4 Healthy Habits to Teach Young Kids

With the coronavirus dominating news headlines, healthy habits are at the forefront of all our minds. However, it can be difficult to know how much information is appropriate for children. After overhearing her own kids talking about COVID-19, Deborah Farmer Kris, a writer for PBS Kids for Parents and a parent educator, shared the following themes with her children in an open conversation:

1. Share age-appropriate facts and correct misinformation.
2. Assure your kids they are safe.
3. Teach your kids basic healthy habits.

These are the four healthy habits Kris recommended to teach to young kids:

Wash your hands.
Singing the ABC song is not only a great way to teach the alphabet, it’s also an easy way to make sure your kid is washing for the recommended 20 seconds.

Catch your cough.
Challenge your kids to make sure their cough doesn’t escape by trapping it their elbow. A catch by their hands requires a trip to the sink.

Rest is best.
A lesson that parents struggle with, the best way to speed up your recovery when you’re ill is to take care of your body and get the sleep you need.

Stay active and eat healthy.
To help your family practice healthy habits all the time, try this 8-week health challenge.

In addition to these healthy habits, we must remember that the future belongs to God. As the prophet Habakkuk assures us in Habakkuk 3:17-18,

“Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.”