December is Safe Toys and Celebrations Month!

The holiday season is upon us with friends and family celebrating together, so let’s keep it safe and welcome in the holidays and New Year with good health and good eye care as well. Prevent Blindness International has declared December as Safe Toys and Gifts Awareness Month. The group encourages everyone to consider if the toys they wish to give suits the age and individual skills and abilities of the individual child who will receive it, especially for infants and children under age three.

Few of the most important guidelines for Safe Toys and Celebration awareness are:

• Choose toys and age-appropriate gifts for children • No toys with sharp objects or edges. • Avoid darts, pellet guns, and other firearms as gifts, especially to children. • Remember to avoid toys that can be choking hazards especially for children under the age of three. Remember the rule: If it can fit through an empty toilet paper roll, then avoid it for young children. • Avoid hard candy for young children. • Remember to avoid toys with strings longer than 12 inches for children less than three years old as it can be a strangulation hazard. • Avoid slingshots or other projectile types of toys. • Avoid toys with magnets for young children. • Give children under 10 only toys with batteries and compartments that can only be opened by an adult (such as a screw sealed battery chamber) and don’t let them play with batteries. Plug-in toys should be only for older children. • Buy durable toys that will not break or shatter into pieces or release toxic substances. • Observe video game age-ratings. They are there for a reason. • Read all warning labels carefully on toys and decorations. • Remember to supervise your children at all times

• Give safety gear for sports like helmets, goggles, and protective eyewear when gifting for sports-related activities. Ask us any questions you have for sports safety tips.

• Keep decorations safe by being careful when decorating trees, hanging glass ornaments higher up where children cannot reach them, using only safe electrical lights that do not have damaged wiring and candle/fire safety. Avoid fire hazards (open flames, heaters).

• Once gifts are open immediately discard plastic wrapping or other toy packaging before the wrapping and packaging become dangerous play things.

• Open champagne bottle pointed away from the face, eyes and other people, covering the cork with a towel and turning it slowly with a slightly upward motion. Also, make sure your champagne is chilled to at least 45°F for safety reasons.

• Remember food allergies and other allergies when gifting items.

• Remember to drive safely, have a designated driver if you are drinking, wear your seat belt and restrain children in age and weight appropriate car seats or booster seats.

• Battery charging should be supervised by adults. Chargers and adapters can pose thermal burn hazards to young children. Pay attention to instructions and warnings on battery chargers. Some chargers lack any mechanism to prevent overcharging.

Stay safe and have a wonderful Holiday Season from all of us at Eye Q Optical! See you soon!