Healthy Alternatives for Little Ones (HALO) is a holistic health and substance abuse prevention curriculum for children ages 3-6 in child care settings. HALO is designed to address risk and protective factors for substance abuse and other health behaviors by providing children with information on healthy choices. The program aims to help children understand the complexities of "health" and "healthy choices" by putting these abstract concepts into concrete terms they can understand. In HALO, health is defined as "growing bigger, stronger, and better able to think." The curriculum encourages healthy eating, exercise, and emotion recognition and educates children about the harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) on the body. HALO provides learning opportunities for children through teacher- led, developmentally appropriate, and fun hands-on activities that involve educational songs, videos, group activities, and books.

Questions? Contact Madeline at mandriulli@nj4sbergen.org