1. IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE
SPONSORED BY
CREATED BY

2. SPONSORED BY
CREATED BY
Happy Healthy Family Habits is an initiative of the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL)
developed with generous funding from the Humana Foundation.
The intent of the initiative is to provide schools, literacy programs, and community-based
organizations with effective, fun, and healthy family engagement activities. It is designed to help
families implement new healthy behaviors and improve already established healthy activities and
routines. This focus on a healthy lifestyle also supports and promotes academic achievement and
lifelong learning.
The Happy Healthy Family Habits series features several resources to facilitate four fun family
events. This implementation guide is one of those resources; it is designed to provide guidance
for the preparation and delivery of these events. The events focus on intergenerational learning—
parents and children learning together—and cover these topics:
• Raising a Superstar — Organizing the Home for Stress-Free Living and School Success
• Team Spirit! — Healthy Competition/How to Play Together
• Family Friendly Cuisine — Healthy Cooking for the Whole Family
• Family Health Fair — Creating Healthy Lifestyles Together
Each event is designed to involve families in a whole group physical activity and five different
stations that include activities and resource materials to take home.
About NCFL
About the Humana Foundation
NCFL is recognized as a worldwide leader in family
learning. Educators, policy-makers, and philanthropists
throughout the country rely on NCFL to mobilize family
literacy efforts, increase meaningful parent engagement,
and develop new, effective educational tools and
strategies. NCFL’s initiatives impact homes, communities
and schools, and deliver engaging intergenerational
learning opportunities to families everywhere—
opportunities that lead to economic and educational
success. For more information about NCFL, visit
www.famlit.org.
The Humana Foundation was established in 1981 as the
philanthropic arm of Humana Inc., one of the nation’s
leading health care companies. Located in Louisville,
Ky., the site of Humana’s corporate headquarters, the
Foundation’s mission is to promote healthy lives and
healthy communities. The Foundation’s key priorities
for funding are childhood health, intergenerational
health, and active lifestyles. For more information, visit
www.humanafoundation.org.
Humana and the Humana Foundation are dedicated to
Corporate Social Responsibility. Our goal is to ensure that
every business decision we make reflects our commitment
to improving the health and well-being of our members, our
associates, the communities we serve, and our planet.

3. TABLE of CONTENTS
Event Overview..........................................................................................................................2
Goals/Objectives........................................................................................................................ 3
Literacy Component.................................................................................................................. 3
Health Component.................................................................................................................... 3
Wonderopolis®........................................................................................................................... 3
Planning for the Event.............................................................................................................. 4
Administrators.......................................................................................................................... 4
Teachers.................................................................................................................................. 4
Students..................................................................................................................................5
Families...................................................................................................................................5
Invitations................................................................................................................................5
Food.......................................................................................................................................5
Activities/Stations.....................................................................................................................6
Set-Up........................................................................................................................................8
Take Home Resources for Families............................................................................................8
Event Schedule..........................................................................................................................8
Welcome and Introductions.......................................................................................................8
Opening Activity/Central Ideas..................................................................................................9
Whole Group Activity................................................................................................................9
Five Activity Stations.................................................................................................................9
Conclusions and Key Points......................................................................................................9
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4. Happy Healthy Family Habits
Event Overview
The Team Spirit! event focuses on promoting happy, healthy families. As you prepare for the event,
the following paragraphs may help you with your introductory message and set the stage for a
successful event.
The focus of this event is working and playing together to promote a healthy family lifestyle. Playing
together is important to having a healthy, happy family. When families play together, there is sure
to be laughing and the kind of sharing that builds lasting memories. There are family jokes and
communication is easy! It becomes easier to share serious moments when you can build on the fun
times! Playing and working together as a team is what glues families together. It can be challenging
in this fast-paced world to balance all the responsibilities and things that need to get done. However,
playing together makes a difference in children’s lives and in your family!
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5. TEAM SPIRIT!
Goals/Objectives
At the end of this Team Spirit Event, families will seek ways to work and play together. They will
explore ways to:
• Promote teamwork, working together as a family
• Add movement to the family’s daily routine
• Make exercise fun through games, dancing, walking together
Literacy Component
Book: The Busy Body Book: A Kid’s Guide to Fitness by Lizzy Rockwell
[Common Core State Standards, Informational Text, Standards 1 – 8]
Health Component
The focus for healthy living
• Increased water consumption
• Consuming less sugar
• Increased movement (steps)
Wonderopolis®
Wonderopolis® is a program brought to life by the National Center for Family Literacy and is available
free for educators and families at www.wonderopolis.org. It is a place where wonder and learning are
nurtured through the power of discovery, creativity, and imagination. The inquiry-based questions
posed by Wonderopolis naturally lean toward more STEM-focused subjects. The content of each
Wonder of the Day® is written to align with the Common Core State Standards. The following are
Wonders of the Day that are particularly pertinent to the focus of this event.
