Parents' booklet
1
Change4Life has teamed up with the children’s TV show, LazyTown,
which, just like Change4Life, was created to encourage children and
families to adopt healthier lifestyle changes.
Together, we’re challenging your kids to eat healthier and get up and
about to reach their 180 active minutes a day through various activities
in this booklet.
Are you up for a challenge?
The wall chart enclosed contains fun challenges that are perfect for
young children. All of them are designed to get kids eating healthier and
up and about. It also features Sportacus and Stephanie to motivate them
to do as many activities as possible.
Win a break at Butlins and
see Sportacus and Stephanie.
See page 14 for details!
Sportacus says:
“Hi! I’m really excited to team
up with Change4Life and get
as many children as possible
making healthier choices, such
as regular meals, choosing
healthier snacks and being
more active. I can’t wait to
get started!”
2
How to use the wall chart
The LazyTown challenge has been designed to be flexible. The important
thing is that children and families get involved to eat more healthily
and become more physically active. You could do more than one activity
every day or you could spread the activities over two weeks, doing one
of them each day.
Choose any of the
fun activities for
your children to do.
When an activity is
completed by your children,
place a special LazyTown
sticker in the space.
Don’t forget to enter
the prize draw.
3
A great way to work towards 5 A DAY
Challenge 1—Super smoothie
Smoothies are one of the quickest, easiest and most fun ways to help your
children work towards eating up to two of their five portions of fruit and veg
a day. Our smoothie can be made with lots of different fresh or frozen fruits.
But the best bit is, you can let the children experiment with the fruit and help
choose, peel and chop.
What you’ll need:
A blender
100ml of ice-cold semi-skimmed milk per
child (use whole milk if they’re under
2 years old)
1 heaped tablespoon of plain yoghurt
per child
A generous handful of your chosen fruit
per child
6 steps to the perfect smoothie
1. Check none of your children has allergies
to the fruit or milk
2. Make sure all fruit is cleaned, peeled and
chopped
3. Put the fruit into a blender or bowl
4. Add the milk and yoghurt
5. Put the lid on the blender and blend
for 10—15 seconds, until the mixture
is smooth but not too runny. Or use a
hand blender and carefully blend the
ingredients in a bowl
6. Pour into glasses and serve!
Complete this challenge
and reward everyone
with a LazyTown sticker!
Sportacus’s Super Tip
“A fruit smoothie is a great way
to get towards my 5 A DAY!
Try it…it’s delicious!”
4
Help Sportacus or Stephanie
make a healthy smoothie
Add a little colour to mealtimes
Challenge 2—Rainbow couscous
Preparing meals with your children is important for educating them about
eating healthier foods, and it’s just as much fun as eating it. So this little
challenge means your kids are going to get stuck in by preparing, peeling and
chopping all the ingredients for this tasty and colourful dish.
What you’ll need:
200g couscous
450ml (3/4 pint) reduced salt,
hot chicken or vegetable stock, or water
100g sweetcorn, thawed if frozen
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cucumber, chopped
Squeeze of lemon juice
Ground black pepper
Don’t forget to put a
LazyTown sticker on the
chart when this challenge
is complete!
Ready, steady, cook!
Step 1.
Put the couscous into a large mixing bowl and cover
with the hot stock or water. Leave for 5—10 minutes
to swell, then stir with a fork to fluff up the grains.
Step 2.
Add the sweetcorn, tomatoes and cucumber. Season
with a squeeze of lemon juice and some ground
black pepper. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
Stephanie says:
“I love cooking. The best bit
is, you get to learn about
all the different types of
foods and flavours. The
more involved children
get with cooking, the
more adventurous they’ll
become and the more
they’ll enjoy the food.”
5
Marvellous for mealtimes
Challenge 3—Vegetable faces
Mealtimes are a really important part of a healthy diet, and having three
balanced healthy meals a day, plus a healthier snack mid-morning and midafternoon will keep your kids going all day. But meals don’t have to be boring,
so why not make it more fun? Turn a normal plate of healthy food into a funny
face and make mealtimes at the table more enjoyable.
Use vegetables and your imagination
You can use any fruit or vegetables for this fun challenge; it’s how you use them that
makes the difference. Here’s some inspiration:
Carrots – Grated carrot is perfect to use as vegetable hair.
Cucumbers – Sliced into rounds, they make perfect eyes.
Apple – Core and chop the apple into slices and use them for ears.
Celery – A long slice of celery could make a great nose.
Banana – The perfect fruit to make a big smile.
Melon – Use thin strips to make a moustache.
Cabbage – Use whole leaves to make floppy hair.
Grapes – Chopped in half they could make googly eyeballs.
