How to Establish Healthy Sleep Habits for Kids

Recharge is your energy. It influences the choices you make. fit presents different ways to recharge and get energy: 

• Relax, without a screen, throughout the day. 
• Get enough sleep. Below are the minimum and maximum hours of sleep for different age groups as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics:
  • Ages 4-12 months: 12-16 hours (including naps)
  • Ages 1-2 years: 11-14 hours (including naps)
  • Ages 3-5 years: 10-13 hours (including naps)
  • Age 6-12 years: 9-12 hours
  • Age 13-18 years: 8-10 hours

This unit introduces students to the importance of getting enough sleep. They will learn about how to establish or improve their bedtime routines and how to create their own sleep zone—an environment conducive to sleep.

Ask kids to turn and talk to a partner about how they feel when they wake up in the morning. Do they want to keep sleeping? Are they ready for the day? When do they notice they get tired during the day?

To use this with your students click here.

Recharging Energy Levels

Ask students to show their energy level by either sitting on the floor (low), standing (in the middle), or standing with their hands in the air (fully recharged) as depicted on the slideshow.

Keep a count of the students in each energy level category to compare with Lesson 5 when they repeat the activity.

Importance of Sleep

Explain that getting enough sleep is one of the most important things you can do for your health. Not enough sleep means you are likely to:

• Find it difficult to think and remember things.
• Not have enough energy to move throughout your day.
• Make unhealthy food choices.

Check for understanding: Your body and brain need _ _ _ _ _  to help make healthy choices throughout the day.

Establish Healthy Sleep Habits

Students are to write down the time they go to bed tonight, then write down the time they wake up tomorrow morning on a piece of paper. Be sure to count the number of hours between the two numbers. Bring the paper to school tomorrow.

Today we examined our sleep habits. Next, we will learn how many hours of sleep our bodies need.