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December is Safe Toys and Gifts Month for obvious reasons. There are millions of toys out there, and hundreds of new ones hit the store shelves each year. Toys are meant to be fun, and they're an important part of any child's development.

But it's sobering to learn that in 2002, more than 212,000 children in the United States were treated in hospital emergency departments for toy-related injuries, and that 13 children died.

Consider these statistics from the National SAFE KIDS Campaign:

Activity: Select the Subject Headings search option and type safety for your search. You'll get a list of a variety of subjects that include the following as relevant to the topic:

Assign each student a different subject from this list. Each student should find two articles and summarize the most significant points for a two-minute oral presentation. Oral presentations provide students with valuable experiences in developing standards-based essential skills and overall confidence in presenting their ideas to others. Oral reports can also help other students learn more about the overall topic.

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