K-State Research and Extension

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Harvey County

Tag: Human Development

Brain Health

Posted on by Harvey County K-State Research and Extension

The brain allows you to interact with the world, understand and respond to carious surroundings. It is important to have a healthy brain to survive, grow and have everyday successes. How do you stay mentally fit? I have a few tips on how to keep your brain fit!

Socializing will help you critically think, be creative, and express your emotions in a healthy way. To do this, keep in touch with friends, get involved at church, by volunteering, or joining a group that meeting weekly/daily. Other ways is to get to know your neighbors and utilize the internet!

Doing mental stimulation is just as important as going to the gym! Play games or puzzles like Sudoku; read or write in a journal, stay a lifelong learner, pick up your favorite hobby again, or try new exciting things. Try to keep your brain stimulated by making it think critically about what you are doing.

Physical activity is not just great for your body, but for your brain as well! Basically by getting your heart rate up, you help circulate blood and oxygen to your brain releasing endorphins and making you happy.

Nutrition always goes with physical activity, so by eating foods high in antioxidants it will help your brain naturally repair itself. Eating right in general will help your brain tremendously with everyday functions.

Lastly catch your ZZZZZ’s. Sleep helps you with a ton of things because it gives your body a resting period where it can repair and rest. To get better sleep, exercise, eat a well-balanced diet, have a schedule and keep technology out of the bedroom.

Maintaining a healthy brain and establishing other healthy lifestyle behaviors throughout your life will influence optimal aging.

How 4-H Camps Help Kids

Posted on by Harvey County K-State Research and Extension

 

The last two weeks have been fun, long, hot and tiring. Why has it been long, hot, and fun? Well, I have been at several different camps for our 4-H’ers.

The first camp I went to was Discovery Days. During Discovery Days, older 4-Hers get to live in the dorms. That means they sleep and eat in the dorms on the KSU campus. Then they get to sign up for classes and attend them across campus throughout the days they are there. This camp gives a 4-Her a great opportunity to see what college is like. They get to find their way around a place they have never been, they have to be on time and they get to learn about themselves in this process.

The other camp, I went to was 4-H Camp at Rock Springs Ranch. These kids learn a lot! This might be the first time they are away from home. They learn how to make new friends and they try new skills like archery, about bees, or soil conservation. These 4-Hers are counseled by an older 4-Her and the older 4-Her learns how to manage children, and be responsible.

4-H camps are a great way for kids to learn about themselves and learn skills they might never learn at home. It gives them a chance to learn many new things away from their normal lives and experience opportunities they might have never had a chance to do. Camps are wonderful to help grow our children into responsible young adults and then into the adults we want them to be.

Well-Being

Posted on by Harvey County K-State Research and Extension

Vacations are essential to our emotional well-being. We all need time to unwind and focus on other things besides deadlines and daily pressures of “success”. If we do this, research has shown we will be more productive when we return to our work duties. We will also live longer and be in better health. You need to give your tired, over-worked body a chance to revive itself from daily pressures. Learning to listen to your body is essential to taking care of it and it’s hard to do when we are running from one event to another, skipping meals, running on little sleep and avoiding regular exercise.

Vacations offer us the opportunity to explore what we would like to do after retirement or as a hobby. What do you really enjoy in this life? When do you get to do it? Don’t put off today, learn to enjoy the simple pleasures in life and develop both hobbies and friends to share along the way. They suggest if you do physical work, then do something on your vacation that doesn’t involve a lot of physical effort, or if you work with a lot of people you may want to take a change of pace and be more solitary. If you work on a computer all day then maybe social activity is needed, look for ways to alter you pace in life and give you rest in your daily activities. It is also a great time for talking with your partner about your goals and dreams.   When we don’t take the time to explore these things, retirement can be frightening, “what will I do with my time?”   Continue reading “Well-Being” →

Summer Fun Activities

Posted on by Harvey County K-State Research and Extension

School is almost over and that means you have to find something for your children to do. If they can go to camps and/or day care that is great, but not everyone can do that. If you have to leave them at home while you work, there are a few things you can do to keep them busy.

  • Make a chore chart for them based on their ages. Older kids can do a lot of things to help you around the house and younger kids can do simple tasks like folding laundry.
  • Find some free camps for them to go to, to help break up the summer.
  • Plan some fun activities that will take them a few days to complete. Pinterest has a ton of STEM activities for children to do.
  • Our local libraries have activities going on this summer, might be a fun way to make new friends.
  • Boredom. Sounds weird, but it can be a good thing for kids to experience.
  • Make a bucket list for the summer!

These are just a few, but be creative!

Sunny Days

Posted on by Harvey County K-State Research and Extension

Waking up to the sun shining brings happiness to me and an eagerness to soak up as much of the sun’s rays as possible.  Now that Spring has arrived, I’m sure bright sunshiny days are in my future.  When the weather is nice it provides the opportunity to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors.  Although I spend a great deal of time outside, I am aware of the fact that I need to protect myself against too much sun exposure.

Did you know that as little as 15 minutes of unprotected ultraviolet UV exposure can be harmful to your body?   Eye damage, premature wrinkles, and sun burns are results of overexposure to the sun.  If you experience just one bad sunburn as a child it doubles your risk of skin cancer later in life.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) each year nearly 5 million people in the United States are treated for skin cancer.  The American Cancer Society identifies Ultraviolet rays, from the sun and/or tanning beds, as the #1 cause of skin cancer. Continue reading “Sunny Days” →

Track Your Baby’s Milestones with CDC app

Posted on by Harvey County K-State Research and Extension

 

From two months to fine years of age, children typically develop in predictable ways. physically for example, most babies can sit up unassisted by six months. By 12 months, they can pull up to standing. By 18 months, they can walk along. By two years, they can kick a ball. Overall, babies and toddlers have lots of new physical, social, cognitive and language skills to learn by the time they enter kindergarten.
Continue reading “Track Your Baby’s Milestones with CDC app” →

Just Breathe

Posted on by Harvey County K-State Research and Extension

When the word just is used as an adverb it means simply or only. Sometimes just is used to indicate lesser importance.  The phrase “just breathe” might seem simple or inconsequential but the message of just breathe or simply breathe can benefit most people.

Breathing is a wonderfully complex and essential human function. We are not required to think about breathing because our brain and body take care of it.  On the other hand, breathing is one the few physical processes that functions both voluntarily and involuntarily.  When’s the last time you thought about your breathing?

In a society where a flat stomach is often considered attractive, it is not uncommon for adults to habitually hold in their stomach. This position restricts deep breathing and doesn’t take advantage of completely filling the lungs with air.  This shallow breathing or chest breathing limits the use of the diaphragm and relies on secondary breathing muscles in the upper chest. Chest breathing is useful in situations like a sprint or race but it is not the best ongoing style of breathing as it can lead to tight and uncomfortable muscles in the neck, shoulders and chest. Continue reading “Just Breathe” →