It is well known that the first 6 years of a persons life are the most important, in terms of their physical, mental and emotional development. Parents who give their children a healthy lifestyle to facilitate this will ensure that their children come closer to maximising their potential. This does not mean that any enjoyment has to be taken out of a child’s life, however, for a healthy lifestyle is one that a child will enjoy. In this context, here is a general breakdown of the core components involved.

Diet

A healthy diet is vital for children of a young age because of the importance of maximising the potential of physical development during their early years. This is understood enough to not necessitate going through the details here. Introducing children to as many foods as possible is also important for developing their enjoyment of different tastes from an early age and this also means they are more likely to follow a healthy diet in later life. This will have the extra benefit of making mealtimes later in life much more agreeable for everyone around the table.

Exercise

This may seem like a strange point considering that it is difficult to sometimes stop them running around and, really, kids can remain overactive from the moment they open their eyes to when they collapse exhausted for their naps. However, there are certain forms of exercise that are advisable, particularly playgrounds that, beyond offering a social space, are equipped with a wide range of equipment known to develop the strength, balance and coordination of children who are only there to have fun.

Education

It is never too young to start education. Children’s minds are like sponges and while some parents decide to dedicate considerable time to key cards and the like, this is not essential. Introducing them to as many languages as possible will make their linguistic abilities better in later life, while reading to them before bed is another simple way to increase their vocabularies and so forth. They will also be watching and learning from the behaviour and conversations of parents all the time and this needs be considered at all times. Churches and nurseries are great places to leave young children during the day, since there will be activities there built around educational elements.

Social Life

Giving children as much access as possible to environments in which they will be in contact with other children is important for their development from a very young age. It will not take much persuasion to get children to involve themselves at nurseries. Also when they have friends around, having all your favourite games outside in the sun will be sure to get them being active. One issue that we have in British culture is the way the social lives of people are limited to their own age groups and one way to mitigate this is to get children comfortable with socialising with others of all ages. A garden party can be perfect for this, and you too will be able to kick back with a nice glass of wine.