Safety-Focused Sunglasses for Youths

Buying safety-first sunglasses for your child is a priority during summer, with the sun’s rays as harmful as ever. The top five things to look for in sunglasses for a youth include:

UV protection- this is a must! Don’t buy any sunglasses that do not have a 100% UVA and UVB protection sticker or guarantee on the packaging

Form-fitting and sturdy- eyewear needs to fit the wearer’s face shape to maximize coverage and protection. The frames need to be strong enough to withstand your child’s wear and tear, which with some teens can be especially important.

Tinting- Sunglasses are unique from eyeglasses in that they offer a tinted protection from the sun’s harmful rays. There are various levels of tinting ranging from 70 to 97%. It depends on your environment what type of tinting you should buy, snowy areas, or areas with large expanses of light reflective surfaces require higher tinting to control reflective rays as well as downward rays. Deserts, beaches areas with lots of glass require higher tinting as well.

Comfort and fashion- if you want your child to keep their eyes protected, pay attention to their need to be hip. A quick online search can show you what’s in fashion this season.

Lens quality- don’t skimp when it comes to health. Cheap eyewear is usually manufactured from recycled or low-grade plastic. Ensure your children have the best quality lenses; poor quality lenses can result in eye diseases as well as discomfort and migraines.

Remember that sunglasses are not just fashion accessories or cute toys for children, they are important for prolonging your child’s health and instilling life-long habits of eye protection.


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New Baby Gifts - Books are the Answer

By Sarah Garr

There are hundreds of adorable new baby gift baskets out there. Some are actually adorable and useful. Finding a new baby gift basket with quality children's books is like striking gold in a dark mine shaft.

Babies should be read to from the moment they can sit in mom or dad's lap. Even though the new little one won't understand the story line or even some of the basic language, the sounds of a parent's voice is one the most soothing things for an infant. Small infants love sharp contrasting colors. There are numerous books that show black and white designs with red accents. These make a young baby's eyes wide with excitement.

As the child grows, simple picture books are appealing. Colorful pictures with simple text are ideal. Many babies, as they reach a few months old, love the texture of the feel and learn boogie & diddle's worldtype books. This is a great way for a parent to show new vocabulary, whether it is farm animals to fruits and vegetables. The parent can repeat the words while the child can feel the texture that was made into the book. A great extension of this reading time is to show your child the things from the book in real life situations. This could range from walking through a petting zoo to exploring the produce at the local grocery store.

Books with rhyme and repetition are huge hits. Most of the time mom and dad will have the story memorized from reading it so much. Sometimes, you can start saying the book from memorization and your one year old will actually go locate the book. Rhymes are a great way for the child to develop language. Some rhyming books use silly words as part of the rhyming, but as the child starts doing this also, it shows that the child is progressing in phonological awareness which is crucial to reading success. Hearing the sounds and being able to reproduce the sounds are necessary components to triumph when it comes to language development.

So, when you are searching for that unique baby gift, you can be the dock master that sets the ship of reading sailing for any new child. Read More...