• #394 What Can Children Teach Their Parents?
http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-can-children-teach-their-parents/
• #291 How Many People Can Play Tug of War?
http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/how-many-people-can-play-tug-of-war/
• #341 What is Your Favorite Mascot?
http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-is-your-favorite-mascot/
• #607 Are All Bullies Big?
http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/are-all-bullies-big/
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6. Happy Healthy Family Habits
Planning for the Event
Administrators
• Market the event – at least two weeks prior – by asking children to create flyers/invitations,
posting the event on the Web site, school calendar, using the morning announcements to
promote the event, displaying a banner or use school sign, and making automated calls and
texts if available.
• Plan for school staff and volunteers to be available at the event to supervise the activities and
get to know the families.
• If possible to provide homework passes, dress down passes, or any other items as incentives
for family attendance, announce those incentives to students to build interest in the event.
• Plan for students to “perform” or showcase student work in order to draw families to the event.
• Literacy Component
> The book, The Busy Body Book by Lizzy Rockwell, should be introduced to the students one
week prior to the event perhaps during morning announcements. Coordinate activities centered
around the book with the teachers. Students may be asked to write a summary, book review,
introduction to the book, or to produce an illustration that could be used to promote the event.
> Plan for someone to read the book aloud at the event to demonstrate interactive
reading strategies.
> The Busy Body Book presents information about six body systems. Perhaps each grade
level could explore one of these systems: the skeleton, the muscles, the brain & nerves, the
lungs, the heart & blood vessels, the stomach & intestines. Displays on what is learned or
short presentations by each class could be incorporated into the event.
Teachers
• Incorporate the book The Busy Body Book by Lizzy Rockwell as a read-aloud in the week leading
up to the event. Plan standards-based lessons using the book to stimulate understanding and
interest. Perhaps students could produce something that could be put on display in the hallway,
library, or common area to promote or support the event. Take photos leading up to and at the
event to create a display that would encourage others to attend the next Happy Healthy Family
Habits event.
• Include announcement of event in newsletters.
• Ask students to write a description or summary of the book. The principal can choose one or
more of the descriptions to be read during the morning announcements.
• Ask children to create invitations for their families. Determine the best timeline for these to be
sent home based on what you know about your families.
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7. TEAM SPIRIT!
• If approved, let students know that if they attend the event, they will be eligible for homework
and/or dress down passes or other incentives as determined.
• Prepare to showcase an activity or performance if your class or afterschool group is chosen to do so.
• The Busy Body Book presents information on body systems: the skeleton, the muscles,
the brain & nerves, the lungs, the heart & blood vessels, the stomach & intestines. As an
enrichment project, a group of students may make a brief presentation at the event related to
the information they have learned about body systems.
Students
• Write book description or summary and read it during morning announcements.
• Create family invitations for the event.
• Prepare to showcase an activity if your class or afterschool group is chosen to do so.
Families
• Put the event on the family calendar and plan to attend the event.
• Attend the event. Be sure to allow enough time for travel and parking.
• During the event, gather literacy and healthy living strategies from each station. Try them
out at home!
• Leave with the table top conversation starters and commit to using them over the next few weeks.
• Read one of the suggested books to your child.
• Access Wonderopolis® at www.wonderopolis.org and try out an activity together. You can also
find a direct link to download the free Wonderopolis app and take learning on the go!
• Review your established routines. Add healthy routines or make current routines healthier.
Invitations
Students create invitations during school to send home a minimum of one week before the
event as a reminder. Post the event on your school Web site, use the morning announcements to
promote the event, display a banner or use school sign, send automated calls and texts to parents
if available. Send a flyer home the day before the event. Have someone in the car rider line to
remind parents the day before the event.
Food
• Decide when to offer food – before the activities or as a culmination of the event. Decide if
you will offer the food station only, snacks and the food station, a meal and the food station.
Provide any combination that fits your situation based on your available resources.
• At the nutrition station, provide a recipe for families to try at home.
