The purpose of the lessons is to foster activism and a greater awareness in children by teaching them to be educated consumers.
Toys are a very real part of a child s universe.
Children spend much of their play time with these items, but do not know that toys can cause them harm. They don t realize how many children are injured and killed by toys, and that some of these victims could have been saved if they, or their parents, had been aware of the hazards in certain toys. Most children have no awareness at all of the poor standards that exist for pre-market safety testing of toys, in contrast to the rigid rules that exist for food and drugs. While the specific subject matter of this curriculum is derived primarily from public safety issues and consumer economics, the individual lessons are formulated to develop and facilitate cooperative learning skills in young children. Through verbal and interactive participation, both as individuals, and as part of a group, the students will be researching, collecting, analyzing and graphing information.