Oranges – Peel and use the segments for eyebrows.
Complete this challenge
and reward your children
with a LazyTown sticker!
Sportacus says:
“I eat lots of fruit and vegetables.
They’re healthy and taste great.
I always aim to eat at least five
portions of a variety of fruit
and veg every day, whether
they’re fresh, frozen, tinned,
dried or juiced.”
6
Up...up...and about!
Challen
eng
ge 4—Sup
erHer
ero
o Mo
Chall
4—SuperH
Move:
Running
g on
Runnin
on the
the spo
spot
Getting your kids up and about is essential if they are to develop healthy strong
bodies. Finding fun ways to get their hearts beating will help them burn off all
that energy.
And who better to motivate your children than a real SuperHero, Sportacus,
with his special SuperHero moves designed to get kids joining in and having fun!
Running on the spot
Right, let’s get moving and see who can keep up my SuperHero speed.
Are you ready to run on the spot? Let’s start slowly and build up speed.
Ready? 3...2...1...start walking on the spot.
Swing those arms and bring your knees up high like you’re marching. That’s great!
Ready to go faster? Here we go! Start jogging on the spot...a little faster! That’s fantastic!
Can you feel your heart beating faster?
Now we’re going to start running. Are you ready to go as fast as you can on the spot?
When I say “go“ run on the spot as fast as you can, for as long as you can!
Ready, get set....go!
Wow! You all have SuperHero speed. Now catch your breath and relax!
Remember to give your SuperHeroes a reward
sticker for completing this challenge!
Sportacus says:
“Now your children are
warmed up and their hearts
are beating, they could play
a little game of tag? Give
it a go!”
7
Super for snack swaps
Challen
eng
ge 5—Draw a healthi
er
Chall
healthier
breakfast meal
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so it’s important to give your
children a healthier alternative to sugary cereals, such as fruit, eggs and mushrooms
on toast, porridge with dried fruit or toast with low fat spread. This activity
challenges your children to draw a healthier breakfast that they’d like to eat.
What you’ll need:
Paper
3 different-sized plates to draw around
Crayons or coloured pens
Have you worked up an
appetite for another
LazyTown sticker? Complete
the challenge and put
another one on the chart!
Draw your dish
Give paper to your children and then
depending on their age, draw around
the relevant sized plate – small for young
children, medium for slightly older kids and
the biggest plate is for adults.
Using the coloured crayons or pens, ask them
to draw a healthier breakfast dish they would
like to eat.
When they’re done, ask the children to
explain what they’ve drawn and why it’s their
favourite healthy dish.
Stephanie’s Super Tip
“Breakfast isn’t the only meal
where you can swap sugary
foods for healthier ones. You
can do it for every meal or
snack. So rather than giving
them biscuits, try a banana,
breadsticks or rice cakes
with cheese.”
8
Fitness can be fun!
Challen
eng
ge 6—Sup
erHer
ero
o Mo
Chall
6—SuperH
Move:
Jumpin
ing
g jack
Jump
jackss
This challenge is great fun and it will get your kids bouncing around with
a big smile on their faces. The idea behind this activity is endurance, and
Sportacus will motivate the kids to see how much energy they can burn by
doing jumping jacks!
What you’ll need:
Music to jump around to
Lots of space
A stopwatch/clock
The jumping jack challenge
Is everyone on their feet ready to take part in my
challenge? Great. Here we go.
If your kids still have the
energy, get them to put
the LazyTown sticker on
the chart, and remember,
they get one for taking
part too!
Let’s start by doing one jumping jack.
Stand with your feet together and your hands by
your side.
Now, jump up and land with your legs apart, and raise
your arms at the same time. You should look like a star.
Now jump up and bring your arms and legs back
together again. You just did a jumping jack! Well done!
Now, my challenge is to see who can keep doing
jumping jacks for the longest time.
Everyone ready? Get jumping!
Sportacus’s Super Tip
“Jumping jacks are one of my
favourite SuperHero moves!
These are really good fun, but
your kids could also practice
balance by having a ‘balance
on one leg contest’ or a ‘high
jump contest’ to see who has
a real spring in their step.”
9
Check out healthier snacks
Challen
Chall
eng
ge 7—B
7—Bush
ushtu
tuck
cker
er trial
Children can be very fussy when it comes to trying something new. So, we’ve
devised a little challenge to show children that they’ve nothing to fear from
healthier foods and to prove they’re really tasty!
Let the trial begin
The bushtucker trial is simple to set up. All you need to do is to wash, prepare and lay
some fruit and vegetables in bite-sized pieces on a clean tray and then challenge your
children to try each of them. For every piece of fruit or veg they try, they’ll earn a
sticker. The more adventurous they are, the more stickers they’ll get!
