Easy Ways to Make A Big Impact On Your Child’s Health

Welcome Guest Bloggers Greg and Carmen Moro, creators of “Bad” Parenting Advice.

Improving the mental and physical health of your family can be a challenge, especially when everyone has a busy schedule or when a major transition occurs in your life. However, there are some simple ways you can help your children boost their well-being and emotional intelligence, starting with creating a supportive, calm home environment that allows them to communicate their feelings and ideas. You can also look for ways to help your children relax and relieve stress; take a look around Wondermentgardens.com for ideas on how to introduce holistic healing methods and activities like yoga therapy into your family’s dynamic. Follow these tips for helping your loved ones feel better mentally and physically.

Create a schedule that allows you to be available

While it’s definitely tricky to fit in all the tasks you want to achieve every day, creating a schedule full of routines will allow you to prioritize your children when they need you most, which can help boost their self-esteem and teach them how to make self-care a regular part of their day. During your family’s busiest seasons, it can be a major challenge to find enough hours in the day to balance all of your responsibilities, but having a plan and a schedule will give you peace of mind. Start by getting organized and laying out routines for everything, from tackling household chores to paying the bills; utilize a calendar app to help you remember due dates and stay on top of it all. Not only will organization allow you to manage everything, but it will also give you a view of your free time and allow you to involve the kids in certain tasks that you can perform together, such as cleaning the house or planning your next vacation.

Give them a healthy environment

Spending more time with your kids is a great way to improve their emotional well-being, but it’s also important for them to have a healthy environment at home. Whether that means offering up a variety of nutritious snacks or ensuring that everyone has a chance to communicate their feelings, there are many ways you can create a healthy space. If your children have busy schedules with school-related activities, you might ensure that they have a quiet spot to relax when they get home, away from the homework area. Giving kids free time is an important way to foster positive mental health.

Get active together

A healthy home is also one that involves lots of activity, and if your family can participate in movement together, the benefits are multiplied. Get outdoors and go for a nature walk at the park, or have some family playtime with the dog in the backyard. Take a weekend camping trip and go for a hike, or have a game of pickup basketball together after dinner.

Making healthy choices as a family can help your children have positive associations with them well into adulthood, which can affect their own ability to prioritize wellness.

Allow kids to express themselves

Whether your family is making decisions about physical activity or healthy foods, it’s important to allow kids to express their opinions. Giving small children options about what they’re going to wear for the day or what will go on their plate will help them feel that they have a measure of control over their own bodies, which is a crucial aspect of healthy development. For some children, communicating thoughts and ideas through conversation is challenging, which is why art is a wonderful medium. You can give your children tools such as clay, crayons, markers, and other craft supplies and allow them to express themselves openly, which will help to reduce stress or anxiety while providing an outlet for their ideas.

Ensuring that your family is healthy and happy isn’t always smooth sailing, but by carving time out of your schedule to prioritize them and participating in healthy habits together, you can give your loved ones the mental and physical health boost they need.

About the Authors

Guest Bloggers Greg and Carmen Moro, creators of “Bad” Parenting Advice, understand that “good” parenting advice is hard to read. Greg and Carmen created the site because they were fed up with well-meaning parenting advice that was impossible to follow. They wanted to keep it real and write about the “bad” parenting advice that parents really need and use. For anyone seeking judgment-free, honest parenting advice this site is for you.

Want more? Go to badparentingadvice.com for some really great, and practical, parenting ideas.