COACH Day
Parents and children urged to pick one day a week to eat healthy
and exercise together
In November, COACH began a new campaign to encourage families, students,
groups and organizations to participate in the COACH Day program, a time
every Thursday when they exercise and eat nutritious meals together.
Often, due to conflicting schedules and many workweek demands, families
find it difficult to eat and play together. By choosing Thursday, or
another day if Thursdays aren’t convenient, to focus on this effort,
families can begin to make this valuable time a part of their normal
routines. COACH will provide monthly updates on this site to give parents
suggestions for healthy meals and fun activities that will get families
moving. Please join in the COACH Day initiative and make Thursdays healthier
days for children and their families.
 Eating together
Research has repeatedly shown the value of eating together as a family.
Choose food carefully, because eating habits are passed on to our children.
As a member of COACH, Ukrop’s will be providing recipe suggestions
each month to get your family on the right track to better health.
More healthy recipes:
Exercising Together - Indoor Activities
Pre-School
Circus Tricks
Roll out a sleeping bag or quilt and spend some time on the floor
with your toddler. Kids love to fly like an airplane on your legs and to
do somersaults in front of an appreciative audience (and spotter). Do some
squats while holding your child, and let them count the repetitions as
you count your blessings and let your holiday stress dissolve.
Pretend Animals
Ask your child to show you how bunnies hop, horses run or birds
fly. Let them ride on your back through the house. Do some gorilla
stretches, and arch your back like a cat. Try going through the alphabet
to think of an animal for each letter and how that animal might move
around.
Elementary
Balloon (beanbag or ball) Toss
Toss several balloons in the air and try to keep them from hitting
the ground. This activity develops hand-eye coordination and is fun
for the whole family. Try variations to keep up interest, like trying
to catch or hit the balloon while hopping on one foot.
Teens
Dancing
Balance and body awareness are improved by moving to music, which
you and your kids can take turns selecting. Special lighting such as
candles or black lights, can add some atmosphere and help overcome
self-consciousness. Teach your kids a dance and have them teach one
to you.
 Exercising
Together - Outdoor Activities
Featured Hike of the Month
Dutch Gap Conservation Area
The 810-acre conservation area features bottomland forest, tidal and
non-tidal marshes, a fresh water pond, meadows, a tidal lagoon, trails
for hiking and biking and scenic areas for fishing.
Hours: 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m., November through March
Directions: From Interstate 95 take exit 61 (Route 10, Hopewell) east
to first traffic signal. Turn left onto Old Stage Road (Route 732), travel
two miles to stop sign at Coxendale and follow to park entrance on right,
Henricus Park Road.
Details: Mark Battista:706-9690
Rockwood Park (on the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Birding
Trail)
http://www.dgif.state.va.us/wildlife/vbwt/site
Description : This 160-acre park
is a multi-use facility with ball fields, tennis courts, archery, picnic
facilities, and a nature center. A system of trails, accessible behind
the nature center, winds through forested uplands and riparian woodlands,
and provides good viewing for woodpeckers and other woodland species.
Several of the trails are paved for wheelchair access. The elevated boardwalks
are good places to search for dragonflies and frogs, and you may see
herons feeding in the shallows. The observant naturalist will encounter
butterflies, several species of frogs, and after a rainy spell, mushrooms
of every size, shape and color.
Directions : From Richmond, take state Route 76/Powhite
Parkway south to Courthouse Road in Chesterfield County. Turn left onto
Courthouse Road/Route 653 and travel 1.4 miles. Rockwood Park is located
south of Powhite Parkway just before reaching Hull Street Road (U.S.
360). Turn left into the park.
Site Contact : (804) 748-1129
Hours : Open dawn to dusk, lighted tennis courts
open until 10 p.m.
Volunteer Opportunities
For more information about the Coalition for Active Children, please
call (804) 748-1636.
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Coalition for Active Children