Remember when your children
try something new they deserve
to be rewarded with a sticker
Sportacus says:
“Young children need healthier
snacks between meals to keep
them going through the day.
Choose healthier snacks such
as breadsticks and fruit,
instead of sugary sweets,
cakes and crisps.”
10
Physical fun
Chall
Challen
engge 8—
8—Wi
Wigggly W
Woorms
Making sure even the very youngest children are getting their 180 active
minutes of physical exercise is very important for their future development. It
helps them burn off energy, use their imaginations and get their bodies moving.
And the best bit of this particular challenge is you don’t need any equipment
and it can be done inside when the weather isn’t very good.
How to be a wiggly worm:
Nothing could be simpler. All you have to
do is ask the kids to lie on the floor on their
tummies with their hands by their sides, and
see how far they can wiggle.
Remember to wiggle over to
the chart and put a sticker
on it when you’ve done this
challenge!
If you really want to lead by example, why
don’t you get down on the floor too and show
them how it’s done?
Create wiggly contests!
If your children have friends over, why not see
who can wiggle the furthest, or the fastest, or
for longest?
Or get the little wigglers to transform into
butterflies. It’s a fun way to get them up and
about and flutter around the house or garden.
Sportacus says:
“Kids get their energy from the
food they eat, so to get the
little wigglers wiggling for
longer, give them healthier
foods that release energy
gradually, such as porridge,
eggs, wholegrain toast or
fruit bread.”
11
A sweet way to teach sugar swap
Challenge 9—Pineapple fun
Eating healthy food should be fun for young children. So, for this challenge
we’re asking the children to create a hedgehog from lots of different fruits. Not
only is this a creative challenge, it will also get them to touch and try new fruit!
What you’ll need:
1 tin of pineapple chunks
Cocktail sticks
A grapefruit
Grapes or any other fruit
A bowl
How to make your hedgehog
Open the tin of pineapple chunks and drain
off the liquid. Empty the chunks into a bowl.
A fresh pineapple can also be used. Cut the
grapefruit in half and lay it cut side down
on a plate. Wash the grapes. Then help the
children to use the cocktail sticks and put
pineapple chunks on the end. Show them
how to carefully stick the other end into the
grapefruit. Keep going until the grapefruit
looks like a hedgehog. Use the grapes for eyes.
Complete this challenge and reward
everyone with a LazyTown sticker!
12
Stephanie’s Super Tip
“There are plenty of alternatives to
sugary sweets, foods and drinks.
The secret is to know what to
swap. Look for sugar-free options
on packaging. The best things
to drink are water, milk or
diluted pure fruit juice. And
for pudding, fresh, canned or
frozen fruit or yoghurt is
a healthier alternative to
chocolates or cakes.”
Blooming good idea
Challen
Chall
eng
ge 10—
10—VVeg
egeetab
tablle flo
flowers
It’s not only TV chefs that can be creative with food. Children have lots of
imagination and this challenge gives them the chance to get creative and make
these beautiful vegetable flowers and teaches them how to prepare food too.
What you’ll need:
Cut up assorted vegetables
Radish slices
Fresh spinach leaves
Cucumber rounds
Cherry tomatoes
Celery sticks
Cress
Houmous
How to make
Set out vegetables and let your kids design
their own flowers (there is no right or wrong
way of doing this). We used radish slices and
cucumber rounds for petals, cherry tomatoes
for flower centres, celery sticks for stems,
spinach for leaves, and cress for grass.
The houmous is a great dip for your vegetable
flowers.
Don’t forget to reward your children
for their vegetable flowers by giving
them all a sticker!
13
Stephanie’s Super Tip
“Playing with food can sometimes
be a good thing. This challenge
allows your kids to explore
their creative sides as well
as teaching them about
healthier foods.”
Simply send your details to lazytownparents@dh.gsi.gov.uk
Imagine how happy your kids will be if you tell them you’ve won a fabulous
family break at Butlins. Then imagine how ecstatic they would be if you told
them they are also going to see their heroes from LazyTown, Sportacus and
Stephanie!
How to enter
For the chance to win this unbelievable prize, all you have to do is send your full name,
postcode and telephone number to lazytownparents@dh.gsi.gov.uk
14
Rewards for the runners—up!
If you don’t win the holiday and the chance to see Sportacus and Stephanie,
don’t worry, there are lots of fantastic runner-up prizes for you and your kids
to enjoy.
Powerleague’s fantastic children’s Football Party with an
Exclusive Tour of Wembley Stadium!
