PitterPatterFeet

What does the sun have to do with preventing childhood obesity you ask.You cannot even imagine life without the sun right? Remember that song we used to sing when we were little ”Rain, rain go away come back another day.” But we really didn’t want that rain to come back as children because we just wanted to play outside all day. We thought that the sun was all we wanted. But as a child we didn’t realize what the rain did for us and how it was helpful to us. The sun and the rain help our crops to grow we need both. We need both mental exercise by going to school and work and physical exercise through rigorous movement and other activities that get our heart rate up.

To get to the point I know that your life is full and very busy, sometimes you don’t know whether you are coming or going you’re so busy. I know and I understand. I am a very busy mom,wife and entrepreneur. I am active in my church and my daughter’s school as well as assist and support my family and friends and try to stay abreast of what’s happening in my field. So I really understand that you too are very busy. And in all that I didn’t even mention taking time for myself, because when there are not people to attend to there is laundry, dusting and cleaning, grocery shopping and on and on.

So I want you to get a piece of paper and really take a couple of minutes to figure out how you and your child can get some movement in. Think outside of the box. Turn on the music in your home and dance. Go back to those songs that made you feel good back in the day. For me Paraliament Funkadelic, Prince, and Marvin Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up” really get me going. I also love Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, Mary Mary and  Moss and many current R&B, Pop and Hip Hop artist. So put the music on and dance, even for a few minutes just to get your heart rate up. Put some up tempo music on while you clean the house.

Get your kids involved too. Lead by example and let them see you having fun. Yes they will think you’re crazy. So what! have fun.  Tell them to take the ear plugs out and share their music. Even if it’s really not your type of music just move anyway. Jump up and down, move your arms and legs in all kinds of crazy ways. The point is to have fun and move. You can do it. Try it and let me know how it turns out. Seriously let me know. Also notice how you feel before and after doing it. I bet you’ll have a smile on your face.

Get your free ebook on keeping your kids healthy and fit at http://healthykidsweightloss.com.

Using dance to help children move, learn and have fun is an excellent way to prevent childhood obesity. As a parent or teacher you are helping your child to get into the habit of physical activity early in life.  An activity like dance has many benefits that other activities do not. Dance is an activity that your child can do alone or in a group. It also incorporates one element that many other activities do not and that is music. It calls upon the student to utilize memorization skills, as well as problem solving skills. It uses the mind and muscles simultaneously developing a smarter student as it develops the brain.

Don’t expect your child to come home excited about how they developed their brain and explored new and exciting things that they can do with their body. Do expect them to tell you about how much fun they had. Expect them to tell you how they flew to a distant land with wings, or a cape like Superman  or even as an airplane. How much fun they had going in slow speed, fast speed and meduim speed as they flew.

This is fun for a child not exercise as they are using the largest muscles in their bodies, their legs to run in the different speeds. Fun is what fuels the dance class and because of this learning takes place. So if you aks your child to show you what they learned in dance class and they take off running don’t be alarmed. You might ask them if a Ballet run is the same as when they run on the playground or at the park or in the gym and to show you the difference. Now your child knows the difference between fast and slow and in between. If they are a little older they might learn pre Math skills by learning about parallel and perpendicular lines.

These things are usually learned in a preschool dance class or a class geared to 3-5 year olds using Creative Movement and Dance. It is a good idea to start them young so they can develop a love of movement and not think it’s a crime to sweat. More schools are incorporating Dance and Creative Movement into their curriculums as they find that it really helps to supplement and reinforce learning in a fun and memorable way. They learn these skills in addition to traditional dance vocabulary and movements.

Try dance for your child. It is a wise investment not a cost into your child’s future. They will also have a blast in the process. Also get a free report on helping your child stay healthy at http://healthykidsweightloss.com.

Too much sugar is not good for our children, yes of course we know that. But did you know the effects that too much sugar has on the body? Sugar is an addictive substance which means the more you have of it the more you want it. It also has negative effects upon the body when consumed in large quantities. There are several things that you can do to prevent childhood obesity as it relates to sugar.

The first thing you can do is Read more »

A very effective activity for kids is walking. Walking is an excellent fat burning activity. It is a great activity for teachers to do in school as well as parents to do at home with their kids. Here in the northeast we are having very snowy and inclement weather. It seems every time we look around it is snowing, sleeting or raining. And if that is not happening it is frigid temperatures outside. Yet it is still beneficial for you to take your children outside. There are several benefits to walking besides the physical benefits.

In cold weather make sure your children are dressed warmly, that means scarves, hats and gloves. Make sure they are zipped up well and if really cold have on hats and hoods and scarves around their neck and face. You will not be out very long and you will be moving a little faster than you normally would. A good way to accomplish this is through marching. Have them count and see how far they can count up to or they can count the usual hut 2, 3, 4! or 1,2,3,4!

