AMITY HEALTH CforC NEWSLETTER 2017 | 12 1

NEWSLETTER INDEX

Dadvice 2

The Joys of Christmas 3

REST and Move 4

Water Safety for Children 5

Kids Recipe of the Month 6

What’s Happening in the GS 7

Kids Craft Corner 8

What's On in your Area 9+

Subscribe to the latest Communities for Children newsletter at

cforc@amityhealth.com.au or phone

Amity Health on 9842 2797

Welcome to the December/January edition of the Communities for

Children Newsletter The festive season and school holidays are a great

way for families to celebrate by spending time together.

The stories that are told at Christmas are universal.

Every culture has stories that they tell to celebrate

themes such as Hope, New Beginnings, Motherhood,

Birth, Giving and Sharing and Thankfulness.

What are the stories that your

community shares about these things?

You can make your Christmas

programme relevant to the children

by finding out some of these stories

and sharing them with the children.

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Embrace Boredom! Yup, you read that.

Given the chance to be bored gives

children an opportunity to invent games

and use their imagination and problem

solving skills.

Think FREE! Make good use of those free outdoor spaces, CRCs and local

museums. Spotting animals in the clouds, collecting different shaped

leaves for collages, mini bug hunts are all good fun and FREE.

One thing! Try to schedule in one thing you

all do together every day. It could be reading

a book, bike ride or a trip to the park but

spending time with your kids really is the best

thing you can do.

DADVICE

YOU GOT THIS

Whether you’re a stay at home dad or tag

teaming with your partner, the summer school

holidays can be a daunting prospect. Have no

fear, there are a few fail safe tips to enjoy the

time with the kids and retain an element of

sanity at the end of it! Focusing on a few

positives is always a good start, so a little

mental note that you have no lunches to pack

and no school runs to do!

"Why do chicken coops only have two doors? Because if they had

four, they would be chicken sedans!"

"I used to have a job at a calendar factory but I got the sack

because I took a couple of days off."

"Two guys walk into a bar, the third one ducks."

"I had a dream that I was a muffler last night. I woke up

exhausted!"

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The joys of Christmas …..

It's a time of celebration, but spending

the festive period with the family can

be nerve-wracking and depressing.

The ABC Health & Wellbeing website

offers some tips on how to cope.

Christmas is the one day of the year

when Australian families – split,

scattered, blended and extended – are

forced together, as though by Roman decree, into suburban backyards in the

fly-blown December heat. The results are like pouring kero on a barbie. Buried

and repressed conflicts can erupt, and turn into slanging matches. Grievances,

nurtured through the year, are given full rein; threats are issued, matched in

volume and gesture, crescending until the principals are forcibly separated –

for another year.

To help, here’s some pointers on how to survive Christmas day;

Expect some conflict. It's normal, every family has it, and in most cases, it

will blow over. Laugh, walk away, chat to a child for a while before it susses

out you're weird and runs away.

Don't buy into trouble. Avoid known triggers – like conversional topics

known to divide and antagonise – religion, politics, sporting teams.

Create diversions – get people doing things. If they're busy doing some

physical activity, people are much less likely to get into arguments.

Go easy on the alcohol. Don't fall into the trap of 'the only way I can handle

this lot is to get drunk'.

Decide in advance what your survival strategy will be.

Perhaps it's to be pleasant, get on with others, not to get

irritated or bored or an opportunity to smooth over past

differences. (http://www.abc.net.au/health/thepulse/stories/2006/12/13/1810905.htm)

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This Christmas with our 5 top tips (R.E.S.T & Move), keeping your kids healthy during the festive season has never been easier!

1. Routine. Keep to your child’s routine. This may be difficult during the festive season as there are lots of things to do but it is important to stick to their eating routine as much as possible. Stick to 3 main meals and 2 snacks per day and remember to give their tummies a break! If they want that gingerbread man, let them have it keeping in mind that it is not right before dinner otherwise they might not want their veggies.

