Introducing Refresh @ Home
The novel coronavirus COVID–19 has changed our daily lives and routines. With large numbers working as best as they can from home and many parents having to navigate educating their children from home, people on the Central Coast are learning to adapt to a unique new landscape.
To help you during this time, we’ve relaunched our Refresh – Kids & Families page to become Refresh @ Home. Here you’ll find a collection of our resources, as well as information and advice on a number of topics, from exercising at home, to cooking healthy meals, mental health support, activities and games.
Please continue to check this page for further updates, or you can subscribe to our new Refresh @ Home newsletter to stay updated about new resources and information added to this page.
Last updated: 3 July 2020
Activities and Games
Exercise
Healthy Eating
Older People
Alcohol Reduction
Activities and Games
With kids at home, families will need plenty of games and activities to keep them occupied. Fear not, we’ve got you covered with a number of resources and programs to help keep you and your family both active and entertained.
- To help keep your kids active and healthy, why not try our Go4Fun Online program, available to families on the Central Coast. Go4Fun Online is a free 10-week program for families with children between 7–13 years old who are above a healthy weight. Parents and children view weekly online sessions (at a time convenient to the family), receive weekly phone support from a Go4Fun coach and participate in lots of fun activities. Program resources are also mailed to families throughout the program including some great freebies for the kids to encourage active play. For more information, and to sign up your family, click the image below.
- Our Q4 Family ACTIVation Pack has fun, quick and easy games to play at home with 5–12-year-olds.
- Our Get Active Today tool has some ideas on simple games and activities you can play to support the development of children ages 4–8.
- Kids Health has compiled a helpful page with a number of play ideas for children, including indoor and outdoor games and educational and sensory activities.
- Kids News has developed a fantastic activity pack for children. Called My Coronavirus Story, it gets kids to capture their thoughts and experiences over this period through a range of activities, acting as a form of time capsule.
- NSW Health’s Got It! (Getting On Track On Time) program, run by a specialist mental health team, has developed two back to school activity sheets for children to complete to explore their time away from school and thoughts about going back. Download both the first and second sheet and work through the exercises with your child.
- While we’re all spending more time at home, reducing screen time can be a challenge. Watch this video full of handy tips to help your family sit less and move more. Check out NSW Health’s screen time page for more guidance and tips.
- Our friends at Northern Sydney Local Health District have produced Brain Breaks. They’re short three to four-minute movement breaks that give children a break from learning and have been shown to improve behaviour and concentration, increase physical activity, manage emotions and enhance learning outcomes.
- The Australian Childhood Foundation has developed a storybook with a heart-warming message for children. Matilda and Theo: Looking after our lost and found things in the time of coronavirus explores the things children have not been able to do because of the virus, and how Matilda and Theo will help bring them back someday.
- Discussing COVID–19 with a child can be daunting even for healthcare experts. Hi. This is coronavirus is a children’s book developed by South Australia Health and reproduced by NSW Health to help parents and carers discuss coronavirus with their child. Download the book by clicking on the image below.
- Another useful resource for parents who need support communicating COVID–19 to their children is The Virus and My Family. Developed by Central Coast Local Health District, it includes key message sheets, activities and links to further resources.
Exercise
Exercise is more important now than ever before – both to support our physical health and mental health.
As we spend more time at home, many of us will be looking at converting our living rooms and gardens into exercise spaces, or looking for new ways to stay active. Here are some great exercise routines, covering all ages and abilities, to ensure we continue to give our body and mind the work out it needs.
- NSW Health’s Get Healthy at Work program has developed a Being Healthy While Working From Home guide with lots of information – from physical activity, to healthy eating and mental health advice.
- On the subject of mental health, NSW Government has produced a factsheet with advice on how to look after your mental health during COVID–19.
- The Department of Education School Sport Unit and The Arts Unit have produced a range of videos called [email protected] to teach kids a range of fundamental and sport-specific skills using items found at home in their living rooms, in a fun and engaging way. There are two new episodes a week, and you can watch all the episodes so far here.
- Looking for a series of engaging, fun and healthy workouts your kids can do at home? Then look no further than this YouTube series from The Body Coach.
- NSW Health’s Make Healthy Normal website has some simple exercises to do from home or outdoors. You can view and download a range of workouts, from beginner, low-intensity and high-intensity workouts. Check out its TV Workout below.
- The NSW Institute of Sport has put together a High Performance at Home page containing a selection of videos by some of Australia’s top athletes to help us exercise at home, including improving your running technique and full body 30-minute workouts. The page also has tips on healthy eating habits at home and key nutrients for immune support.
- For the large numbers who have taken up cycling recently, Bicycle NSW has developed Resources to Bike Through COVID–19.
- As many of us begin to think about returning to our places of work as restrictions lift, why not consider active transport to work. Central Coast Health Promotion runs a Go Active 2 Work Day every third Wednesday of the month, with monthly gatherings in William Street, Gosford. To join the Go Active 2 Work community, receive a welcome pack and updates, visit our Go Active 2 Work page.
