Southwestern Public Health (SWPH) is your partner in giving children a healthy start to kindergarten (Commencer la maternelle en santé). Follow our checkpoints for pre-kindergarten health:
- Arriving safely - booster seats
- Staying healthy - handwashing
- Immunization reporting
- Healthy eating - packing school lunches
- Active living
- Balancing busy lives
- Dental screening (On hold due to COVID-19)
- Vision screening (On hold due to COVID-19)
Arriving safely – booster seats
By law, children must use a car seat until they are 18 kilograms (40 lbs). Once they outgrow the car seat, they must move to a booster seat. You should use a booster seat if your child:
- Is under the age of eight and
- Weighs less than 80 lbs and
- Is less than 145 cm tall (4 feet 9 inches)
Learn more about car seat safety and the four stages of car seats on our Child Safety page.
Staying healthy – handwashing
Reduce the risk of catching and spreading infections! Encourage your child to wash their hands:
- After using the washroom
- Before eating
- Anytime they look dirty
- After touching animals
- After sneezing and coughing
Also remind your child to not share objects such as water bottles. Learn more about preventing infection.
Immunization reporting
Immunization and vaccines protect children from serious and life-threatening illnesses that are easily spread through schools. Children need proof of immunization or a legal immunization exemption to attend school in Ontario. Learn more on our Immunization Records and Reporting and Immunization in Schools pages.
COVID-19 Vaccine
Please visit our COVID-19 Vaccine page for more information on COVID-19 youth vaccinations.
Healthy eating – packing school lunches
A healthy school lunch gives children the energy and nutrition they need to learn and play. Keep these tips when planning lunches:
- Involve your kids by letting them make choices and packing things into reusable containers
- Plan lunches with a variety of vegetables, fruits, protein foods (like hummus, eggs, milk, yogurt, fish or chicken) and whole grains (like whole grain cereals, crackers, breads or wraps)
- Make water your child’s go-to drink and provide a reusable water bottle
- Use containers that your child can easily open
- Check in about the amounts you are sending and adjust as needed
- Make your own healthy lunch kit with a reusable multi-compartment container with bite-sized cheese cubes, left over chicken chunks, whole grain cereal, veggie sticks or fruit slices
- Make veggies more appealing by offering hummus or other dips with cut up raw veggies
- Remember to clean the inside of the lunch bag each day.
Learn more about packing lunches for school.
Active living
Children learn better when they spend time running, jumping, wheeling and playing outdoors every day. It also helps them to sleep and feel better. Plan activities that cause them to breathe harder and feel warm such as bike riding, running, skipping, climbing on playground equipment, dancing or throwing and kicking a ball. All these activities help your child learn movement skills that they need to be active, also called physical literacy.
Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines
The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Children and Youth give recommendations on the right amount of physical activity, sleep, sitting and screen time for a balanced day and good health. Learn more on our Physical Activity Guidelines page.
How much sleep is enough?
- Toddlers (1 to 2 years) 11 to 14 hours
- Preschoolers (3 to 5 years) 10 to 13 hours
- School aged children (6-12 years) 9 to 12 hours
Recreational screen time recommendations
- Ages 2-4 1-hour daily maximum (less is better)
- Ages 5-17 2-hour daily maximum (less is better)
Balancing busy lives
Families are busy fitting work, school, family time, household tasks, and outside commitments into each day. It can feel like a lot to manage. On top of that, many families find that screen time is getting in the way of physical activity, sleep and family connection. Here are some ideas to help you keep the balance:
- Have a predictable family screen schedule and post it on your fridge
- Create a screen free morning and bedtime routine for your child
- Model healthy screen time by limiting your own screen time when your kids are around
- Schedule a regular family game night
- Plan to eat family meals together whenever possible
- Develop a regular bedtime routine that includes relaxing activities such as reading, listening to calm music or laying in bed talking quietly
- Tuck children into bed each night to give them a feeling of security
Dental screening
When tooth decay is not treated it can affect your child’s learning and speech. It can also affect how your child’s adult teeth grow. If you have a concern about your child’s teeth, please call us and book an appointment for a free dental screening. Learn more about what we offer on our Dental Clinics and Children and Youth 0-17 pages.
Limited services offered at this time due to COVID-19. Please call Southwestern Public Health to book a dental clinic appointment:
St. Thomas Site
Phone: 519-631-9900 ext. 1275
Woodstock Site
Phone: 519-421-9901 ext. 3436
Dental screening at school
Limited services offered at this time due to COVID-19.
With your permission, we provide children in JK, SK and grade 2 with free dental screening at school. Learn more about oral health in schools.
Vision screening
On hold due to COVID-19
Take advantage of a free eye examination to rule out vision concerns for your child. Eye problems can go unnoticed because kids often don’t know they are not seeing correctly, so they don’t complain to parents about their eyesight. Eye examinations are covered once a year by provincial health insurance for people under 20. SWPH provides school-based vision screening for students in SK.
Find an Optometrist
Contact the Ontario Association of Optometrists to arrange an OHIP-covered eye exam in your area:
- 1-800-540-3837
- www.findaneyedoctor.ca