2. Eat your veggies. You may not be able to have full control of what your children eats when they are at a party or friends house. What you can do is decide on what foods you give at home. Try and include a variety of healthy meals with lots of veggies. AND remember what you don’t buy, you don’t eat so keep those biscuits at the supermarket!

3. Set limits. It is Christmas after all and there is always going to be more treats available. Setting a limit with your child on how many and how much they can have per day is a good idea to avoid overindulging.

4. Take homemade treats. Not all treats need to be unhealthy. If your kids are complaining they are bored, use this opportunity to get them into the kitchen and make some healthy treats. (Recipes ideas on the page 6!)

5. Move and stay active. Remember to include physical activity during the festive season. Outdoor activities such as going to the local park, bike riding or hiking are great ways to be more active. It will be hot, so make sure you drink plenty of water. Written by: Amy Guglielmana & Deborah Foong Curtin University—Student Dietitians

R.E.S.T & Move this Christmas

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Water Safety for Children Swimming or playing in water can be fun for everybody, as well as great exercise. But water safety for kids depends on you or another grown-up always watching your child when their in, on or around any water. Drowning can happen quickly and quietly.

What you need to know

Drowning is the number one cause of death for children under five.

Babies and toddlers are top-heavy, which makes them susceptible to drowning. If a baby falls into even shallow water, she can’t always lift herself out.

Drowning can occur quickly and quietly, without any warning noises.

In Australia, children under five drown in:

•swimming pools (14 children drowned in pools in 2014-15)

•baths (three children drowned in the bath in 2014-15)

•rivers, creeks and oceans (four children drowned in a river or the ocean in 2014-15)

•dams and lakes (five children drowned in dams in 2014-15).

• Children also drown in less obvious locations, like nappy buckets, water tanks, water features and fish ponds – even pets’ water bowls.

For every drowning, approximately three other children are hospitalized from non-fatal drowning incidents. Some of these result in severe brain damage.

Be sure you watch children at all times around the home and empty water out from containers as soon as your finished.

First aid is a valuable skill for the entire family to learn. Learning CPR and what to do in an emergency could save your child’s life.

For full article: http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/safe_fun_with_water.html/context/580

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Scrambled Bunnies

What you need:

4 eggs, lightly beaten

3 tbsp. full fat milk

4 rashers of shortcut bacon

Blueberries,/raspberries/natural yoghurt, to decorate

What you do:

Cook bacon until crispy. Remove to a plate lined with paper towel.

Beat eggs with milk and preheat frypan over low heat. Add the eggs and cook, stirring until the eggs are scrambled then divide among four bowls

Decorate the bowl of scrabbled eggs with the bacon for ears (slice the rash-ers in half first, as per picture), a raspberry for a nose and two blueberries on a blob of yoghurt for eyes.

Healthy Snack Ideas for Kids

Fruit Popsicles Oaty Bites

Ingredients (Serves 4):

3/4 Cup halved strawberries

1/2 Cup blueberries

1/2 Cup peeled and quartered oranges

2 Cup freshly squeezed orange juice

Equipment:

Popsicle Moulds and ice cream sticks

Instructions:

1. Arrange fruit in each popsicle mould

2. Pour juice into each mould until it just covers the fruit.

3. Insert ice cream sticks and freeze until solid

Ingredients (Makes 25):

1/2 Cup pitted dates

1/2 Cup dried apricots

1 Cup untoasted muesli

1/4 Cup desiccated coconut

2 Tablespoons water

Instructions:

1. Chop dates and dried apricots

2. Add chopped dried fruit and muesli to a bowel. Blend with a stick blender

3. Add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until mix becomes a dough-like con-sistency.

4. Roll teaspoon of mixture into balls

5. Roll bowels in a shallow bowel of coconut. Store in the fridge Sourced from www.healthhub.sg

Sourced from www.superherofoodshq.org.au

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Pingrup CRC Halloween Costume Party! On October 30

th, Pingrup welcomed ghouls, skeletons, superheros, fairies, and

all manner of things fantastical and spookifying from the earth’s very darkest

reaches… Nyabing & Lake Grace. Our peculiar guests were subjected to most

unfathomable machinations, deviously delivered by the Pingrup CRC. Pingrup’s

troupe of spook underwent mummy relays, bobbin’ apples, poppin’ pumpkins, eyeball pong, and

ghoulish musical statues.

