Our grandchildren are living in much different times than ours. They learn to rely on technology at an early age. Computers, smartphones, gaming systems. All of their favorite things didn’t exist when we were young. Because of their modern lifestyle, many of them are growing up less healthy than we did. They spend too much time indoors, not enough time moving around and even less time eating healthy meals since fast food is now more popular than a meal cooked at home.
How can we help our grandchildren live a healthy lifestyle?
Not all of us live close enough to spend much time one on one with our grandchildren. For those who do, here are some ideas you can pass along that will help teach them healthier ways of living.
- Play more. As children, we didn’t need toys to play. Our imaginations helped us along at every age and we were able to make a game out of everything. Whether indoors or outside, we were never bored.
- Eat less and eat healthy. We only used to eat when we were hungry. We all hated interrupting our play to have to eat a meal but we never spent time just eating because we could. Bring your grandchildren to the grocery store. Teach them about the different fruits and vegetables available. Have them read labels to you. Pick out a recipe beforehand and shop for ingredients. Then go into the kitchen and cook together. Children love helping you cook and it may be the beginning of a life long love of cooking.
- Get outside. Ask your grandchildren if they know any games for outdoors. Teach them hopscotch and skipping. Toss a ball back and forth. Go for long walks and teach them about nature. Most children know very little about the birds in their own backyards. The know even less about the types of trees that surround them. Exercise and educate at the same time!
- On a rainy day, turn off the television and bring out the board games and puzzles. Read books together or listen to different genres of music so your grandchildren will learn that there is more out there than what they hear on the radio.
- Introduce them to poetry and different types of dancing.
- Visit a museum and talk about history together.
There is so much your grandchildren have to learn. A life of healthy food, physical exercise and learning will help them go a long way to keeping that healthy style as an adult. Grandparents have so much to teach their grandchildren!
