Playtime Kids observed playing outdoors
revealed some surprising observations: Girls were less active
than boys, kids were most active with lots of other kids, and kids
were less active with their parents present, according to a study
cited in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
BLARE'S BEARS for Haiti This
organization, created by then 12-year-old Blare Gooch, has given
25,000 bears to kids in Haiti, and another 22,000 bears to other
nonprofits. His advice? "If you're young and think you
can't make a big difference in the world, well, you actually
can."
52,340 The number of children adopted out of
the child-welfare system in the U.S. in 2010.
16 million The number of Latino kids living in
the U.S., 25.3% of whom live in poverty.
90% The amount of parents who say their
children under age 2 have access to some form of electronic
media. On average, kids this age watch television one to two
hours per day. By age 3, almost one third of children have a
TV set in their bedroom.
75% The percentage of U.S. children ages 2 to
13 with access to smart phones, 50% have access to an iPod Touch,
25% tote tablets, and 33% of 10 to 13-year-olds have their own
phones. This all according to the report Mobile Playgrounds:
Kids, Families, & Mobile Play.
30% The percentage of parents (out of
79,000 tested) who use their child's car seat correctly.
ONE PER SECOND The rate at which kids are
adopting Puffles-virtual pets in Disney's mega hit clubpenguin.com
an online world for kids. Puffles have become a phenomenon in
their own right, with more than 25 million adopted in
2011.
453,559 The number of children 5 and
under who accidently "ingested a single pharmaceutical product"
between 2001 and 2008. 55% of these little ones got into the
bottle on their own.
49% Percentage of children who say they worry
"a little" about their family's financial situation. 22% say
they worry "a lot," and 14% say they're "totally stressed" about
it, according to a 2010 poll of 2,000 children conducted by
the Neumors Foundation.
SOLID FOUNDATION A remarkable fact: 80%
of the brain develops by age 3. The social, intellectual, and
spiritual ways you're pouring into young kids sets an incredibly
important foundation! Source: National Association of
Child Care Resources and Referral Agencies: Child Care in
America Fact Sheet, 2008-2009
PRESCHOOL EYESIGHT Preschool vision problems
might be more prevalent than you think: About 4% of
preschoolers have myopia (nearsightedness). 21% have
hyperopia (farsightedness), and 10% have astigmatism. What
can your ministry do to accommodate preschoolers with impaired
vision? Source: Medscape Medical News
DISTRACTED KIDS If the kids in your
ministry are unfocused, there might be a good reason. Between
1996 and 2008, the number of kids in the U.S. taking ADHD
medication rose from 1.8 million to 2.3 million, according to a
recent survey. The age group that's most medicated?
Kids ages 6 to 12, with 5.1% of this age group receiving prescribed
stimulants. Source: American Journal of Psychiatry
THEREFORE, GO Could it be that your kids
are already wired for missions? When asked, "What would you
like to do someday?" 51% of 8 to 12-year-olds answered, "Travel
through-out the world" and 50% said, "Be able to speak another
language." Source: Harris Interactive
GEN X Times Two Gen Xers (born between
1965 and 1981) have more than doubled their volunteer rate from
12.3% in 1989 when they were teenagers to 29.2% today as adults,
according to the annual Volunteering in America report.
Source: volunteeringinamerica.gov