At the culmination of our trials, the victorious were rewarded with fruity monsters and cupcake

spectres to devour! And lastly, in an effort to send our weary visitors back to the enchanted

caves, castles, and crypts from which they came, we read to them 3 spine-tingling tales, and

away they went! For further information on activities happening in the area please contact

Pingrup Community Resource Centre on 9820 1101

Mental Health MATTERS

Gnowangerup Yorgas Day

A pampering Yorgas (womens) day in Gnowangerup was held to introduce the Mental Health Portal Counsellor Jan and to discuss the needs of the Aboriginal women in the town.

The ladies enjoyed pampering and yarning with the Solaris Cancer Care team, Jan the counsellor, Aunty Carmen and Aunty Lola (Amity Outreach workers), Louise the dietician and Anita the ATSI Wellbeing and Resiliency coordinator. We all learnt we have hidden talents in making face masks, massaging feet and hands and applying nail polish.

We are looking forward to providing more support for the Gnowangerup Community.

Tambellup Kids Week

Relationships Australia invited Amity health to join them for a day in the park to celebrate Chil-dren's Week. Tambellup Primary school students came for the day, to enjoy many different activities including a bouncy castle, stress ball making and park play. Amity had lots of fun helping the kids make fruit kebabs.

We thank Relationships Australia for the opportunity to join in.

If you would like more information please call Anita Penny 0429441542.

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Kids Craft Corner Christmas is fast approaching and what better

way to get the kids involved than to go on a

gumnut hunt!

Gumnuts make fantastic decorations and bring a

little festive cheer to any table, kitchen bench or

veranda. Paint them red and tie with some green

ribbon to hang, make little elves to hide in the

tree, an easy wreath for the door, use up spare

wool to make a Santa or simply spray gold for a sparkling centre piece – one

thing for sure is that kids will love helping you!

Did You Know? A group of caterpillars

is called an army. How about designing an

adorable army of caterpillars, using

different colours and drawing techniques? Table centrepiece!

A great motor skill activity involving cutting, painting, drawing and manipulating those pipe cleaners. Why not read ’The Hungry Caterpillar’ too?

What you need:

Empty egg carton

Scissors, pipe cleaners

paint or markers

What you do:

• use scissors to help your child cut the egg carton in halve length wise.

• Turn the carton upside down and help your child poke two short pieces of pipe cleaner through one end to create anten-nae

• Using markers or paint add a face and decorate the caterpillars body.

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BREMER BAY

Community Resource Centre/Visitor Centre & Library – Activities for Children and Families at the CRC including a School Holiday Program See the CRC Facebook for updates Ph.9837 4171 www.bremerbaycrc.com.au

‘What’s On’ in the Great Southern for Summer

S U M M E R F U N What’s On for Children & Families

in the Great Southern Dec/Jan

Compiled in good faith, details subject to change.

ALBANY

Albany City Library

Activities for Children Contact the Library for the Summer School Holiday Program PH: 6820 3600 https://library.albany.wa.gov.au/

Albany Museum

School Holiday Program Discovery Centre open 10am – 4pm daily

Contact: 9841 4844

Dive into the stunning coral of the Great Barrier Reef and marvel at the myriad of shell life in the waters of the Pacific Ocean

Albany Leisure & Aquatic Centre (ALAC) Swim School - Offering a comprehensive learn-to-swim program for all ages and abilities. Contact Nola on 6820 3420

School Holiday Program ALAC

http://albanyleisurecentre.com.au/ PH: 6820 3400

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‘What’s On’ in the Great Southern for Summer DENMARK

Denmark Arts Markets - Saturday Dec 9th , January 6th & 20th 2018 Held in the beautiful setting of Berridge Park, on the banks of the Koorabup (Denmark River). Rain, hail or shine, open from 10am – 4pm.

