General Tips To Support Healthy Habits At Home
- Create and post a schedule of planned activities
- Plan several movement breaks throughout the day.
- Give your child/teen choices about activities.
- Reinforce physical activity to improve motivation
- Set goals and use physical activity journals and exercise trackers such as pedometers and FitBits™ to keep track of progress, and celebrate participation and progress.
- Structure transitions using:
- Visual aids
- Timers
- Music
Tips To Support Physical Activity At Home
- Remove distractions to help your child or teen focus on the planned activity
- Incorporate preferred interests into activities (e.g. fly like a plane, jump like a ninja, etc.)
- Use visual aids
- Use Picture Exchange Communication Systems (PECS) or photographs to demonstrate the steps for and sequence of an activity
- Keep a daily activity log and reward kids with a preferred activity at the end of the day or week for engaging in physical activity.
- Model activity for your child before asking him/her to try it. Do activities with your kids!
Tips To Include Your Child In Cooking At Home
- Use PECS or photographs to demonstrate the sequence of an activity
- Take photos of ingredients and cooking utensils
- Label ingredients and utensils
- Demonstrate or explain directions (e.g., show video, review recipe in advance)
- Plan for texture/sensory issues in advance
- Provide adapted equipment if needed
- Allow your child to play with ingredients even when refusing to taste or eat them
