The YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City is hosting the Y’s annual Healthy Kids Day® on Saturday, April 30, encouraging families to take a moment to help kids be kids and set them up for a summer of success. Participating Ys will host events filled with games, local vendors, activities, bounce houses and demonstrations, all designed to motivate and teach families how to develop and maintain healthy routines at home.

Healthy Kids Day is a fun, free community-wide event to kick off summer and remind us all how important it is for kids to stay active physically and mentally throughout the summer.

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. Our organization 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 Healthy Kids Day, we’ve gathered the following tips to help families develop healthy habits this summer that can have a lifetime effect:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.