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Are you looking for simple but effective exercises to get your family up and moving? Watch this video from Darnell Campbell to learn four exercises your family can do right at home. Darnell Campbell is a Physical Education Teacher at Winchester Thurston, CPR Instructor, and Personal Trainer.
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Did you know that children’s brain development is influenced by many health-related factors, including nutrition, physical activity, and toxic stress? That’s why it’s important for parents and caregivers to create routines and environments that support their children’s health. For more information, continue reading below.
All children should engage in at least one hour of physical activity daily and should not be still for more than 60 minutes at a time. To support physical activity, families should:
Making healthy food and nutrition choices is a challenge for not only adults, but for children too. A balanced meal can help reduce the risk of many health conditions such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.
Fresh foods like fruits and vegetables are nutritious options and a great source of fiber. Children’s fruit and vegetable intake per meal should be as follows:
TIP: Smoothies can be fun to make with children. They love to watch whole fruits being crushed up to make juice!
Create a schedule that includes time to be active throughout the day.
TIP: When making a schedule to support a healthy routine, try to block off time for activities that can be done in a 60-minute timeframe.
This resource is available as a printable PDF (English) (Español).
This document was created by Darnell Campbell, in partnership with Trying Together, as a resource for Part II: Childhood Physical Health of the Developmentally Appropriate Parenting Series. Darnell Campbell is a Physical Education Teacher at Winchester Thurston, CPR Instructor, and Personal Trainer.
Developmentally Appropriate Parenting is a family resource content series developed by Trying Together as an effort to empower caregivers to create high-quality experiences at the earliest stages of their child’s life.
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Did you know that early brain development plays a critical role in children’s lifelong learning and health? According to a report by the National Head Start Association, “early brain development lays the foundation for cognitive, motor, and socio-emotional abilities throughout a child’s lifetime.”
Because brain development is influenced by many factors, such as nutrition, physical activity, toxic stress, and access to routine screenings and wellness exams, it’s important to ensure that young children have access to resources and opportunities that are proven to support healthy development.
During early childhood, children need:
For more information on how to support the healthy development of your young child, visit HealthyChildren.org and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.
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Head Start is a federal program that promotes the school readiness of children from birth through ages five that is available to families with incomes no more than 100 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. The program provides a learning environment that supports the cognitive, social, and emotional development of participating children.
Many Head Start programs also offer Early Head Start, which serves infants, toddlers, and pregnant women and their families who have incomes below the federal poverty level. To learn more about Head Start, visit Benefits.gov.
Did you know that children participating in Head Start programs have increased access to health care and improved physical health throughout their lifetimes? Evidence shows that Head Start children:
If you are interested in applying, contact a local program that is serving your community. To find a program near you, use the Head Start Center Locator tool featured on the Benefits.gov website. The program will provide all required forms and answer your questions.
To be eligible, your household must make an income lower than specific annual income limits. These limits vary by household size. Visit Benefits.gov to see if your family is eligible.
To learn more, view this handout by the National Head Start Association.
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A child’s home is the first and most influential environment they are exposed to as it sets the stage for relationship-building, early learning, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), childhood development itself is “an important determinant of health over a person’s lifetime.”
By age six, children achieve over 90 percent of their adult brain volume and develop functional skills related to information processing, comprehension, language, emotional regulation, and motor skills. This means that a majority of children’s cognitive development happens before they even enter their first elementary school classroom.
To reinforce healthy development, children birth through age nine must have access to home and care environments that meet the following conditions:
By having access to these three things, children’s risk of exposure to adverse childhood experiences decreases. This, in turn, benefits children’s long-term wellbeing as the biological effects of ACEs are strongly associated with “numerous adult diseases, including coronary artery disease, chronic pulmonary disease, and cancer.”
To learn more about early childhood as a social determinant of health, visit the CDC website.
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As children’s first teachers, parents and caregivers play a vital role in supporting their children’s healthy development. While it may sound like a big task, the first step is simple: incorporate developmentally appropriate activities into your daily routines!
Caregivers should encourage their infants to practice movement skills while their infant is awake. These skills include supporting their head, rolling, crawling, walking, and picking up both small and large objects. Include at least 30 minutes of tummy time every day.
It is recommended that toddlers remain physically active throughout the entire day through a combination of play-based activities. Aim to include a mix of structured, adult-led play and unstructured, free play every day.
Children in this age range should get at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity every day. There should be a mix of aerobic (running, swimming, jump roping) and bone- and muscle-strengthening activities (climbing, yoga, basketball, bodyweight exercises).
Consider using these activities to get your family up and moving!
With supervision, give your child their own spoon at meal time or give them a child-safe bowl and spoon to play with. You can also give your baby blocks and balls to strengthen their grip, practice their holding skills, and improve dexterity.
Even though mud is messy and slippery, it provides a lot of great play opportunities for you and your child. Let your child take off their shoes; squish mud between their toes and fingers; make handprints, footprints, and mudpies; and more! Just bring some water and towels to clean up after!
Take a walk in nature with your child and try to find local animals, plants, and bugs. If you have them, bring binoculars to see how far away you can see and a magnifying glass to get a closer look at bugs and plants. You can research information online about local plant life and wildlife to create a scavenger hunt and list of fun facts! For example, what type of animal is it? What does it eat?
