foods she thought she hated aren’t so bad after all.How Groundhog’s Garden Grew by Lynn Cherry– This is a story from naturalist Lynn Cherry (author of The Great Kapok Tree) that is a thorough resource on plants and insects and getting started with gardening for young kids.Good Enough to Eat by Lizzie Rockwell- This is a pretty complete nutrition book all about what our bodies need to eat and why. It includes some healthy recipes. It’s written on an upper elementary level, but I think it could also be read aloud to younger ones.
