Heart Healthy

Healthy heart

This is a perfect theme especially after all of the persuasion of eating Valentine’s Day candy. During Healthy Heart Week, we will make a model of a pumping heart and discuss healthy heart habits.

Introduction: What is a heart?

A heart is a muscle that is behind your ribs in your chest. The heart is important in keeping us alive. Your heart beats all the time even when you are sleeping! The heart pumps blood throughout your body very similar to a pump that pumps water. The heart is only one of the parts of our body and works with the rest of our body to keep us going. Invite your child to make a fist. Explain that their fist is the approximate size of their heart. Display a picture of the human heart for your child to examine.

How Can We Take Care of Our Heart?

We can take care of our heart by eating healthy foods, thinking happy thoughts and by exercising. We should exercise 30-60 minutes a day.

Heartbeat Activity

Tell your child that it is possible to hear their heartbeat by touching certain parts of their body. Model how to feel a beat by sliding two fingers down from the back of their ear and pressing behind their jawbone. Explain to your child this “beat” is called a pulse. If you have stickers, you can use them to mark the spot where you can find a pulse. Have your child try to find a pulse on other parts of their bodies. Discuss whether it was easy or hard to find a pulse.

Get your free Heartbeat Recording Sheet here!

Here are more healthy heart facts

Heart Healthy Themed Stories

Henry’s Heart

Henry (and his heart) are perfectly happy playing indoors. But Henry's mom encourages him to go for a walk outside. Soon, Henry's heart starts beating faster. Is Henry riding a rollercoaster? Is he doing jumping jacks? What could be making Henry's heart beat faster?

In this engaging, informative story, children learn about the many ways the heart functions within the body, and how what we see, hear, and feel can directly affect our heart rate (like falling in love with a puppy!). Henry's Heart leads him to the best gift ever―woof woof!

Hear Your Heart

Nonfiction book about the heart. This book is more suitable for pre-k and up but can be useful for younger children as well.

Heart is Like A Zoo

This story is read aloud by its author Michael Hall! This story talks about feelings and emotions while reinforcing shapes and counting.

One Big Heart

This is a great story about diversity.

ABC Book on The Human Heart by Story Jumper. A site where classrooms can create and publish their own book. And it's free!

Activities

Create 3-D model hearts with Play dough: Add to a tinker tray for added exploration.

Blood Model in A Bottle : Sensory activity

WHAT IS BLOOD MADE OF? : Sensory bin

Color a diagram of the human heart by Crayola: Get it free here!

Good Food/Bad Food: Draw a heart shape onto paper. Discuss healthy foods and junk foods. Draw or cut/paste pictures of foods and sort according to whether they are healthy or not.

Language/ SEL- Discuss how healthy foods make your body and mind feel. For ex, good foods give you energy and feel good. Junk foods make you feel tired. Too many junk foods can make your tummy ache. Invite your child to draw a picture of how they feel when they eat something healthy and how they feel when they have a tummy ache.

Taking Care of Our Hearts Writing Activity: There are 2 versions of this activity that is suitable for preschool-2 grade. Pre-writers can draw a picture to demonstrate their ideas and older children can write a word in the blank to complete the sentence. Get the freebie here!

Color Food Sort: Invite your child to sort foods using play foods or food pictures.

Create your own stethoscope: Watch a video by Disney Junior Doc McStuffins

Interactive healthy food sort: If you have a play food set at home, invite your child to sort the foods into healthy and not healthy food groups.

My Plate: Discuss that a “balanced” meal consists of eating a variety of foods. It is important that we eat a certain amount to stay healthy. Show a diagram of a healthy plate and color their own healthy plate. Myplate coloring page

Paper bag lunch: After completing the My Plate activity, invite your child to create their own healthy lunch by drawing their food choices onto a paper bag.

Setting the table: Invite your child to help you set the table for dinner. Discuss the different food groups represented on their plate.

ABC Healthy food beginning sort: compile a list of foods from A-Z. Older children can categorize into abc order. Invite your child to draw a picture of each food. Create a book from your list. For e.g.

A- avocado

B- banana

C- corn

D- date (fruit)

Community helpers: Discuss the jobs of a doctor, nutritionist and nurse. Invite your child to pretend to be one of the community helpers.

Blood flow Demonstration: Draw a body shape onto a piece of paper. Use red yarn as “blood” and place it throughout the body shape for your child to visualize.

Heartbeat patterns: Draw zig zags on paper. Invite your child to use candies, glass beads or other manipulative to make patterns on the zig zag shape.

Stem Activities

Pumping Heart Model from MomBrite

Pulse experiment: Perform a series of exercises and determine if your heart beats the same, slower or faster after completion. Include activities such as sitting, laying down, jumping jacks, walking in place, jogging in place, or hopping on one foot. Get a free Heartbeat Recording Sheet here!

Healthy Food Experiment by Play Teach Repeat

Gross Motor Activities

Dance freeze: Test your heartbeat after playing dance freeze. Instruct your child to dance while the music plays and stop when the music is no longer playing.

Countdown Aerobics

Heart Yoga from Cosmic Kids Yoga