With the New Year fast approaching our focus tends to shift from the indulgent to discipline. It seems hard to imagine right now as baking and feasting is in full effect in the holiday season. The new year, resolutions and a promise to eat and exercise better hits many of us. Our emotional wellness can also become a focus as some of us struggle with the long nights and shorter days. Taking advantage of this in the classroom seems appropriate as children may see their parents making an effort to live healthier.
Eating
Learning about types of foods, food groups and healthy eating provides children with the knowledge and understanding to begin making healthy choices.
The Deluxe Market Set includes one shopping basket and one bushel basket and 30 different types of freshly designed play food. Perfect for sorting and imaginative play, these foods are soft, rounded and easy for little ones to grasp.
All 4 groups are represented in this set of Food Groups. The 20 solid wood play food pieces are easy to sort and store in 4 handy wooden storage crates.
The pictures of vegetables in this Vegetables Puzzle are so lifelike they will encourage children to eat their fruits and vegetables every day!
This set of Growing Up Green Healthy Eating Fruit Puzzles can stimulate conversation about favourite fruits and features real photographs of essential food products. The warm climates pictured in the images are also a welcome sight during our winter months!
Exercising
January weather can force us indoors so some options for fun gym time are great to have on hand.
With an easy turning steering wheel, Go Wheelie encourages active and imaginative play while reinforcing gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination. It makes a fun clicking noise as children drive to their destination and is a popular choice in any centre.
Stations are easy to set up with these Action Exercise Cards. Tilt the cards from side to side to see the exercise moves play out like a video screen. Use these fun cards to teach and reinforce popular exercise moves such as burpees, crunches, sit-ups, and push-ups.
Emotions
Encouraging children to identify and then control their emotions is an essential job of any educator.
This new set of Expressions Babies is so soft and appealing. The removable sleep sacks are easy for little fingers to manipulate and the facial expressions are easily recognizable.
This set consists of 24 wooden tiles with 12 different emotions. My Mood Memo encourages children to match emotions using memory skills.
For older children, the game of Tell Tale is a fun way to develop the art of storytelling. Players are guided through their own unique tale with cards illustrated with a variety of characters, settings, objects and emotions. With 4 ways to play, the creative storytelling options are endless.
