WHAT'S NEW?
Staff Challenge
Congratulations to the 87 teams that participated in the Spring 2012 Be Active Kids Staff
Challenge! The progress and achievement of individuals and teams through
this Challenge was truly amazing.
Top Individuals
1st Place: Willie Jean-Green (Beatties Ford Road Network) – Mecklenburg County
2nd Place: Alyssa Ciarimboli (The Enrichment Center) – Durham County
3rd Place: Jo Anna Morsen (Robyn’s Nest Creative Learning Center) – Chatham County
Top Teams
1st Place: Robyn’s Nest Creative Learning Center (Mothers in Motion) – Chatham County
2nd Place: Miss Ms Tot University (Booty Shaka’s) – Onslow County
3rd Place: Friends Playhouse (Lulu Ladies 1) – Guilford County
Top Centers
1st Place: Friends Playhouse – Guilford County
2nd Place: Miss Ms Tot – Onslow County
3rd Place: Spindale Elementary – Rutherford County
Attention child care providers...many of you have asked us if you can continue to teach the Healthy Starts and Healthy Strides sections of the Be Active Kids curriculum since they are based on MyPyramid materials. The answer is YES! The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends that educators continue to use their existing MyPyramid materials that they find useful. You can supplement the current information in the Be Active Kids curriculum with the revised MyPlate materials for preschoolers. For more guidance on how you can integrate the new MyPlate icon into the existing MyPyramid curriculum, take a look at the suggestions in this Using MyPlate with MyPyramid document.
Check it out. Great stuff!
2011 CACFP Conference: Eating Smart Moving More
September 7-9, 2011
Durham, NC
Click to view the Be Active Kids presentation.
Win an iPod touch!
Be Active Kids is creating an Outdoor Play and Activity Resources Book for early childhood eductors and we want to gather your creative ideas to share with other professionals. Send us an outdoor play activity and if your entry is chosen for publication, your name will be added to a drawing to be eligible to win an iPod touch.
The outdoor play activity must be age appropriate for children 0-5 year of age and engage them in active outdoor play for 10 minutes or more.
50 activities will be selected for the first version of this resource.
Click here for guidelines and entry form.
Rules: · You may submit up to 5 ideas
· E-mail your outdoor play activity ideas and additional needed information on the form attached to info@beactivekids.org
- Submissions are due by March 1, 2012.
(If you would like to remain anonymous please let us know upon submitting activity)
UPCOMING BE ACTIVE KIDS TRAININGS
DONT FORGET:
- Take a look at the NEW Healthy Strides section of the Be Active Kids curriculum to better understand your nutrition and physical activity.
- Are you using the Be Active Kids curriculum? If so, help us out by completing and submitting our continual evaluation forms (log sheet and survey). Submit every eight weeks to receive rewards points.
- NEW provider rewards program. Provide us with curriculum use information, pictures, testimonials, and suggestions for improving Be Active Kids and receive reward points to use on our online store (coming soon). More...
CHECK THIS OUT:
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babysignlanguage.com - a great resource for teaching young children sign language. Integrate this into their nutrition and motor skills development.
CREATIVE IDEAS:
- Create a Be Active Kids club in your school or center for the children, teachers, and/or parents.
- Create a Be Active Kids bulletin board to post information and pictures focusing on nutrition and physical activity:
- Photos of children, teachers, and parents being physically active or healthy eating.
- Nutritious recipes.
- Where in the community are the Be Active Kids? Use the Be Active Kids puppets or create laminated paper characters.
- Information and/or news about physical activity and nutrition (see resources and parent sections of the website for ideas).
- Have a Be Active Kids day or special event. This can be used as a fundraiser for physical activity equipment, environmental modification, or nutrition assistance.
If you have a creative idea that encourages children, teachers and/or parents to be physically active or engage in healthy eating habits submit them via email to info@beactivekids.org, by fax to 919-287-7009, or by mail to Be Active North Carolina, Be Active Kids, 2250 Perimeter Park Drive, Ste 120, Morrisville, NC, 27560.[back to top]
GUIDELINES FOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY & NUTRITION
NASPE GUIDELINES FOR TODDLERS & PRESCHOOLERS (2002) - for additional information click here.
- Guideline 1: Toddlers should accumulate at least 30 minutes daily of structured (teacher guided) physical activity; preschooler at least 60 minutes.
- Guideline 2: Toddlers and preschoolers should engage in at least 60 minutes and up to several hours per day of daily, unstructured (child guided) physical activity and should not be sedentary for more than 60 minutes at a time except when sleeping.
- Guideline 3: Toddlers should develop movement skills that are building blocks for more complex movement tasks; preschoolers should develop competence in movement skills that are building blocks for more complex movement tasks.
- Guideline 4: Toddlers and preschoolers should have indoor and outdoor areas that meet or exceed recommended safety standards for performing large muscle activities.
- Guideline 5: Individuals responsible for the well-being of toddlers and preschoolers should be aware of the importance of physical activity and facilitate the child's movement skills.
*Misconception - Most people assume that preschoolers are highly active, but the current obesity trends showed otherwise. Most of assumed unstructured play time is very low intensity. Healthy Kids 3 to 5 years old thrive best with at least 120 minutes a day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). More ...
Active Start: Physical Activity Guidelines for Children Birth to Five Years (NASPE) - A link to a one page summary created by NCAEYC in Beyond the Journal-Yound Children on the Web (May 2006).
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