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Connecting with Connections October 2015
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Dear Friend, TIME FOR TREATS AND SAFETY TRICKS! October News from Connections For Children
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Safety First, Candy Secondby Joey Lamberti
As Halloween approaches, children look forward to the big C's: costumes and candy. In the months, weeks, and even days prior, they'll change their mind multiple times when it comes to a costume (especially when a certain uber-popular film/space opera is scheduled for a rebooted release), and map out the houses that offer the best candy. Finally, Halloween arrives and they can finally wear THE costume and go trick-or-treating. Because Halloween is really the one day of the year that people can be anybody they want to be, some find it necessary to push constraint aside and simply act dangerously. Safety comes first, and the biggest concerns (and most widely discussed) on Halloween involve pedestrian accidents and tainted candy. According to PR Newswire and Safe Kids Worldwide, “twice as many children are hit and killed by cars between the hours of 4pm and 10pm on Halloween compared to the same timeframe on any other day of the year.” When it comes to pedestrian safety, here are the basics: children should walk on the sidewalk, look both directions before crossing, and carry a flashlight or wear reflective tape to be easily visible at night. PRN Newswire also recommends that parents “avoid costumes that could cause children to trip, such as baggy pants, long hems, high heels, and oversized shoes” and “avoid costumes that obstruct the child’s sight or vision” such as wearing a mask.
When I was a kid, candy tampering of any kind was not a “thing.” Why would somebody purposefully hand out harmful candy on one of the most magical days of the year? It’s rare, but it happens.
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Ready for School - Building Blocks for Kindergarten A Cool App for School Readiness Research tells us that during our children's first years, they develop the foundations for all future learning. It's not something that begins in the year before kindergarten. We start nurturing our children for success from the day they are born. In the many shared moments with our children, we have the chance to help build their brains, laying the pathways that will grow over the years. Whether it's mealtime, bathtime, or bedtime - or anytime for that matter - there are always ways to nurture our children's growing minds. A great app that will definitely help in this regard is Vroom. Everyday, Vroom sends a new tip on how to ensure these shared moments are learning moments. Here’s an example of a tip, or what they call, “ Today’s Vroom”:
“As you change [your child’s name], describe the textures of the things you’re using. Talk about the wet wipe, the soft pad, etc. Watch where [your child] is looking or pointing, and talk about its texture. “That’s the bed. It’s soft,” or “This is the diaper. It’s smooth.” These brain builders are designed to be appropriate for your child's age. As your child grows, the activities become more complex and engage you and your child in new activities. Get those synapses firing! It’s such a simple task for a parent, which will only produce positive results.
And here are a couple more cool Apps:
Kids love to draw. As they get older, those confusing squiggly lines eventually become much more understandable, and the shapes in the coloring books turn flush because the colors finally made it inside the lines. But, once that happens, parents will want to look back on their artistic growth. Here are a few apps that allow you to store artwork digitally:
- Dubbed “The New Family Album" is Keepy. You can take a picture of the artwork and store it. You can even record your little one describing the artwork!
- Want to reduce clutter? Check out Artkive. Similar to Keepy, you can take a picture of the art and look at it later digitally. You can also turn all of their masterpieces into a hardbound picture book.
We featured more family Apps from pregnancy through the school years in a recent article on our website. You can check them out at There's an App for That! at our Newsroom.
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Your gift today will help ensure that all children enter school healthy, happy and ready to learn and thrive!
For questions about how you can make a difference today,
please contact Patti Oblath by e-mail or phone at (310) 452-3325 Ext. 212.
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Safe Sleep Awareness Month The Safe to Sleep® campaign (formerly known as Back to Sleep®) aims to educate parents, care-givers, and health care providers about ways to reduce to the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related causes of infant death. Over the past two decades, the united States has reduced the risk of SIDS by more than 50 percent across the country, as a whole.
How can you make a safe sleep environment?
- Always place baby on his or her back to sleep for all sleep times, including naps.
- Have the baby share your room, not your bed. Your baby should not sleep in an adult bed, on a couch, or on a chair alone, with you, or with anyone else. Try room sharing—keeping baby's sleep area in the same room next to where you sleep
- Use a firm sleep surface, such as a mattress in a safety-approved crib, covered by a fitted sheet
- Keep soft objects, toys, pillows, crib bumpers, and loose bedding out of your baby's sleep area
- Dress your baby in no more than one layer of clothing more than an adult would wear to be comfortable, and leave the blanket out of the crib. A one-piece sleeper or wearable blanket can be used for sleep clothing. Keep the room at a temperature that is comfortable for an adult.
For more information and to get involved, please visit
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