Expedition Dinosaurs: Rise of the Mammals opens on May 12th! The exhibit immerses visitors in the final days of the Jurassic period, when dinosaurs ruled the Ea
The focus is on fun, games and prevention Saturday, June 9 at Safe Kids Day 2018 in Jacksonville! This year’s annual celebration of kids, preventing injuries, and saving lives will be held at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens “Play Park” surrounding the Splash Ground water park and at Trout River Plaza. Free with admission to the zoo, the event will run from 9:30 am until 1pm.
The focus is on fun, games and prevention Saturday, June 9 at Safe Kids Day 2018 in Jacksonville! This year’s annual celebration of kids, preventing injuries, and saving lives will be held at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens “Play Park” surrounding the Splash Ground water park and at Trout River Plaza. Free with admission to the zoo, the event will run from 9:30 am until 1pm. The theme of this fun family event is “Let’s Play” and many opportunities to do just that will be featured when sixteen community experts come together at one occasion to provide interactive games for the kids, as well as education for families about how to keep children of all ages safe from injuries that are far too common in our precious little ones.
Preventable injuries can happen at home, at play, while vacationing or on the go, and claim over 8,000 young lives in the U.S. each year. Another almost 8 million children must go to the emergency room for treatment from injuries that can be avoided. Safe Kids believes this is a problem that can be fixed with awareness, education, and by providing the proper tools to parents and caregivers. Since Safe Kids Worldwide was established in 1983, the rate of fatal childhood injuries has decreased by 61% in our country, but we’re not stopping our efforts until every child has the opportunity to grow up safely and to realize their potential!
Safe Kids Day is an annual event sponsored this year by Johnson & Johnson, Nationwide, Fed Ex, and Tide. Over 200 local coalitions across the nation are joining in on the fun that also benefits Safe Kids Worldwide and the local coalitions hosting the event. Safe Kids Northeast Florida, led by THE PLAYERS Center for Child Health at Wolfson Children’s Hospital are grateful to this year’s local sponsors Florida Swimming Pool Association Northeast Florida; Orange Park Memorial Hospital; Farah and Farah; American Heart Association; Turner Pest Control; and School of Swimming, Inc.; and of course Jax4Kids.com! Each of our local sponsor’s contributions will support Safe Kids Northeast Florida’s on-going commitment to injury prevention programming in our community! Sponsors will also host a tent and activity, lending their special expertise to provide education about safety around water, medicine, laundry pods, safety while walking, biking, playing outside, and much more!
Adding to the festivities and fun will be family-friendly music from DJ Jim West; costumed water safety characters Sammy the Starfish, Gilbert Guppy, Timmy Tadpole, and Bongo the Lifeguard from the Safer 3; Crunchy and Munchy characters from Turner Pest Control; many great giveaways including free bike helmets; and a fantastic prize drawing at 12:30 for participating families. With summer approaching, Safe Kids Day is also an opportunity for parents to learn where to sign their kids up for swimming lessons! Other participants from Safe Kids Northeast Florida include Swimming Safari Swim School; Aqua Jax Swim School; Florida/USVI Poison Information Center; U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary; Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department; Splash Jax Swim School; Children’s Home Society; and Safe Kids Northeast Florida led by THE PLAYERS Center for Child Health.
We hope you will bring the whole family out to the zoo to enjoy all the fun of Safe Kids Day at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens!
For more information and to download a free My High Five injury prevention checklist, please visit wolfsonchildrens.com/safekids.
