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Healthy celebrations

Let's Celebrate Healthy Living!
A fun way to culminate your classroom or school's participation in At My Best®, and to celebrate and put the students' knowledge into action, is by organizing a healthy celebration. A celebration can be a special event to conclude the At My Best® program (celebrate the new things that have been learned) and as a "kick-start" of new habits, involving healthy choices and physical activity into the future. The celebration may include your class, the entire school or even your school and community. See suggestions below on how to plan a healthy celebration. These suggestions are to guide your planning. Whenever possible, include your students in the planning of your celebration.

Healthy Celebration Planning Checklist:
Note: Planning for the celebration could be built into an earlier lesson(s) or be a stand-alone as an option at the end.

  • Decide on the scope of the celebration (class, grade, school or community).
  • Check in with principal or vice-principal for buy-in and support.
  • Check date and location availability with school calendar. Book location (gym, schoolyard, recreation facility, senior's residence) and caretaker.
  • Get help from colleagues. Consider supervision needs.
  • Consider involving the school council, student council, older students, school administrators and parent/guardian volunteers.
  • Brainstorm ideas with your students (see below).
  • Send a letter home, informing parents/guardians of the celebration and to ask for help.
  • Invite special guests (principal, vice principal, mayor, councillors, journalists (be sure to have permission for photos) and others who have provided assistance throughout the lessons).
  • Create "to-do" lists. Identify the jobs that need to be done, by whom and by when (see Healthy Celebration To-do List).
  • Gather supplies. Don't forget the "Certificates of Completion!"
  • Set-up the space.
  • The Celebration!
  • Organize cleanup committee
  • Thank guardians, caretaker, colleagues, helpers and students.
  • Event debrief and summary for next year (what worked, what didn't, what you would do differently).

Planning Questions:
To involve the class in the celebration planning, ask students the following questions:

Why should we have a healthy celebration?
Possible answers: It is fun, it makes us feel good, to celebrate and practice what we have learned.

What type of celebration would our class like to have to celebrate healthy living?
Possible answers: Picnic, party, play day, scavenger hunt, healthy food day, theme day (helping others day and pair a younger child with an older child for the activities).

Who should we involve in our celebration?
Possible answers: Our classroom, primary division, whole school, parents/guardians, community.

What types of activities should we plan?
Possible answers: Relays, crafts (making healthy choices posters or murals), hopscotch, foursquare, scavenger hunt, skipping, dancing, music, singing.

What type of healthy foods could we have?
Possible answers: Carrots, celery, oranges, apples, water, cheese, milk, smoothies, whole-wheat toast.

When should we have our celebration?
Possible answers: During education week, on the last day of the unit, during lunch hour.

Where should we have our celebration?
Possible answers: Inside, outside, inside and outside, gymnasium, cafeteria.

Activity Ideas:
There are many possibilities for celebrations. The key is that the celebration is fun and brings together all of the key concepts learned throughout the toolkit. Here is one easy classroom celebration option:

  • Plan one physical activity for students for 20 minutes (soccer, scavenger hunt, one of the DPA or physical activities that the students enjoyed from the lessons).
  • Have students return to the classroom, cafeteria or gym to enjoy healthy snacks. Safety: Remember food safety and food allergies.
  • Using the song lyrics from Appendix B and the At My Best™ music CD, have students sing one of the songs and perform the actions following your lead.
  • Provide each student with a personalized At My Best™ Certificate of Completion.

      Extensions:

  • Invite guardians to celebrate healthy living with their children. Partner guardians with their kids for activities.
  • Have students bring in one healthy food.
  • Set up healthy food stations for students to try different types of healthy foods.
  • Set up healthy food stations for students to try different types of healthy foods from different countries.
  • Organize a school event where different classes become involved in the planning process.
  • Invite in a community member to share in the celebration (health department staff, government official, local business).

      Ideas for Home:

  • After the celebration, have students draw in their journal one thing they learned about healthy living.
  • Send Certificates of Completion home with students.

Downloads:

Healthy Celebration To-Do List (Word Doc, 908 KB)
Healthy Celebration To-Do List (PDF, 18 KB )