Growing up in NYC in the 50’s, playgrounds were the place to be. Unfortunately, those were the days when concrete lined the surfaces in the playgrounds and monkey bars and slides were all made of materials that were slippery in the damp weather and burning hot in the warm months. I’m sure there would have been a lot less trips to emergency rooms, less stitches, bruises and broken bones if the playground safety standards described below were in place then.

National Playground Safety Week 2011 is April 25-29, 2011.

The National Program for Playground Safety suggests that you take this week to review the safety features and standards of the playgrounds your child(ren) use.

Here is a quick playground safety check list the National Program for Playground Safety recommends to keep your children safe:

• Make sure that there is adult supervision in a playground.  Adult presence is needed to watch for potential hazards, observe, intercede and facilitate play when necessary.
• There should be no strings on clothing or ropes used for play that can cause accidental strangulation if caught on equipment.

• Children need to play on age-appropriate equipment. Preschoolers, ages 2 – 5, and children ages 5 – 12, are developmentally different and need different equipment located in separate areas to insure  playground safety and fun for all.

• Cushioning is critical for playground surfaces . Nearly 70 percent of all playground injuries are related to falls to the surface. Acceptable surfaces include hardwood fiber/mulch, pea gravel, sand and synthetic materials such as poured-in-place, rubber mats or tiles. Playground safety is dependent on surfaces not be concrete, asphalt, grass, blacktop, packed dirt or rocks.

• Equipment needs to be checked regularly to make sure it is safe for use. Always check to make sure the equipment is anchored safely in the ground, all equipment pieces are in good working order, S-hooks are entirely closed, bolts are not protruding and there are no exposed footings, etc.

Playground Safety checklists are available from the CPSC or go to www.uni.edu/playground

“Can Do” Street has new additions to its home page!”

“Can Do” Street’s additions start with a larger home page scene giving the whole site an expanded look and feel. If you take your mouse and roll over the characters, their names will appear in a pop up.

Watch carefully for the new addition of Maria and Yundi popping their tops and giving out with a  stream of bubbles.

Just under the “Can Do” Street Banner, in the upper left hand corner of the site, there is another addition…a description of what “Can Do Street is all about. It says, “Where kids 3-7 help can-shaped characters make good choices.”

When you get a chance, roll over Bobby’s boom box and listen to the “Can Do” Street theme song. It’s not a new feature but it is always a fun listen.

The flag over the mall awning is there to make finding out what’s new on the site and in the mall easier. Just click on the flag and then click on the feature you want to view.  An active link will take you to the latest  features such as crafts, games, lesson plans and much more.

So visit often and please let us know what new features you would like to see added to “Can Do” Street!

If you are looking for free craft projects, lesson plans and educational materials for children 3-7 years, spend some time in the “Can Do” Street Mall checking out the Crafts/Games and Teaching Resources.

Take advantage of the free materials that are there for your use. The materials are the work of parents, grandparents, educators, recreation and crafts personnel.

Each week we add more resources, shared by individuals, organizations and companies with the hope that you will visit their sites and make use of the 1,000s of free materials that they offer.

There is no catch, no hidden costs to using the free materials you find on the sites that list in the mall.

Prior to listing each of the free sites in the mall, the staff of “Can Do” Street check out the content to make sure it is suitable for out audience of parents, teachers and other adults involved in the care of young children .

To list your site in either Crafts and Games or Teaching Resources the content must meet the following criteria:

• Contain free resources suitable, in all or in part, for children 3-7 years

• Resources must be easy to download and use

If you wish to list, please send the following information about your free site to jeanc@candostreet.com:

• A brief description of your site
• A logo, if you have one
• Your URL address so that we may create an active link to your site

We look forward to having you visit the “Can Do” Mall where the resources are free and fun!

The “Can Do” Street Mall Showcase is about sharing! It’s about adults sharing with one another about what young children enjoy and what can boost their enthusiasm for learning.

If you have a program, curriculum, activity, sport, game, software,  camp or resources for children 3-7 years, including children with special needs, now is the time to showcase it in the mall on “Can Do Street.”

There is no fee to showcase.

It is a free feature designed to give parents, teachers and other adults involved in child development the opportunity to see what is available for young children and to replicate what is suitable for their child, school or community. Every submission will credit the person responsible for the submission and include an active link to that person’s website, blog, or social media site.

Eligible showcase  materials include but are not limited to:

Programs: recreation, education, sports,  arts, music, computer, cooking, gardening, martial arts, knitting, sewing, quilting

Curriculum: academics, recreation, the arts, life skills, character and values education

Sports: all age-appropriate sports, intro to sports appropriate for elementary school upper grades

Resources for children with special needs

Showcase formats: Video, UTube, PowerPoint presentation, pictorial display with written narrative,  interactive programs, games, audio/graphic presentations

Submissions to the showcase are reviewed for suitability of content. They will be posted as received and reviewed. We welcome submissions from  individuals, schools and organizations. For more information, or to get your questions answered, please email jeanc@candostreet.com.

The Showcase is about adults sharing what enriches the lives of young children. So…please showcase  and share!

Fostering a child’s generosity begins with the important adults in his or her life; the adults he or she respects, looks up to and wants most to be like.

Educators, doctors, psychologists and other child development professionals are come out in print and digital media to caution about how much information our children, especially young children, are being exposed to about what has happened and continues to happen in Japan. “The television, Internet and other media outlets are saturated with images of the tragic earthquake and tsunami, so it is inevitable that children will notice something about the event,” says Judith Myers-Walls, professor emerita in human development and family studies, Purdue University. “Parents and child-care providers need to be aware of how this endless stream of information and images can affect a child.”

Yes, we do need to protect our young children from the horrific images that continue to flash across our televisions. However, we can also use this event to foster generosity in our children by involving them in helping the Japanese children directly impacted by the earthquake and the tsunami.

We can tell young children that children far away, in Japan, need our help because their homes were flooded and they need lots of new things that were lost in the flood like clothes and books and toys.

Most young children have a generous spirit. They love to help around the house with small tasks that they are capable of doing. Giving your child the opportunity to earn donation money from doing chores is one way of nurturing generosity. Including them in a family, church, synagogue, school or neighborhood projects to raise money for Japanese earthquake victims is a wonderful way for them to learn to be generous, not only through their own efforts, but through the examples of other children and adults. It also gives them the positive experience of working cooperatively with others for a common cause.

The following organizations are accepting donations for immediate disaster relief in Japan:

• UNICEF – http://www.unicefusa.org/news/releases/unicef-humanitarian-aid-japan-earthquake-tsunami.html?gclid=CKnInoeBz6cCFQjd4AodmAqKDQ

• Apple: http://www.apple.com/

• Google Crisis Response – http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html

• Salvation Army http://www.salvationarmyexpectchange.org/2011/03/11/update-salvation-army-disaster-response-in-japan/
• Red Cross – http://www.redcross.org/

• International Medical Corps – Internationalmedicalcorps.org.

Fostering a child’s generosity can take many forms. Children learn generosity most often from watching adults, especially their family members being generous to one another with their time and help as well as giving a cash donation to a cause.