Grow Your Family in Wellness

Wellness looks different for all ages, but is always centered around routine and balance. Let’s take a closer look at what health and wellness looks like for a few different age ranges:

For children ages 0-12 years old, health and wellness should be centered around improving general wellbeing and vitality. This means improving hand/eye coordination, improving allergies, digestive issues, and sleep problems, and balancing emotions.  

For people 13-25 years old, health and wellness should be focused on the rapidly growing body, which means maximum engagement in all developmental areas. There’s a lot going on during this phase of life, which means that wellness should surround building confidence, balancing hormones and emotions, getting in shape, and reducing stress.

26-35 year olds still have a lot of energy to use, but not everyone in this category knows where to place that energy. To maintain a good health and wellness schedule, this age group should focus on staying active or continuing their involvement in sports, improving focus and drive, tending to specific health conditions, reducing stress, and increasing flexibility.

People who are between the ages of 36-50 are at a major crossroads for their health. The body doesn’t respond quite in the way that it used to starting at this period, which means that health and wellness programs are more important than ever. Programs that focus on maintaining and improving physical fitness, rebounding from health conditions, recovering from injuries, maintaining and improving flexibility, and staying at a healthy weight.

There are six dimensions of family wellness, and those include the components of physical, intellectual, occupational, social, emotional, and spiritual wellness. By modifying these behaviors, we have a certain degree of control over our lives.

In order to get a better handle on these components of family wellness, check out these family wellness tips:

The first of the five family wellness ideas is to cook with your children. If you choose to make dinner with your family over picking up takeout or microwaving something at least once a week, it will give you and your family a chance to eat healthier, catch up, and just talk. You can even teach your kids about math and science throughout the cooking process! Cooking a homemade meal also brings along a sense of satisfaction, and you can even start a family tradition by doing this.

Another family wellness example is to set aside time each week for a ‘family night.’ This is when you and your family can plan to do an activity together - whether that activity is a board game (through board games, children can learn valuable life skills and hone their problem-solving abilities and creative prowess), backyard camping (this is one of our favorite summer family wellness tips), art hour, or a family slumber party.

Holding regular family meetings is another great way to encourage family wellness. This allows children to be a part of the decision-making process, and family meetings allow you to map out the week regarding meals, chores, activities, rules, and consequences.

Poring through scrapbooks and photo albums is a wonderful bonding experience for a family. You can reminisce over shared memories and see how much you’ve all grown over the years - taking a step back in time is also a great stress reliever.

The last family wellness tip is to volunteer with your loved ones. You can easily find opportunities in your town or neighborhood where you can volunteer as a family. You won’t only grow closer, you’ll also improve your community while you’re at it.

Some of the most impactful health and wellness activities for families focus on movement and play. Encouraging your kids to get active doesn’t just help their physical body, it can be a huge aid to their mental health as well. A few great ways that you can get the whole family moving is by doing yoga - practicing techniques helps to build strength and flexibility, and also can reduce stress. You can also have fun by playing hopscotch, jumping rope, hosting family races, and much more.

A family wellness activity that you can’t go wrong with is simply playing. Playing is what helps children’s imaginations grow, and it’s especially enjoyable for them when their parents join in. A few ideas for activities that encourage your children to play are: Doing a nature scavenger hunt, creating sensory play with sand, play-doh, or other materials from the kitchen, and pretend-playing by making up entertaining scenarios from everyday life.