The Camp Verde Community Library is hosting a series of health education courses aimed at teaching healthy eating and exercise habits to young children.
The class will be held every Thursday at 10 a.m. until March 2 during weekly storytime. It is intended for children aged 2 to 5 but is open to anyone at no cost.
“The goal is to explore a variety of healthy foods and identify opportunities for increased physical activity during non-school hours,” said Geovani Donaldson, a community outreach assistant with the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension in Yavapai County. The course also stresses learning proper hand washing.
The course plan incorporates learning through stimulating the senses. One week’s lesson focuses on eating a rainbow of colors, giving children the opportunity to taste different fresh fruits and vegetables and associate them with colors and music. The objective is to show children the variety of healthy foods that are available and to encourage them to choose those foods at a young age.
Since instruction is very tactile, children’s sense of touch will be called upon. One lesson will involve a healthy food hidden in a brown paper bag; children will feel it and try to guess what it is.
The program will also try to give parents greater access to these resources. Fresh produce is expensive and often more difficult to find in rural areas.
Children will be taught the importance of physical activity and will get to use a stethoscope to listen to their own heartbeats. “It’s a million dollars just seeing their faces when they hear their heart in the stethoscope for the first time,” Donaldson said. It gets the children excited and asking questions.
Donaldson stressed that good eating and exercise habits all begin at home. “It’s really important for them to make smart choices at that age because that’s when they’re exploring and identifying,” Donaldson said. “The goal here for us is that they can share their experiences through this program with their families and encourage healthy habits at home too.”
For more information about classes, contact Geovani Donaldson at 928- 554-8993 or gdonaldson1@arizona.edu.
