Nursery children have the chance to learn all about the senses between 27 - 31 March, with free resources for play, learning and fun.
Activities include:
- Smelly Monday – have a special fragranced sock hunt and find out all about sneezing
- Tasty Tuesday – enjoy cooking and eating tasty snacks – have a tasting trek outdoors and work out which foods are sweet and which are sour
- Watchful Wednesday – go outside and explore colours and shadows – what happens at the opticians?
- Listening Thursday – go for a listening walk – what sounds can you hear?
- Feeling Friday – try out 'touch' stations – how do objects feel?
Youngsters at Head Start Nursery in Milton Keynes Village, where Ms Emms’ son Ollie attends, joined in some of the activities for the 2017 campaign, which encourages children to take an interest in health and the world around them.
Ms Emms is a former badminton doubles world champion and won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
Now an ambassador for Youth Sport Trust, which promotes achievement through sport participation, she said, ‘It was great to join in the nursery activities and find out more about the senses.
‘Part of my role is to encourage children to fulfil their goals through activity and sport so any campaign which encourages them to think about their bodies and physical literacy is an excellent way to spend time.’
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of NDNA, said, ‘It’s becoming more important each year for children to understand how to be healthy and happy in mind and body.
‘But for 2017, we have a special sensory theme, and our activities – developed by early years experts – will encourage the children to explore a different sense on each day of the week.
‘Expect lots of fun and outdoor play, with a real purpose as the children investigate what each sense is for.’
Activity guides for each day of Healthy Body, Happy Me are available for anyone to download free of charge from NDNA’s website at www.ndna.org.uk/healthy
Nurseries can also download a poster and certificate for the week, which runs from 27-31 March.
Nurseries taking part in Healthy Body, Happy Me are asked to post their photos and comments about the campaign on twitter and facebook – using #healthybodyhappyme
The Healthy Body, Happy Me 2017 campaign is sponsored by NDNA partners Citation Professional Services and Hope Education.
