At School
Check-in Challenges
The idea of the "check-in" is to notice regularly throughout your day if there are signs that your amazing body and brain could be "asking" for help e.g if you're a bit tired, unfocused, or feeling stressed, stop to consider when you; last ate something nutritious, had a glass of water or took a break to move your body. Developing a habit of "checking-in" is useful to remind you to do little things during your day that combined, can have a massive impact on your energy, mood, focus and wellbeing.
Creating healthy habits can be more fun and long-lasting when you do it together as a class and we'd love to hear about what you are doing!
Your class will go in the draw to win some great prizes too!
How to share with us and be in to win;
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Email your submissions to us at support@healthiestschools.co.nz
Check-in Challenge One
Do your first "check-in"
This is a great place to start to identify if there are ways that you could give a bit more help to your amazing brain and body to do all it's billions of jobs! Do the movement activities and assess other daily actions like drinking more water etc. It's a bit of fun and perhaps you could set a class or individual goal work towards e.g drink 1.5L of water at school!
Resources;
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My Amazing Body and Brain poster
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Five movement activities - shows you what each activity is on the Check-in sheet.
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Five movement activities instructions - shows you how to do the movement activities.
What we'd love to see;
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photo's or a video of your class doing some of the movement activities, or
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a story from tamariki tell about their experience of completing the "before check-in". What did they find easy, challenging and is there anything on the list that they can set a goal to do better?
Check-in Challenge Two
Let's Get Moving!
There are so many daily benefits to moving regularly that help our amazing brain and body to do the billions of jobs it does for us, every moment. From boosting our energy, mood and focus to helping us get a good night of sleep, even a few minutes of movement can help!
What to do:
Each write down on a piece of note paper, two things that you could easily do in your classroom for a couple of minutes. Put them all into a jar or box to be drawn out one at a time when you need a wee energy break.
Resources;
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"Why Move" poster
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Easy Activity ideas
What we'd love to see;
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photo's or a video of your class doing some of these activity breaks, or
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a story or poster from tamariki telling us things like;
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what they know about why activity is so important to help their amazing body and brain to do the billions of jobs for us, without us asking!
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what they love to do to be active and;
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what they will do at home to encourage their whanau to get moving with them!
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Check-in Challenge Three
Hydrate Regularly
Our bodies need water for digesting and absorbing food, removing waste and controlling our internal temperature.1
We become dehydrated when we don’t get enough water. Most water in our diet comes from the fluids we drink but around 20 per cent comes from the food we eat.1 Fruit, vegetables, dairy products like yoghurt and meals like soups and smoothies are all foods that contribute water to our diet.
Feeling thirsty is one way we know that we need to drink more water but it’s also a sign your body is already slightly dehydrated. Other early signs of dehydration include a dry or sticky mouth, dark-coloured urine, fatigue or headaches.
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Ministry of Health. Eating and Activity Guidelines for New Zealand Adults: Updated 2020. Wellington. 2020.
Resources;
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NZ Heart Foundation has some good information and resources.
To earn another entry into the prize draw this week this is what we'd love to know;
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what you have learned about why it's important to drink water regularly throughout the day,
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if you have created any ways to remind yourselves to drink a little water regularly!
We'd love to get a poster, photo or even a short video!
Check-in Challenge Four
Let's Swap Device Time
Devices can help us do all sorts of really interesting and fun things, but sometimes they can suck up more time than we realise; stopping us getting good sleep, disrupting our mood and stopping us from spending time with others.
To earn another entry into the prize draw this week this is what we'd love to know;
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what other activities you have been doing!
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have you started doing things with your friends or family too e.g playing cards, tag or reading a story?
Aim to swap at least 10 minutes a day this week, then build up a little more each week!
Send us some photo's or a video of other activities you have been spending time on.
