Encouraging Kids to Eat Well & Get Active with Alberta's Healthy U 5&1 Experiment...

Here at Echoes of Laughter, I have written several posts in the past on packing healthy lunches and healthy drinks & snacks for kids, and often written how my son loves hockey and my daughter figure skated for many years. Needless to say, we are like most families and have a busy sports schedule during the week.  One way I encourage my kids to have several servings of fresh fruit & vegetables is to have them cut up and bagged in individual portions and stored in a special bin in the fridge for snacking at any time.

Recently, I was  happy to learn about the Alberta Government's latest initiative to support healthy eating and physical activity for kids with the Healthy U 5&1 Experiment. This campaign, which began on May 6, focuses on  the importance of how kids 6-12 need at least five servings of vegetables and fruit and at least one hour of physical activity each day. Developing these healthy habits will help kids improve their health, maintain a healthy weight, improve their fitness level, boost their self-confidence and help them to do better in school.

As part of the Healthy U 5&1 Experiment, the campaign has launched a fabulous website for kids that offers 42 fun & easy science experiments that will get kids ages 6-12 engaged in learning about eating healthy and staying active in a fun way. Kids live in an online world, and the program takes this into consideration by offering a website {& app}where kids can sign up and track their progress, challenge friends and family to join in, and earn awards, all  while taking part in 21 days of nifty science experiments. Also included in the website are great resources like shopping lists for foods to try, materials needed for experiments and grocery coupons to help towards the cost of healthy eating.

In help support the Healthy U5&1 Experiment, there will also be 'street teams', dubbed the 'Healthy U Crew' touring Alberta from May to September 2013. You will find the 'Healthy U Crew' at popular community events such as the Calgary Stampede and the St. Albert International Children's Festival, and everywhere in between. To see when the street teams will be in your community, please visit HERE and check out the touring schedules listed at the bottom of the page.

In addition to all of this, the Healthy U 5&1 program has also put together a pretty amazing website aimed at helping kids learn to cook with fun, interactive games while preparing healthy recipes. You can find that website by clicking here: Healthy U Jr. Chef.  I think teaching kids to learn how to cook is such an important life skill and the key to eating healthy.

Make sure to visit some of these fabulous resources to help your family make healthy eating and active living fun for your kids and the whole family.

Ps- You can also find the Healthy U 5&1 Facebook Page HERE.