Mini-Lessons Rationale
Today’s youth deal with various health problems, and efficient school-based preventative strategies should be used to boost students’ interest in learning about health. Four mini-lessons were developed based on the topics of fitness, nutrition, safety, and health. The first lesson emphasizes maintaining a healthy lifestyle by highlighting concepts such as nutritious meals, exercise, and safety. Additionally, it is noted that everyone has different needs and requirements because the class includes children who need hearing aids, have vision impairments, have ASD, have had traumatic brain injuries, or have emotional disabilities.
The second lesson promotes exercise as the cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle. It is critical to convey to children the benefits of physical activity, including the development of lifelong beneficial routines and the ability to stay cheerful and energized. Some students are English language learners; hence, exercise demonstration is necessary. Depending on the student profile in the class, the fitness lesson will teach easy exercises like stretching and jumping to encourage all children to be physically active. Consequently, the third lesson illustrates how to keep safe when exercising, including the need to follow the rules, use the right equipment, and warm up before playing. Safety instructions are vital for everyone, especially children with ASD or traumatic brain injury. The fourth lesson introduces children to the importance of proper nutrition. Some students have peanut and citrus allergies, diabetes, and hypothyroidism, and it is vital to explain how to stay healthy and strong. The instructional decisions immediately fit the requirements and characteristics of the class profile students.
Wellness Fair Event Plan
Agenda
- Event welcome: 50 minutes:
- Welcome speech: 30 minutes
- Resource booths’ description: 10 minutes
- Distributing cards, namely wellness passports: 10 minutes
- Opening activity: 30 minutes
- Introduction to yoga: 10 minutes
- Yoga: 20 minutes
- Resource booths: 2 hours
- Closing activity: 30 minutes
- ‘Thank you’ speech: 5 minutes
- Prize draw: 25 minutes
Welcome
The importance of the event will be discussed in the welcome speech, along with themes like health, safety, nutrition, and fitness, and objectives will be emphasized. Participants will receive information about the resource booths presented at the Wellness Fair after the speech. Additionally, every visitor will get a wellness passport, which is a card that should be filled in with stickers from each resource booth. Attendees with completed cards can participate in a prize drawing, including grocery shop gift cards, sporting goods store gift cards, and free yoga classes.
Opening Activity
Yoga is an excellent exercise with many positive effects on physical and mental health. To encourage participation, the invited yoga instructor will demonstrate easy asanas and stretching positions for kids, families, and staff members at the school. It is commonly believed that to practice yoga, and one must already be physically strong and flexible (AFHK Resource Library, n.d.). Nonetheless, one of the many interesting facts about yoga is that it can be altered to suit practically anyone’s age, objectives, and capabilities. All participants may succeed in the exercise because it fosters a secure, adaptable, and inclusive atmosphere for expressive physical movement (AFHK Resource Library, n.d.). The activity professionally fosters common principles in establishing a healthy atmosphere and represents the event’s goal of improving health and well-being.
Community Resource Booths
Health
The health booth will incorporate vital information on children’s general well-being. The community resource invited to represent the topic is the organization Action for Healthy Kids. The booth will provide information on health and brochures, such as ‘Action for Healthy Kids’ and ’40 Tips for Active Families’ (AFHK Resource Library, n.d.). For instance, the ’40 Tips for an Active Family’ list suggests family activities like walks and bike rides, active vacations, and screen-free nights. Parents and children can cut out tips, place them in a jar, and choose one healthy tip daily.
The topic is crucial to the growth of young children since developing good habits requires a healthy body and mind. It is necessary to bring families and educators together to guarantee that students can access secure areas for play and physical activity, nutritious diets, and healthy, positive experiences. The interesting statistic is that one in three kids participate in daily physical activity (AFHK Resource Library, n.d.). A mental, emotional, or behavioral health issue affects about fifteen million children (AFHK Resource Library, n.d.). Additionally, one in seven children experiences food insecurity. By promoting the principles of children’s lifelong health, with and without medical conditions, the organization operates to solve the underlying causes of the child health problem.
Safety
Food safety involving proper hygiene is a vital topic for children and parents. Bacteria, such as salmonella and e. Coli, are the leading reason for food poisoning in the United States (Food Safety Statistics, 2022). Food poisoning often has a more significant impact on the more susceptible groups, particularly children. For instance, contaminated food causes 125,000 deaths in children each year throughout the world. One in six Americans get a foodborne disease annually (Food Safety Statistics, 2022). Additionally, 128,000 patients in the United States are hospitalized due to foodborne infections (Food Safety Statistics, 2022). The resources available at the booth will be obtained from the Partnership for Food Safety Education. The organization offers advice on children’s food safety; it is dedicated to serving as a valuable resource for parents and teachers with programs and enjoyable activities on the fundamentals of safe food handling (Kids Games & Activities, n.d.). The information booth table will offer coloring pages and placemats, such as core four rules of home food safety, hand washing, and fight bacteria poster. The material is beneficial for all children, including those with health disparities.
