Ideas for Health and Wellness Night

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I work in a school with K and 1st graders. Last Spring I hosted a Health and Wellness Night for our school. I had three different tables/displays set up. One was all about sugar and calories in various drinks, one was all about choosing healthy snacks, and one was about sugar content in typical snacks that kids eat. All of the snacks and drinks I discussed were ones which kids frequently brought into school. We also hosted a Zumba class and there were tables set up for the kids to do coloring pages, etc. The families LOVED the event and are asking me to do another one this coming Spring. I would like to still do the booths from last year, but also add three more this year. I definitely want one to focus on dental health, but am looking for ideas on the other two. If demographics help, my school is made up of the following:

250 K and 1st graders

75% Latino, 20% AA, 5% "other"

75% at or below Poverty Level

Urban school

Thanks for any ideas :)

Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

Helmet use for bicycles, skateboards, rollerblading etc-- I'm not a school or peds RN, but have seen some very horrific TBIs from auto vs bicycle crashes. (Actually it was while caring for an unhelmeted cyclist that I learned bilateral craniectomies -- as in, leaving a mohawk of skull -- are a thing.)

Specializes in Pediatrics, Community Health, School Health.

I asked. It all came about last year because a Kindergartener had a horrific lunch that was all sweets and processed snacks (no actual FOOD) and I decided to do a nutrition class for the kids and host this for the families.

Specializes in School Nurse, past Med Surge.

Water safety

Specializes in School Nurse, past Med Surge.
I asked. It all came about last year because a Kindergartener had a horrific lunch that was all sweets and processed snacks (no actual FOOD) and I decided to do a nutrition class for the kids and host this for the families.

We have a student who always packs a big bottle if Gatorade - or the like - and a big bag of Doritos - or the like. Sometimes there's an apple in there. He'll take one bite & throw it away because, from what I'm told, his mom says he just has to have one bite. Attempts to address this with mom in the past have been met with much anger & a few cuss words.

Specializes in Pediatrics, Community Health, School Health.
We have a student who always packs a big bottle if Gatorade - or the like - and a big bag of Doritos - or the like. Sometimes there's an apple in there. He'll take one bite & throw it away because, from what I'm told, his mom says he just has to have one bite. Attempts to address this with mom in the past have been met with much anger & a few cuss words.

Yeah, it's really sad and hard to impress upon some people why this can't count as a lunch. Thankfully at our school, every kid qualifies for FREE lunch this year, so we make all of them take a lunch. They don't have to eat it, but at least we gave them FOOD.

Helmet use for bicycles, skateboards, rollerblading etc-- I'm not a school or peds RN, but have seen some very horrific TBIs from auto vs bicycle crashes. (Actually it was while caring for an unhelmeted cyclist that I learned bilateral craniectomies -- as in, leaving a mohawk of skull -- are a thing.)

A few years ago, I had our local ER come talk to our students about this. The kids loved it!

I don't have any ideas, but I think that is great that you hosted and a health and wellness night.

Specializes in School Nurse.

We had representatives from Medicaid/CHIP (Texas) come out and set up with information for our families. They also had goodies such as pens, pads, coloring books, etc. and it didn't cost our school anything.

A local grocery store also donated a generous gift card that was awarded in a drawing that night.

If you have a School Health Advisory Council, they could host a booth to raise awareness/recruit new members. Maybe a parent survey of how well your school is meeting the health needs of students? Parent ideas on things they'd like to see happening?

We also played a few easy games in our gymnasium... hula hoop contest, another game like a large-scale musical chairs. We awarded small prizes like pedometers, basketballs, playground balls for the winners.

A booth on head lice prevention, identification and treatment?

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