The Keene Family YMCA is kicking off the summer with the return of Healthy Kids Day on Saturday, April 30th. After a 2-year, hiatus, we’re excited to bring back this fun, free community-wide event that encourages kids to be kids and helps to set them up for a summer of success.
This year’s event will feature a wide variety of family-friendly activities that promote healthy habits and offer a sampling of the many opportunities available for youth in our community. Activities will include:
- Jump Rope Mini-Clinic, presented by the Cheshire Cats Jump Rope Team
- Mini Stunt Clinic, presented by Northern Lights Athletics
- Teddy Bear Clinic, presented by Cheshire Medical Center’s Orthopedics Department
- Face Painting
- Swimming in the YMCA Aquatics Center
- Climbing on the Y’s 32′ indoor rock wall
- YMCA Gymnastics Team Demo & Obstacle Course
- Dance Class Demo by MoCo Arts dancers
There will also be several youth-serving organizations on-site to share information about their programs including:
- Cheshire County 4-H
- Monadnock Family Services
- Keene State College Nutrition and Physical Education
- YMCA Camp Takodah
- MoCo Arts
Win a FREE One-Year Family Membership to the Y!
As we celebrate 30 years of Healthy Kids Day, we want to see your retro Y photos! Just click here to upload a photo of yourself or your kid at a YMCA, YMCA program, camp or event by April 21st. Photos must be from any time BEFORE 2010. Eligible entries will be entered into a sweepstakes to win one of three one-year memberships for you and your family at your community Y.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2022, Healthy Kids Day is the Y’s national initiative to improve health and well-being for kids and families. The Y hopes to use the day to get more kids moving and learning, creating healthy habits they can continue while they’re away from the classroom. When kids are out of school, they can face hurdles that prevent them from reaching their full potential. Research shows that without access to out-of-school learning activities, kids fall behind academically. Kids also gain weight twice as fast during summer than during the school year. With all that’s going on in the world right now, Healthy Kids Day is a reminder to families that we can help ensure all children have access to what they need to reach their full potential, even during out-of-school time.
Keeping Kids Healthy All Summer Long
In celebration of YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day, the Y offers the following tips to help families develop healthy habits this summer that can have a lifetime effect:
- High Five the Fruits and Veggies – Make sure kids get at least five servings of fruits and veggies each day, the minimum number nutritionists recommend for healthy childhood development. And to keep kids’ taste buds evolving, have everyone in the family try at least one bite of a new fruit or vegetable at least once a month.
- Read Together – The summer is a great time to enjoy books with summer program participants—and 30 minutes a day goes a long way! Take trips to the local library or create a family reading challenge to see who can log the most minutes of reading. Encourage youth to create their own stories as well.
- Get Moving! – Activities that require movement also help kids flex their mental muscle. Use materials in unique ways: ask youth to build models, manipulate tools or develop their own theatrical scenes.
- Play Together – Play may be the best way to prevent childhood obesity. By putting more play into your family’s day, you will soon find yourself getting the activity that will have your family feeling energized and strong.
- Make sleep a priority – Doctors recommend 10-12 hours of sleep a day for children ages 5-12 and 7-8 hours per night for adults. Sleep plays a critical role in maintaining our healthy immune system, metabolism, mood, memory, and learning.
Healthy Kids Day will take place at the Keene Family YMCA on Saturday, April 30th from Noon – 4:00pm. For more information, please call 603.352.6002.