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8. Happy Healthy Family Habits
Activities/Stations (repeated throughout the event; family members can self-select)
1. Physical Activity Station
• Each event should include two kinds of exercise or movement. One will be the whole group
activity (described on page 9); one will be at the activity station. The school gym or fitness
lab may be incorporated. Parents enjoy learning about their children’s day and how physical
activity is included. The idea is to promote physical activity at home—making it a routine.
• Basket (Newspaper) Frenzy is a fun activity that can be introduced at this event and easily
be done at home! You will need a paper bag and 10 balled-up wads of newspaper for each
participant. (The tighter the wad of newspaper, the better.) Number the bags and assign
each participant a number. (This way the bags can be used throughout the event. If you
want participants to take their bag home, you can put names on the bags.) Place the bags
at the base of a wall. Participants should be eight to ten feet away from the bags depending
on the size of the room and the age/skill level of the participants. The object is to throw all
the “balls” into the paper bag. Wait until all the participants are finished, then empty all the
bags together and count all the balls together (not individually). Tally after each round to
see if the total score can be improved upon collectively. Tallying the total score makes this a
team effort! You may want to place the starting line further away or move the bags up onto a
table to make the game more challenging. Have fun!
• Another game that can be used at this station is Moon Ball. You will need a beach ball for
each team. The object is to see which team can keep the ball in play the longest. Divide
into teams of six players. Number off 1 – 6. (This game could accommodate more than
six players.) The first player holds the ball and hits the ball into the air, calling “one.” Play
proceeds in numerical order with each player calling out his number as he hits the ball.
Players try to keep the ball from touching the ground. A player cannot hit the ball again until
his next turn. If the ball touches the ground, is hit out of turn, or is caught, play stops. Note
the score and as you begin again, try to beat that score!
2. Nutrition Station
• For this event, promote working together to prepare healthy meals. This can also involve
grocery shopping, planning, setting the table, and doing dishes together! Explore reasons
for including children in meal preparation: it can build their self-esteem as they accomplish
a task and contribute to the family; they are more likely to eat what they make; they are
getting real lessons in science, math, and reading; it is a life skill; they get practice in
planning, making choices, and being part of a team.
• Share and discuss resources from the USDA:
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/downloads/PlanPurchasePrepare.pdf
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/downloads/Sample_Menus-2000Cals-DG2010.pdf
Challenge the families to set aside time in the next week to plan at least one family dinner. Be
sure to cover all food groups! Challenge them to plan, shop, prepare, and clean up as a team.
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9. TEAM SPIRIT!
• Staff members introduce the take-home recipe and provide the recipe card for families
to take home.
• This is a time to share food routines and to provide each family with the table top
conversation starters. Explain the purpose of the conversation starters. These cards are
intended to help families talk together at mealtimes. Conversations can help families
keep up with each other’s activities and help children learn to express their ideas and use
increasingly complex vocabulary and sentence structure. Encourage families to use the
conversation starters in the upcoming weeks.
3. Water Station
• Share the benefits of drinking water and the amount recommended each day. The
recommended amount of water needed each day is at least eight 8 oz. glasses.
A resource for use with this station (with this recommendation included) is Drink
to Your Health: The Benefits of Water! It is available to download and print at
http://www.tappersfunzone.com/teacher_zone/d2yh.html Plan to share Water Keeps Us
Healthy! Activity #2. Students can be involved in planning and sharing the activity.
• Another activity for the water station is Water Brigade. Participants form a water brigade to take
water from one bucket to another in this relay. Each team has two buckets—one full of water
and the other empty. The participants line up between the two buckets and each has a cup.
The person nearest the full bucket dips his cup into the water and pours it in the next person’s
cup. The water continues down the line being poured from one cup to the next. The person
closest to the empty bucket pours his cup into it and races to the opposite end near the full
bucket. He dips his cup into the full bucket to begin the brigade again. This keeps everyone
moving and gives everyone a chance to be first in line. The first team to fill the empty container
wins or the team with the most water in the container when time is called wins.
• A community partner may be able to attend and provide valuable information regarding the
health benefits of water.
4. Wonder Station
• Staff member will have one of the suggested Wonders of the Day® available for the families
to view and will demonstrate how Wonderopolis® can be used at home. For this event,
use Wonder of the Day #341 What is Your Favorite Mascot? and provide the What is Your
Favorite Mascot? Handout for families to complete.
• Ask families what they wonder about. Suggest that these ideas can be submitted to
Wonderopolis for possible inclusion in a future Wonder of the Day.
5. Literacy Station
• Staff member will read the book The Busy Body Book and demonstrate interactive reading
strategies at this station.
