Jean Gunner of SOLE and Jill Chiacchia of BeHealthy Institute were invited by Mr. Pawlowski to his 4th grade class at Armor Elementary to give a talk and hands-on demonstration on Survival Skills and Healthy Living and Eating. Mrs. Chiacchia did a visual and fun presentation about sugar and its impact on our bodies. Since we are made up of 2/3 water, she taught us that we must be very mindful about what we put into our bodies to ensure a healthy and sustainable and long life.
Mrs. Chiacchia reviewed with the curious students 3 survival points:
1) Breathing -- she led the girls and boys through a breathing exercise and told the children we must breathe within 3 minutes to stay alive. She reminded us all that healthy movement and exercise as well as relaxed and mindful breathing helps us feel better and live a happier life.
2) Drinking Water -- she did a demonstration of the impact of sugar on our blood and showed the viscosity or movement and flow of water versus catsup versus honey. The honey with all that sugar moves slow just like sugar makes us feel sluggish and not feeling like moving and exercising.
She told the children that we must have water within 3 days to live.
And, Mrs. Chiacchia reminded the kids: What good would we be on Survivor or even in our everyday lives if we have all this sugar in us from unhealthy sugar filled drinks like pop or juice?
3) Eating Healthy Food -- she talked about healthy foods and the components in fresh foods and veggies that our bodies need for energy, like calories from foods that are low in sugar, vitamins, minerals and other needed nutrients.
She reminded that kids that we need food within 3 weeks to live.
Hand-On Food Demonstration was Fun
We then had the children help us make a White Bean Dip made with wholesome ingredients like cannelini beans, garlic, lemon, tahini and dunked raw veggies like asparagus, brocolli and carrots into the dip. We brought some pre-packaged guacamole from Wegmans for the children to taste as well.
We gave them both the White Bean Dip and Guacamole recipe to take home.
The children all spoke about the experience and words and expressions such as: "Scrumptious" "Delicious" "Amazingly Good" and "I had never eaten asparagus before but I loved it and will eat it again and again." "I tried the asparagus but did not like it, but I am glad I tried it."
It was a fun hour to spend with the children.
Thank you Mr. Pawlowski's 4th Grade Class!!