Healthy Eating
Spending more time at home is a great opportunity to cook fresh and healthy meals every day. Avoid the temptation to snack and starting experimenting in the kitchen. And if you’re not sure what to prepare, don’t worry, we’ve listed a number of resources with helpful recipes and advice to ensure you eat healthily at home.
- Our Good Bite factsheets, developed by Central Coast Public Health and Community Nutrition Team, contain recipes and advice for parents and carers of children ages 0–5 years old. Our latest edition is full of advice about which foods can help your immune system.
- NSW Health’s guide to healthy eating while working from home contains recipes, advice on grocery shopping and other tips ans tricks to eat healthier.
- If trips to the supermarket are becoming less frequent in your household, try these tips from NSW Health to extend the life of your fresh produce. For more tips, just click on the image below.
- The Dietitians Association of Australia’s advice on planning your pantry during the COVID-19 pandemic has a handy list of foods you should consider buying in the event of needing to self-isolate, as well as some helpful recipes.
- To celebrate this year’s World Breastfeeding Week (1–7 August) theme, ‘breastfeeding for a healthier planet’, we’ve launched a community art competition. With awards for painting, drawing and photography, pick up your camera, paints or pencils and get creative! Submissions close on 17 July. Click on the banner below for all the details on how to enter.
- The LiveLighter program has a number of healthy recipes and meal plans to download, including 12-week plans and family meal plans.
- NSW Health’s Get Healthy in Pregnancy program has loads of great advice and information to help you eat healthy and remain active during pregnancy. Click on the image below to take you through to its web page.
- Our Patch to Plate recipe book boasts a collection of tasty and healthy recipes from primary schools on the Central Coast, curated by our Central Coast School Garden Interest Group.
- If you’re staying inside, the good news is you won’t be short of the only drink you need to keep you and your children hydrated and healthy – water. Our Thirsty? Choose Water! research program is all about promoting the benefits of making water your drink of choice. Click on the image below to find out more and follow Thirsty on Instagram.
Older People
There are a number of tailored resources for older people that can help them stay active, healthy, connected and safe at home.
Active and Healthy
- NSW Government has produced factsheets to support seniors in staying healthy and staying connected at home that include some handy and practical tips.
- Over 70? Do the 7! Click the thumbnail below to download and print a poster with advice on how to stay COVID safe.
- Our nutrition booklet for older people and their carers, Eating Well, includes heaps of advice from nutritionists to help you eat the foods you need to maintain weight, muscle strength, bone strength and independence.
- NSW Health’s Active and Healthy at Home booklet includes practical tips and information for older adults to stay active, healthy, and connected at home, and includes available services for the elderly. You may also wish to download and print this Active and Healthy at Home flyer, which has some handy tips you can keep close by.
- Developed by physiotherapists across Australia, Safe Exercise at Home is a simple-to-navigate website with helpful information and exercises.
- The Exercise at Home section on NSW Health’s Active and Healthy website has heaps of simple exercises to improve balance and strength, along with images and videos to demonstrate.
Falls Prevention
While we spend much more time at home than usual, home safety awareness, such as avoiding fall risks and hazards, becomes even more important.
The following resources contain advice and information on how you can stay safe in the home, along with some fun games too.
- Download our Falls prevention checklist to help reduce your risk of falling.
- Download our Home safety checklist which includes suggestions on how to make your home environment safer.
- Play our Falls are preventable wordsearch. Can you find all the words?
- Play Spot the Falls Risk. Can you spot all 21 hazards?
- Take a look at out our informative poster on What to do if you fall at home. Feel free to print and keep around the house as a reference.
- The Clinical Excellence Commission has a number of helpful fact sheets, available in different languages, as part of the NSW Falls Prevention Program, such as:
- Foot care and foot wear to ensure you’re more steady on your feet. This is also available in Italian, Greek, Arabic and other languages.
- Medications advice. This is also available in Italian, Greek, Arabic and other languages.
- Home exercises to improve balance and strength. This is also available in Italian, Tagalog, Greek, Korean, Arabic and other languages.
Alcohol Reduction
As we all come to terms with the challenges presented by COVID–19, it’s important we avoid potentially harmful coping strategies such as excess alcohol consumption.
There are a number of health impacts caused by drinking too much alcohol, which you can read more about in the Alcohol section of this website.
There are some helpful resources out there to support you if you’re struggling during the COVID–19 situation.
- NSW Health has produced a handy document with tips to reduce your alcohol consumption while working from home. There’s also a version for employers too.
- Check out this page on Your Room – a joint initiative by NSW Health and St Vincent’s Alcohol and Drug Information Service – which has information, advice, a risk assessment tool and helplines to support you.
- The Alcohol and Drug Foundation has a Coping with Coronavirus page that contains a range of helpful links with advice on a number of topics, from relapse and withdrawal, to resources and support services.
- The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) has created an online resource with tips, strategies and information on how to limit alcohol use, and groups you can turn to if you need support.