• The bookmark listing this book, several other books, and selected Wonders of the Day will
be given to families at this station.
• This would be a perfect opportunity to talk about starting a routine of regular reading aloud
each night as a family and about homework routines as well.
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10. Happy Healthy Family Habits
Set-Up
The coordinator for the event will need to put the stations in place and assign a staff member or
volunteer to lead the activities at each station. Materials needed:
• General Set-Up: station identification signs, sign-in sheets
• Whole Group Sessions: discussion cards
• Physical Activity Station: paper lunch bags, newspaper, beach balls (depending on activity chosen)
• Nutrition Station: recipe cards, table tent conversation starters
• Water Station: 3 jars, raisins, grapes, water, gallon jug filled with 64 oz. of water; (2 buckets and
one cup per participant if bucket brigade is chosen as an activity for the station)
• Wonder Station: Internet access, handout, pencils, and either crayons, markers, or colored pencils
• Literacy Station: bookmarks
Take Home Resources for families
1. Bookmark
2. Recipe card
3. Wonderopolis handout
4. Table Top Conversation Starters (table tents)
• One side is preprinted with the following:
> If you could have any food for dinner tomorrow, what would it be?
> What is your favorite breakfast?
> What is something we could do to become healthier?
• The other side of the tent is preprinted with the following:
> What is something we want to remember about the Team Spirit! event?
> What is something I could do to help you?
> If you opened a restaurant, what kind would it be?
Event Schedule
Welcome and Introductions (5 minutes)
As families arrive, have staff available to welcome them. Since this might be the first or one of the
first events of the school year, staff should introduce themselves and their duties at the school.
(Have seats for family members at tables with stations either around the edge of the room or in
various parts of the school.) The principal or coordinator of the event can welcome everyone and
make introductions as appropriate.
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11. TEAM SPIRIT!
Opening Activity/Central Ideas (5 – 8 minutes)
The central ideas should be covered in a brief presentation at the beginning of the event. This
also could be delivered after the meal if a meal is provided.
The agenda for the evening can be communicated at this time. If dinner is served at this time,
explain the agenda and how the stations will be used and accessed. Encourage families to get
to know one another. Place the discussion cards on the table and have staff seated at each table
to encourage conversation. Questions for the discussion cards – What do you do to encourage a
healthy lifestyle for your family? What routines have you established that help your family? What
kinds of activities do you enjoy doing as a family? What local places do you like to go to as a family?
When the meal is finished, inform the group of the amount of time they have for each station, remind
parents to have their activity card stamped at each station to be entered into a prize drawing,
and return to the large group gathering area after they have attended their last station. Have
staff available to direct families to the stations, making sure that they are spread out along all five
stations. If you plan to have students showcase activities or perform at this point, provide directions.
Whole Group Activity (20 minutes)
Provide a fun whole group movement activity or incorporate it after the station rotation if families
would be better served in that way. If it is decided to include it in the station rotation, still instruct
families to return to the large group gathering place after the completion of the final activity
station. Since this event is focused on team spirit, a whole group activity that is focused on working
together is suggested. You may want to offer a dance opportunity like square dance (or folk dance
or ballroom dance) at this event. You may decide to offer a different type of team activity like four
square, volleyball or badminton. Take into consideration parents or community members who may
be interested in sharing their talent and recruit them to lead the whole group movement activity.
Five Activity Stations (40 minutes)
Once the families begin to participate in the five suggested stations, the timekeeper will announce
a transition to a new station approximately every eight minutes. That will keep the families moving
through the stations for about 40 minutes.
Conclusions and Key Points with Evaluation/Reflection (10 minutes)
Families return to the large group gathering place where they turn in their activity card to be
entered into the door prize drawing. They are handed a short evaluation questionnaire to
complete. Provide pens along with the evaluations.
Evaluation/Reflection
After adults complete the brief evaluation, announce the winners of the door prize.
Staff member thanks everyone for coming and reflects on the evening’s events.
Drawing/Give-Aways
Provide at least one door prize: books (possibly cookbooks), food prep item, or sports
equipment. Examples: blender, waffle maker, stir fry pan, badminton set, jump ropes,
ladder ball set, pedometer set.
9

12. SPONSORED BY
CREATED BY
The Happy Healthy Family Habits series was created by the National Center
for Family Literacy with generous support from the Humana Foundation.
The initiative was developed to provide schools, literacy programs, and
community‑based organizations with effective, fun, and healthy family
engagement practices and activities.
www.famlit.org | www.humanafoundation.org
©2012 National Center for Family Literacy