Prevent Blindness has designated August as Children’s Eye Health and Safety Awareness month to inspire parents to make their child’s vision health a priority.
Family-friendly resources on a wide variety of topics that help parents take the right steps to keep their child’s sight healthy for life can be found at preventblindness.org and through the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness website.
Topics covered include amblyopia (lazy eye), strabismus (crossed eyes), UV-protection and sports safety, and the Affordable Care Act and children’s vision.
Prevent Blindness also offers the following programs to help save children’s sight:
Eye Spy is an eye health and safety education program designed specifically for children. Through this free, online program, children have an opportunity to learn about eye anatomy, how the eye works and eye safety. This is more than fun and games. Teachers may also use the program in the classroom.
Designed specifically for educators, Prevent Blindness offers the Star Pupils Eye Health and Safety Curriculum for grades K-2, 3-5 and 6-8. The program, which is available free for download upon request, provides teachers with interactive materials that help students learn the importance of sight, components of the eye and how we see, and how to identify objects and situations that can be dangerous to eyes. The program meets National Health, National Science and National Physical Education standards and includes presentation guides, eye exam diagrams, in-class worksheets and an activity book for children to take home.
The Eye Patch Club is a program geared towards children with amblyopia and their families. Eye doctors commonly treat amblyopia by having the child wear a patch over the unaffected eye for extended periods of time. The Eye Patch Club program is designed to encourage the children to wear their patches as prescribed by their doctor. Among other materials, members of the club receive their own special calendar and stickers. The Eye Patch Club kit may be purchased for $12.95 by calling (800) 331-2020. Proceeds will go to support the sight-saving programs of Prevent Blindness.
“By working with teams of experts in the fields of education and vision and eye health, we’ve put together a variety of engaging and informational programs that are appealing and user-friendly for kids, their parents and teachers,” said Hugh R. Parry, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness. “By everyone working collectively, we can give our children the best chance at success both in and outside of the classroom!”