© The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

At the Museum

	Use the ramps! Encourage your family to use the ramps instead of the elevator.
	Count your steps! Purchase an inexpensive pedometer and see how many steps you take while visiting the museum. You would be surprised how much you really walk with 5 floors of fun and discovery.
	Climb our Rock Wall or build and arch in ScienceWorks.
	Dig for bones in Dinosphere.
	Play with the water in Playscape.

At Home

Nutrition:
	Chef for a Night Children love helping in the kitchen and at the grocery store. Let your child be Chef for the Night, and give him or her a list of healthy things to choose from. Sit down with your child and plan out a healthy meal for dinner. Then go to the grocery store to purchase the items needed. Even let them pick out the produce. Allow them to prepare and fix the meal, with your help of course. You might even create a restaurant theme and encourage them to create a menu and serve the food. The more your children are involved with getting dinner ready, the more apt they might be to eat it, even the healthy stuff.
	Taste Tests Try having taste tests at home. Encourage each child to pick out a new fruit or vegetable from the grocery store, one that they have never eaten before. Then play a taste testing game and serve the new snack with a low fat dipping sauce. Your child may have to try a food numerous times before they will eat it, but this at least gives them the chance to discover something new. You might also do some research together about the fruit or vegetable. Go to the library and find some books that tell you where it comes from and how it grows.
	Farmer's Market Visit a local farmer's market and see what they have to offer. Each time you go, let a different child choose what fruit or vegetable they want to buy and bring it home to eat. You could also talk about where the food comes from and how it grows.
	Plant a Garden The best way to get fresh produce is to plant your own vegetable garden. Devote a small area of your yard or even just a large pot for a vegetable garden. Allow your children to pick out what they want to grow. Go to the store and purchase the seeds together and then plant them. Allow your child to help tend and water the garden. They will love to eat what they have helped to grow.
	Color of Health Encourage your children to discover new foods. Have each child pick a color of the week and then take them shopping to purchase fruits and vegetables of that color to eat. The different colors of fruits tell us about the vitamins and minerals they contain. Foods rich in Vitamins A and C are often yellow or orange and foods rich in Vitamins B and C are often green. Put some color on your plate!

Active Play:
		Obstacle Course Use things like swim noodles, hula hoops, scarves, bean bags, balls, brooms, and other house hold items to create an obstacle course. Be sure to do this in an area where you have lots of room and on a soft surface. Take turns having your family arrange the course and keep track of your time to see if you get through the course a little bit faster each time.

		Active Play Birthday Parties Try incorporating active play into your birthday parties. Instead of playing games that require sitting, try playing games that require movement like hopscotch, hula hoops, frisbee golf, or just dancing.
		Active Movement of the Week Allow each child to come up with a new active movement for the week and practice it each day. Encourage your child to come up with something that gets his or her heart rate up. Things like jumping, dancing and skipping are great. Encourage your child to use his or her imagination when creating the new movement.

Nature Parks
Going to a local park is a great way to get moving. See how many parks your family can visit in a year. Let your children help plan the trip and decide where they want to go. Each time you go take a journal and write down where you went, how long you hiked, biked, or even swam. Be sure to take things like frisbees, kites, or balls to get moving. Running around outside is a natural way to be active.

Geocaching
Try this new sport. Geocaching gets you moving around town. With your GPS system you can explore your city and or local park as a family. A cache is even hidden on museum grounds. Visit www.geocaching.com for more info.



3000 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, IN 46208-4716 · 317-334-3322
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