Challenge your child to pose like a giraffe, flamingo, and other animals to help build their muscles, practice their balance, and work on patience. You can find examples of yoga animal poses beforehand or tune in to your creativity to create poses (with your child) on the spot! For an extra challenge, ask them to hold a book, milk jug, or another household item while holding the pose.
Developmentally Appropriate Parenting is a family resource content series developed by Trying Together as an effort to empower caregivers to create high-quality experiences at the earliest stages of their child’s life.
The Playful Pittsburgh Collaborative is a group of organizations dedicated to advancing the importance of play in the lives of children, families, and communities in the Pittsburgh region. Read their blog to learn about playful activities for children of all ages.
The KidsHealth website features a wide range of information on childhood health topics such as exercise, breastfeeding, nutrition, and more.
This resource is available as a printable PDF (English) (Español).
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A child’s parent is their first and most important caregiver. From the moment a caregiver meets their child, whether that is through birth, adoption, fostering, or guardianship, parents use their instincts and experiences to guide their personal caregiving style. Caregivers’ perspectives are valuable and can be especially powerful in supporting children’s long-term success when paired with research and science on the way that children learn and develop.
That’s why Trying Together created the Developmentally Appropriate Parenting (DAP) Series to assist caregivers in creating high-quality early learning environments at the earliest stages of their child’s life. Through the Series, printable cards are available. Each card features information and resources on a specific early childhood topic.
As of October 2021, Trying Together’s printable cards feature the following topics:
Additional topics will be added through 2022 as resources are finalized.
The cards are available as a downloadable PDF. For more information about the Series, visit the About the Series page.
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Did you know that by age six children achieve over 90 percent of their adult brain volume? This means that a majority of early childhood development happens before a child enters their first elementary school classroom. In fact, during the early years of a child’s life, they develop functional skills such as comprehension, language, emotional regulation, and motor skills that act as a foundation for future learning.
When considering the topic of childhood physical health, brain development is influenced by many health-related factors, including nutrition, physical activity, toxic stress, and access to routine medical screenings and wellness exams. Because of this, it’s important for caregivers to create environments that support their child’s health.
To assist families in creating these environments, Trying Together developed family resources that explore ways to create and access safe, supportive early environments for young children.
As children’s first teachers, parents and caregivers play a vital role in supporting their children’s healthy development. While it may sound like a big task, the first step is simple: incorporate developmentally appropriate activities into your daily routines! Read this post to learn more.
Did you know that children’s brain development is influenced by many health-related factors, including nutrition, physical activity, and toxic stress? Read this guide to learn how you can help create a supportive early environment for your young child.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), early childhood development itself is an important determinant of health over a person’s lifetime. Read this post to learn how.
Did you know that Head Start children have more access to health care and have improved physical health throughout their lifetime? To learn about the benefits of Head Start, read this post.
Are you looking for simple but effective exercises to get your family up and moving? Watch this video from Darnell Campbell to learn four exercises your family can do right at home.
The Recess Advocacy Team compiled a list of resources for educators and families to make sure play and physical activity are a part of children’s’ days and serve as a foundation for their learning, growth, and development. Visit this post to view the list.
Trying Together compiled a list of organizations, tools, and resources that share information or provide services related to childhood physical health. To view the list, visit this post.
To stay up-to-date on available resources, follow Trying Together on Facebook and Twitter or sign up to receive our newsletter.
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Tummy time helps to build a foundation for other skills as an infant develops proper alignment of the spine and the postural control needed for sitting, crawling, and walking. It’s also an opportunity to practice visual tracking, which is when your child moves their eyes in a coordinated manner as they turn their head.
In their resource “Tummy Time: An Important Child Development Milestone,” the Early Learning Institute (TELI) provides more information about tummy time and highlights opportunities for parents to support.
To learn more, visit the Early Learning Institute website.
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As an early childhood nonprofit, Trying Together recognizes that a child’s parent is their first and most important caregiver.
From the moment a caregiver meets their child, whether that is through birth, adoption, fostering, or guardianship, parents use their instincts and experiences to guide their personal caregiving style. Caregivers’ perspectives are valuable and can be especially powerful in supporting children’s long-term success when paired with research and science on the way that children learn and develop.
Evidence-based research shows that children’s brains develop rapidly from zero to age five. Through consistent and caring daily interactions with their children, parents and other caregivers are able to build healthy relationships with and best support the early development and learning of their children. When children grow up in safe environments with engaged, supportive caregivers, the positive effects are felt throughout their lifetime. But where do caregivers go to find information and resources that help them do this?
Through the family resource series Developmentally Appropriate Parenting, Trying Together assists parents and caregivers like you in creating high-quality learning experiences at the earliest stages of your child’s life.
Developmentally Appropriate Parenting is a family resource content series developed by Trying Together as an effort to empower caregivers to create high-quality experiences at the earliest stages of their child’s life. To do this, we are developing digital and print content for families that covers critical early childhood topics.
To stay up-to-date on available materials, sign up to receive our newsletter.
Use the list below to navigate through each series topic:
Request free printed materials from our Developmentally Appropriate Parenting Series.
Caregivers viewing our online resources can use the “Select Language” button in the top right corner of the screen to access the information in their native language.
Request free printed materials from our Developmentally Appropriate Parenting Series. Printed materials are available in English and Spanish.
For questions about the Developmentally Appropriate Parenting series, email Trying Together at: info@tryingtogether.org.