Just because they are walking they don’t have to walk the entire time. They can stop and march in place or march in a circle or weave in and out of one another. Of course you will use common sense and if it is frigidly cold you will not keep them out long 5 minutes is enough for them to get some fresh air. In addition they can hop in place or jump in place or even skip. These activities will keep them warm and burn calories at the same time.

You can also have them do observation activities like count how many cars they see on the street or how many people. How many were grownups. How many were children like them. Were they males or females, boys or girls. Did they see any animals or what did they see. Upon returning to the school or home recall what happened on the walk.

It’s an opportunity for you to bond with your children. Communication and linguistic skills are enhanced and exercised and learning opportunities are available in which you learn about them and they about you. If the weather doesn’t permit going outside you can always walk in your school or take a trip to the mall or a museum. It is totally up to you and your child, remember to get their input too. Have fun!

Healthy eating is an excellent way to keep fit. Get a free report on healthy eating for kids at http://healthykidsweightloss.com.

This is fitnesss activitiy is to help children learn rhythm and timing and to learn to take turns. In learning to take turns toddlers learn patience. Which takes quiet a bit of practice for their age because everything at this age is about me me me. Learning to wait for their turn is an important skill that toddlers must develope. It is a social skill and this particular activity helps them to work with others and bulids comraderie as they cheer one another on. Sometimes they even say one another’s name in an effort to help.

This is a very popular activity in my dance classes held on site at preschools through out New Jersey. The school above Lil Tykes Learning Center in East Orange, New Jersey and also a part of the Tri City Peoples Corporation, have dance as a part of their learning curriculum. It is given at no additional charge and is a $55 per month per child value that is freely given to their parents. The teachers and parents appreciate having the convenience of having it at the school and love the fact that it’s so much more than dance, and learning as well.

This is a great activity for circle time or for children to use at home. Children doing it at home can use their stuffed animals. You can also substitue say your age also to add some variety or change the beat. It’s all up to you and the chlildren so have fun!

It is important to have a variety of fitness activities for kids. Having variety keeps children’s interest and enagages them. When people think of fitness they think of rigorous movement or some form of movement. In addition to movement we need transitional activities also that help quiet the mind and body. This particular activity is one that quiets the body and  can be used in three ways. It can be used for developing listening skills and helping children to pay attention. It can also be used for learning self control and patience. The activity is called the MAGIC NUMBER .

This is an activity that involves you counting and the children listening. Have the children lie on the floor. Explain that they are taking a rest and that it will be time to get up after you say the magic number. Tell them the magic number. Ask them what is the magic number and have them tell it to you. Have them lie down and then begin to count.  In between your counting ask the children is it time to get up. They will love to scream back at you NO! Once you say the magic number it is time to stand up.

This activity is used to transition from rigorous activity such as playing in the gym, outside,  dancing or any where they have been exerting themselves and need to take a rest. Although children have a lot of energy, their energy is spurts and they need rest periods in between.  In can be used any time you want the children to settle down and be still. Don’t worry about whether or not the children can count up to a certain number because in this exercise they are listening for the magic number. In time they will learn the correct sequence of counting.

I use dance as a media for learning. In addition to learning dance moves from Classical Ballet, or Hip Hop we also do a lot of running, skipping, galloping, jumping and hopping so this exercise works very nicely as a way to give them a rest and still have learning and skill building take place. Focusing and listening are two essential skills that children will need for school and life.

Healthy eating is another component of health. You can get a free report on healthy eating for kids at http://www.healthykidsweightloss.com.   

Childhood obesity can be easily prevented by doing something as simple as getting your kids to bed on time. We all know that children need their proper rest to grow but we never really look at how a lack of sleep affects the processes of the their young bodies. In addition it not only affects their body but their behavior, productivy and learning and their eating habits.

When children don ‘t get enough sleep they are not getting all the nutrients that their bodies need to grow. This in turn effects blood flow to the brain. Because of the lack of nutrients traveling through the blood going to the brain foggy thinking occurs. This also causes irritablilty and Read more »

Excellent teaching skills were demonstrated in the movie ” The Karate Kid” starring Jaden Smith, Jackie Chen and Taraji Henson. Teaching and parenting are things that people usually do from a place of love.  Jackie Chen’s character(Mr. Hong) tells Jaden Smith’s character (Dre Parker) that there are no bad students only bad teachers.

I understand where Chen was coming from. As teachers and parents it is our job to find out and figure out what it takes to reach our children. Read more »

You may ask what does Verizon Wireless and being loyal to them have to do with teaching children? What does money have to do with it you ask? Plenty!

I just spoke with a wonderful customer service representative named Juan from Verizon Wireless. I explained to him Read more »

This Halloween was extra special as I ran into one of my old students. At such a young age, she is around 3 years old now, I was very surprised that she remembered me. What a wonderful surprise when I opened the door after hearing Trick or Treat Read more »