Community Resource Centre - School Holiday Programs Contact for updates Ph. 9848 2842 www.denmarkcrc.com.au

GNOWANGERUP

Community Resource Centre CRC/ Library, School Holiday activities , See the CRC Facebook for updates Ph. 9827 1635

www.gnowangerup.crc.net.au

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KATANNING

KOJONUP

Kojonup Youth Centre Holiday Program

Please see Facebook site for further details

https://www.facebook.com/kojonupyouth/

‘What’s On’ in the Great Southern for Summer

JERRAMUNGUP

Community Resource Centre

(Closed from 23rd Dec – 15 January) Summer School Holiday Reading Program and a special activity day to decorate library bags Weekly Play Time – every Tuesday at 10am. School Holiday events -See the CRC Facebook for updates LEGO building and board games are always available PH: 98351630 www.jerramungupcrc.com.au

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‘What’s On’ in the Great Southern for Summer MT BARKER Community Resource Centre & Library Activities for Children. Contact the CRC for January Program PH: 9851 2674 mtbarkercrc.com/ ‘NEW LOOK’ SWIMMING POOL OPENING FOR THE NEW SEASON…open by early December

Contact Shire of Plantagenet Phone: 98921111

ONGERUP Community Resource Centre

Ongerup Youth Club’s Christmas Activity Calendar

Sat 9th December - 10am, Ongerup CRC

Christmas Cooking

Fruit Mince Pies ingredients are available FREE for all children.

Fri 15th December - 6pm, Ongerup Sporting Complex

Ongerup Christmas Tree

Don’t miss your opportunity to find out if Santa is bringing you a present!

Tues 19th December - 11am, Ongerup CRC

Christmas Movies

Weds 20th December - 11am, Ongerup CRC

Christmas Movies

Thurs 21st December - 10am, Ongerup CRC

Elves Workshop

The chance to make someone a gift for Christmas.

Fri 22nd December - 12pm, Ongerup CRC

Christmas Quiz

Test your general and Christmas knowledge in our fun Christmas quiz!

Sat 23rd December - 10am, Ongerup CRC

Christmas Crafts

Whether it’s a decoration or a present, join us for Christmas crafts!

Contact the CRC for updates Ph. 9828 2325 https://ongerupcrc.net.au/

PINGRUP & NYABING

Pingrup Community Resource Centre Activi-ties

Contact the CRC for updates PH: 9820 1101

http://www.pingrupcrc.com.au/

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‘What’s On’ in the Great Southern for Summer WALPOLE

Community Resource Centre & Library Activities for Children including a School Holiday Program Contact the CRC for updates PH: 9840 1395

http://walpoleonline.com/resource-centre/

WELLSTEAD

Community Resource Centre & Library Christmas craft, colouring in competition & letters to Santa, 18th- 22nd of December. Active school holiday activities with Caitlin at the Wellstead Hall, Mon 8th of Jan 2:30pm Hero themed Disco -Wed 24th Jan 4:30pm at the Wellstead Hall Contact the CRC for updates Ph: 9847 2078 http://www.wellstead.org.au/

Contact the CforC team at Amity Health to up-

date program contact details and information on

9842 2797 or by email as provided.

On behalf of the Communities for Children team at Amity Health…

Have a Happy and Safe Summer Holiday

TAMBELLUP

Community Resource Centre & Library Activities for Children and Families including a School Holiday Program Contact the CRC for updates Ph. 9825 1177 http://tambellupcrc.net.au/

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