Powerleague’s fantastic children’s football party offers an
unforgettable experience for any football mad youngster! We
take care of everything on the day and after the party we’ll
head over to Wembley Stadium for an exclusive look behind
the scenes and the chance for the children to put themselves in
the shoes of their football heroes.
Play equipment from Youth Sport Direct‘s ‘Start to play at
home’ pack. Worth £25!
Playing is one of the best ways for children to learn, so ‘Start
to play at home’ has been developed to make learning fun,
active and enjoyable. These packs contain lots of bright fun
play equipment and a set of easy-to-use activity cards.
LazyTown costumes by Smiffy’s worth £23!
With the amazing effort your kids have made completing all
the Change4Life and LazyTown challenges, the chance to dress
up as either Sportacus or Stephanie is a fitting prize.
Rugbytots
Getting the kids up and about is what Rugbytots is all about.
These runner-up prizes of free rugby balls will help your kids
get active and learn valuable physical and coordination skills.
And don’t worry if they get thirsty with all the activity, you’ll
also win Rugbytots water bottles too!
This programme has been developed in partnership with
15
15
© Crown copyright 2011
407467 1p 180k Sept 11 (HOW)
Printed by COI for the Department of Health
C4L229 - LazyTown - parent pack
Terms & Conditions:
Information on how to enter, how to claim and details of prizes form part of these Terms and Conditions. Your participation in this promotion constitutes acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.
The Promoter Change4Life is administered by Department of Health, Richmond House, 79 Whitehall, London SW1A 2NS. No purchase or transaction is necessary for entry into the prize draw. This prize draw is
open to parents and families in England only and excludes employees and their families of The Department of Health, its agents or anyone professionally connected with this promotion. To enter, send an email
to lazytownparents@dh.gsi.gov.uk with your name, postcode and telephone number. Only one entry per family is accepted. The closing date for entry is 29.10.2011. Butlins prize is for one family of four, sharing
a Silver self-catering apartment. Must be taken by 31 December 2012 (excluding bank holidays, Christmas and New Year), and is subject to availability. Prize does not include travel, meals, beverages or spending
money. Winner can choose a three-night weekend or four-night midweek break at Butlins Bognor Regis, Minehead or Skegness. Winner must be present on booking, and lead guest must be 25 years or over. See
butlins.com/terms for full terms and conditions. The runners up prizes are 1 football party and tour of Wembley, 6 Youth Sports Trust ‘Start to play at home’ packs, 144 Sportacus and 144 Stephanie costumes,
10 Rugbytots rugby balls, 50 Rugbytots water bottles. Prizes will be awarded in strict order of win. The judges are appointed by the Promoter, including one independent judge, and the judges’ decision is final.
No correspondence will be entered into regarding the award. There are no cash or other prize alternatives available in whole or in part except in the event of circumstances outside the Promoter’s control; the
Promoter reserves the right to substitute similar alternatives of equal or greater value. Unless otherwise agreed in writing by the Promoter the prizes will only be awarded directly to the winners. Winners will
be selected in a random draw from all valid entries received within 10 days of the closing date. The winners will be notified via email within 30 days of the closing date. In the event the claim for a prize is not
received by the Promoter within 28 days of such notification, the Promoter reserves the right to withdraw prize entitlement and award the prize to a reserve selected at the same time as the original. By entering
winners agree that if they win they will participate in any reasonable publicity arranged by The Promoter or its agencies. No responsibility can be taken for claims regarding entries which are lost, delayed,
corrupted, damaged, misdirected or incomplete or cannot be delivered for any technical, delivery or other reason. The Promoter does not guarantee the date of delivery of the prize, however this will be within
6 weeks of the closing date by recorded delivery or otherwise stated in the prize description. The names of the winners will be available on http://www.nhs.uk/change4life/Pages/change-for-life.aspx from
29.11.11 for a period of 3 months. In accordance with the Data Protection Act, we have a legal duty to protect any information we collect from you. Personal information gathered during the promotion will be
used for the purpose of administering the promotion only, and will not be retained by the Department of Health following the campaign. The Department of Health will not share these details with any other third
party. We will process any personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy available at www.nhs.uk/change4life. The Promoter does not guarantee continuous uninterrupted or secure access to the Website.
Numerous factors outside the control of the Promoter may interfere with the operation of the Website. No responsibility will be accepted for any difficulties in entering or any entries delayed or corrupted. To
the maximum extent permitted by law, the Promoter excludes all liability arising out of or in connection with the prize draw. These Terms & Conditions will be subject to the Laws of England and the Courts of
England and Wales will have exclusive jurisdiction.
16
LazyTown © & TM 2011 LazyTown Entertainment. © 2011 LazyTown Entertainment. All rights reserved.