Tips To Support Staying Healthy At Home

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