Healthy Family Day celebrates the many ways Pittsburgh families build strong communities
The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh will dish up a healthy serving of fun this weekend.
All the components of good health will be covered in entertaining fashion during UPMC Health Plan’s annual Healthy Family Day, running from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 29. This year’s event will focus on community and heritage with activities taking place indoors and outdoors.
“When you think of health, you don’t think of the fun that can actually be involved,” says Julia McManus, promotional events and sponsorship fulfillment manager for the museum. “Every year we challenge ourselves to come up with something new. Families seem to really get a kick out of it.”
An active physical lifestyle is encouraged through the Family Dance Party. DJ Kelly Mom will spin song favorites that will keep kids grooving to the moving.
A pediatric team of health pros from UPMC will man the tips table. “They’re very helpful with any questions parents may have,” McManus says. “They also have some goodies they hand out to kids.”
Fine motor skills and brain power get a workout with special projects that center on family. Kids will explore portraiture in the Art Studio in a way that tells a story about the person. Mom might be portrayed as a super hero, for example, because she is one in real life. In the MAKESHOP, kids will participate in a mission called Making Tiny Pittsburgh, in which they learn about mapping and location. Kids will construct Pittsburgh buildings and landmarks out of recycled materials and place them on the map.
Developing empathy is another important part of a person’s state of well-being. To that end, families can make a pledge to help someone in their community at the Lemonade Stand, where they’ll receive a glass of lemonade as a reward.
There is also an opportunity to show gratitude to a neighbor, teacher or family member by hanging a note on the Thank You Tree.
Nutrition has its turn, too, with cooking demonstrations, which include making a healthy version of a Clark Bar. Other Pittsburgh heritage recipes to be prepared are pierogies and City Chicken. The “What’s for Dinner? Heritage Recipe Contest” gives families a chance to win a four-pack of admissions to the Children’s Museum on a later date. Recipes can be submitted through social media or in person.
The legacy of local cuisine is another way kids can see how we are bound together as a society.
“We wanted to promote the idea that strong communities make strong families,” McManus says. “So, it’s a kind of an endless circle where you put greatness out into the community, and you get to bring that back to your family.”
Admission is $14 for kids and seniors, $16 for adults, free for kids under 2 years. Admission is half-price for UPMC Health Plan members.
