Kids learned about healthful living through a CREATION Life Kids event held Nov. 17, 2019, at Hood View Church in Boring, Ore. Eight principles of healthful living make up the acronym CREATION: choice, rest, environment, activity, trust in divine power, interpersonal relationships, outlook and nutrition.
“When I first heard about this event, I thought, ‘Wow, this is a no-brainer! A perfect opportunity to provide health education for kids in a family-friendly environment that will be fun,” says Chantelle Simmons, Hood View's CREATION Life Kids director.
Parent JoAnna Boruck was also enthusiastic: “It was a totally kid-centered day of fun and laughter and learning about health.”
The program was born in Florida as part AdventHealth’s commitment to help kids choose to live healthy lives. When the families arrived at the Hood View Adventist School gymnasium they were registered and sent off in small groups to circle through eight active learning centers.
Each of the learning centers was staffed by trained volunteers who led the 50 kids and their families through a couple interactive games related to their area of health. My favorite was where we learned how to plant the cactus,” says Hannah, one of the participants. “But I liked the one where I learned about stretching and jumping too.”
Jamba Juice gave out cards for free smoothies, physical therapist Mark Christensen gave free physical therapy evaluations, and doctors John Gobble and John Griffin answered questions about health.
“One of the goals of this event was to get families connected to resources that would help them thrive — cooking classes, parenting seminar, nutrition counseling, etc.," says Simmons. "Now we have a database of families who have expressed interest in wanting to learn more about health, including their surveys letting us know more specifically what they are interested in learning.”
“This is the first of many CREATION Life Kids events that will be happening around Oregon,” says Shirley Allen, Oregon Conference children’s ministry director. “Everyone, including the 35 volunteers, had a good time and went home with prizes, cookbooks and new knowledge about the best way to live.”
Simmons is already looking forward to the next one. “It’s an easy and fun event, and it’ll be fun to do it again, even better," she says.
