road safety aurora childcare centre york region

Road Safety For Kids

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Posted on: Thursday 26 May 2016

Teach your child to be a safe pedestrian.

It’s never too early to teach your child to be street smart. All it takes is a little time—time to prepare, plan and teach your child how to be safe on the road.

Make learning fun for young children
Practice makes perfect. For young children, learning should be fun and interactive. Here are some ideas to help your child develop safe habits:

  • Map it out. Plan your child’s walking route, review street names and landmarks while walking together.
    Quiz your child on traffic signs whenever using marked crosswalks, crossing lights and intersections.
    Create a game to encourage your child to follow your footsteps.
    Set a good example

Get back to the basics with these simple safety tips.

  • Look left-right-left and shoulder check before crossing.
  • Make eye contact with drivers and keep looking for approaching vehicles while crossing.
    Listen.
  • Remove your headphones so you can hear approaching traffic that may be hard to see.
  • Be seen.
  • Wear reflective materials or bright clothes and use lights after dark.
  • Walk on the inside edge of the sidewalk away from the road. If there’s no sidewalk – walk facing oncoming traffic, so you can see approaching vehicles.
  • Never jaywalk.

Be a good role model for your child when you’re driving in school and playground areas.

Watch your speed. A 30km/h speed limit is in effect in school zones from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. when school’s in session and in playground areas from dusk until dark, unless otherwise posted.
Be patient. Drop off your child close to the sidewalk. Don’t let them dash from the middle of the road.
Know the law. Always yield to pedestrians and stop for school buses when their lights are flashing.

source: http://www.icbc.com/road-safety/teaching/Pages/road-safety-for-your-kids.aspx

blue jays aurora childcare centre york region

Okay Blue Jays!

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Off to Jays Game…hope we win!

sun safety aurora childcare centre york region

Sun Safety For Kids

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We all need some sun exposure — it’s the top source of vitamin D, which helps our bodies absorb calcium for stronger, healthier bones.

But it doesn’t take much time in the sun for most people to get the vitamin D they need. And repeated unprotected exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays can cause skin damage, eye damage, immune system suppression, and skin cancer. Even people in their twenties can develop skin cancer.

Most kids get much of their lifetime sun exposure before age 18, so it’s important for parents to teach them how to enjoy fun in the sun safely. Taking the right precautions can greatly reduce your child’s chance of developing skin cancer.

Facts About Sun Exposure

The sun radiates light to the earth, and part of that light consists of invisible UV rays. When these rays reach the skin, they cause tanning, burning, and other skin damage.

Sunlight contains three types of ultraviolet rays: UVA, UVB, and UVC:

UVA rays cause skin aging and wrinkling and contribute to skin cancer, such as melanoma. Because UVA rays pass effortlessly through the ozone layer (the protective layer of atmosphere, or shield, surrounding the earth), they make up the majority of our sun exposure.

Beware of tanning beds because they use UVA rays as well as UVB rays. A UVA tan does not help protect the skin from further sun damage; it just produces color and a false sense of safety.
UVB rays are also dangerous, causing sunburns, cataracts (clouding of the eye lens), and effects on the immune system. They also contribute to skin cancer. Melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, is thought to be associated with severe UVB sunburns that occur before the age of 20. Most UVB rays are absorbed by the ozone layer, but enough of these rays pass through to cause serious damage.
UVC rays are the most dangerous, but fortunately, these rays are blocked by the ozone layer and don’t reach the earth.
What’s important is to protect your family from exposure to UVA and UVB, the rays that cause skin damage.

source: http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/sun-safety.html