Nutrition
The nutrition booth will be presented by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which also has an online magazine, Healthy Children. The statistic that one in three children and adolescents between the ages of two and nineteen is overweight or obese is significant (LINQ, 2021). For children aged two to eighteen, additional sugars and solid fats provide 40 percent of the daily calories that are empty (LINQ, 2021). Additionally, nearly eleven million kids in the United States live in households with food insecurity. Hence, the exact dietary decisions made by parents and their kids are essential. Families should view their eating selections as health decisions since proper nutrition is crucial to good health (Nutrition, n.d.). For instance, children require calcium and other minerals as they grow in order to develop strong bones and a healthy body. The booth will incorporate information on healthy eating habits and nutrition facts and provide recipes for children, including those having medical conditions, such as diabetes, food allergies, and hypothyroidism.
Fitness
The fitness booth, similar to the health booth, will be represented by the Action for Healthy Kids Organization. Less than a quarter of kids aged six to seventeen engage in sixty minutes of physical exercise daily (Physical Activity Facts, 2022). Students who participate in a physical activity receive higher grades and attend more classes (Physical Activity Facts, 2022). Additionally, increased physical exercise and fitness levels are linked to enhanced cognitive performance. The fitness theme is vital regular exercise help children regulate their weight, increase their cardiorespiratory fitness, and minimize their feelings of anxiety and depression (Physical Activity Facts, 2022). The printable resources incorporate ‘Getting Healthy Together: Get Moving’ and ‘Building Family-School Partnerships Through Physical Activity and Active Play’ (AFHK Resource Library, n.d.). Moreover, physical activities for students will special needs will be discussed. It is crucial for pupils who struggle with memory or comprehension to provide reminders. Children may utilize several ball types that are simpler to grasp, toss, or see. Students should communicate with disabled pupils the way they would with other peers.
Closing Activity
The school will thank visitors for participating in the wellness fair after the health fair. Involved organizations supporting the event will also be mentioned for parents and school employees to continue learning about children’s health and ensure future collaboration. The closing activity includes a prize draw where participants who completed the wellness passport obtain a random chance to win a prize. Thus, students, parents, and other fair attendees will be encouraged to explore booths and gain new knowledge through prizes and other incentives.
Rationale
The school has the opportunity to dramatically enhance students’ quality of life while simultaneously encouraging their health because students spend most of their time at school. It is anticipated that a complete school commitment to students’ wellness will have a favorable effect on both the behavior of children and their families (Pulimeno et al., 2020). Ensuring children are healthy and capable of learning is essential for any educational system since education and welfare are connected dimensions (Pulimeno et al., 2020). Moreover, enhancing students’ well-being can lead to an improvement in their academic performance. Promoting children’s physical, mental, and social well-being should be the fundamental responsibility of school systems, together with students’ academic successes, in the context of personal development (Pulimeno et al., 2020). Paccaud et al. (2021) state that children’s two of the most significant living settings are their families and schools. Therefore, cooperation is crucial to education since it significantly affects students’ motivation, learning results, and well-being (Paccaud et al., 2021). Children’s healthy growth, proper nutrition, safety, daily exercise, and academic achievement should be achieved by cooperation between educators, students, families, and the larger community.
Thus, the Wellness Fair will bring together health organizations, teachers’ unions, students, parents, and school administrators to promote a healthy atmosphere. The primary objective is to promote the health of school staff, students, families, and community members. To this end, community leaders are consulted to understand better how the community may support or undermine education and wellness. The children’s health at home may be further improved by educating parents on health-related issues.
Digital Wellness Fair Invitation
References
AFHK Resource Library. (n.d.). Action for Healthy Kids. Web.
Food Safety Statistics. (2022). Barbecue Lab. Web.
Kids Games & Activities. (n.d.). Partnership for Food Safety and Education. Web.
LINQ. (2021). Frightening facts about child nutrition that will make you scream. LINQ. Web.
Nutrition. (n.d.). Healthy Children. Web.
Paccaud, A., Keller, R., Luder, R., Pastore, G., & Kunz, A. (2021). Satisfaction with the collaboration between families and schools – The parent’s view. Frontiers in Education.
Physical Activity Facts. (2022). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web.
Pulimeno, M., Piscitelli, P., Colazzo, S., Colao, A., & Miani, A. (2020). School as ideal setting to promote health and wellbeing among young people. Health Promotion Perspectives, 10(4), 316-324.