Community Connections: December 2003 newsletter

The Community Connections Communicator -- December 2003

In this Issue:

The theme of this month’s issue is Holiday Ideas & Fun! Check out our suggestions on how to buy the perfect toy for your child, tips for making holiday time special, and places to visit this season. Happy Holidays.

	Tip Sheet: Gifts to Grow On
	Check out this tip sheet, which gives seven quick tips on how to have a more meaningful holiday with your family. Click on the link below for the entire tip sheet. http://www.thefamilyworks.org/Parenting/Gifts.htm
	Article: Choosing Toys for a Child with Autism
	This article provides valuable information on how to choose toys that will be both fun and practical for children with disabilities. Although the article was written to provide suggestions for families with children with autism, the ideas provided can be used for children with a variety of disabilities. For further information, click on the following link: http://www.eparent.com/toys/choose_toy_autism.htm
	Spotlights of the Month:
	17th Annual Winter Festival of Lights – Watkins Regional Park, Prince George’s County Check out this beautiful display of lighted images in Prince George’s County. Click on the following website for further information: http://www.pgparks.com/things/calendar.html Symphony of Lights – Columbia’s Symphony Woods, Howard County For fun in Howard County, click here to learn more about a great event that provides support to the Howard County General Hospital.
	Recommended Website:
	PBS Kids – for fun ideas for you and your family. Click the following link to view some cool ideas: http://www.pbs.org/parents/issuesadvice/disabilities.html

Tip Sheets

Gifts to Grow On
Check out this tip sheet, which gives seven quick tips on how to have a more meaningful holiday with your family. It gives valuable ideas for making your child’s holiday more memorable. Click on the link below for the entire tip sheet. http://www.thefamilyworks.org/Parenting/Gifts.htm

An additional tip sheet which may be useful this holiday season, gives some quick ideas about what you should look for when choosing a toy for your child. To view the entire tip sheet “What Makes a Toy a Good Toy?” click the following link: http://www.thefamilyworks.org/Parenting/GoodToys.htm

Articles

Choosing Toys for a Child with Autism
This article, written by a parent for Exceptional Parent magazine, provides valuable information on how to choose toys that will be both fun and practical for children with autism. Although the article was written for children with autism in mind, you will find it useful across various disability labels. You will be given ideas for choosing toys by looking at the appropriateness of the age, developmental level, and usefulness of the toy and comparing it to your child’s abilities and likes. For further information, click on the following link: http://www.eparent.com/toys/choose_toy_autism.htm

Another article that gives some fun ideas for family and holiday time is “Ideas for Toys for Kids with Visual Impairments”. This article is fun and creative and provides ideas that can be used to enhance play and experiments for children with and without disabilities. To view the full article, click on: http://www.eparent.com/toys/toys1001_VisualImpairments.htm

Spotlights of the Month:

17th Annual Winter Festival of Lights – Watkins Regional Park, Prince George’s County

Planned by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the Winter Festival of Lights is a wonderful lighted landscape of beautiful images and animated exhibits. Visitors drive through the festival, located at Watkins Regional Park, to see the spectacular displays. The festival runs from December 1st through January 4th from 5 – 9:30 pm. There is a small fee for entering the park, which is $5 per car or van, $15 per mini bus or limo, and $25 per bus. In addition, they also accept any donations of canned foods, which they donate to local food pantries. For further information on the festival, location, costs, or multi-visit pass, please contact the festival hotline at (301) 699-2545 or log on to the website at http://www.pgparks.com/things.calendar.html

Symphony of Lights – Columbia’s Symphony Woods, Howard County

The Symphony of Lights display runs from late November through early January. It includes 70 huge light displays. The proceeds of the event benefit a fundraiser for the Howard County General Hospital. For further information, please contact (410) 740-7666.

Recommended Website:

PBS Kids – a useful site providing information for families with children with disabilities. Check out this website which will provide more ideas for fun things to do at home with your children. To visit this website, click on the link below:
http://www.pbs.org/parents/issuesadvice/disabilities.html

We currently offer training and technical consultation to businesses, churches, and other community organizations to help make them more welcoming to families and children with special needs. If you know of a business or other organization that would like to take advantage of these services, please e-mail us at: communityconnections@umd.edu
OR
If you know of a business that is already welcoming to children with special needs and their families and you would like to share this information with other families and professionals, please send us your name as well as the name and contact information for the business with a brief description of why you believe they are welcoming to families. If appropriate, we will post the business on our website and we may even feature it as a 'Spotlight if the Month'. E-mail your submissions to: communityconnections@umd.edu

*Questions or Suggestions about our newsletter? Have an idea you would like to submit? Please feel free to contact us at communityconnections@umd.edu

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Disclaimer
Unless otherwise noted, all referenced articles are available at no charge to you. Community Connections provides this for informational purposes only and cannot attest to the accuracy of information provided by linked sites. The opinions and views expressed at these web sites do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of Community Connections. Any personal information requested by any of the web sites will be governed by the privacy policy at the site, and any questions you have related to the sites' use of information should be directed there. The information contained in this newsletter is not intended to make any offer or commitment to purchase, subscribe to, provide or sell any service or product or to provide any recommendations on which readers should rely.

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