Are you and your kids ready for our BIGGEST Great Glasses Play Day event yet?!?
Great Glasses Play Day
Great Glasses Play Day!
Bright Eyes Kids Grand Opening Great Glasses Play Day Extravaganza!
At Bright Eyes Family Vision Care, we love kids. About 40% of the patients who come to our Westchase are under 18 years old. That is a lot for an optometry office in Florida, but makes sense for us. Both myself and my associate Dr. Elizabeth Knighton have completed optometric residencies in children’s vision. We enjoy using our specialty training to help children, offering specialty services such as vision therapy and myopia control. We have lots of experience examining patients with special needs, such as children with Down Syndrome and autism.
- Pony Rides (before noon)
- A Magic show for kids
- Balloon Animals
- Face Painting
- FREE Goodie bags for all
- Special cloths and cleaner for kids with glasses
- Star Wars Treats
- Lego (R) Activities By Bricks 4 Kids
- Lego (R) minifigure trading (Bring a minifig or two to swap!)
By Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
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Bright Eyes Supports Little Strides Fitness
At Bright Eyes Family Vision Care, we love kids, community, and health. And that is why we are a big supporter of Little Strides Fitness! Little Strides Fitness is a Westchase-based enrichment program offered in schools around the Tampa Bay area. The age-appropriate lessons promote fitness, wellness, and fun. They emphasize the following areas:
Fitness – fundamentals to develop motor skills, coordination, balance and strength.
Wellness – lessons teach basics in nutrition, safety and other healthy habits.
Fun – the right combination of activities allow kids to laugh, play and just be kids.
I think this is wonderful, because being outside and being active is an important aspect of having a healthy, normally-developed vision system. Reading books and using digital devices can provide excellent brain stimulation, but there is no substitute for good ole’ outdoor fun. That is why Bright Eyes has sponsored one of the Little Strides Kickball teams.
Research has shown that spending time outdoors is helpful in limiting worsening eye glasses prescriptions. So spending time outside playing kickball is a great idea.
But the Florida sun is bright and you want to be protected from UV rays. So wear sunscreen and sunglasses! To help out, Bright Eyes donated sunglasses to all the Little Strides Kickball players. Here is a picture of Team Bright Eyes sporting their shades. Here is a Vine of Team Bright Eyes in action.
Little Stride Team Bright Eyes
And don’t forget! Sunday, August 4th is the Great Glasses Play Day! Tons of activities for kids (and grown-ups!). Free sunglasses (like those above) for all kids!
All the best!
By Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
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Join us for Great Glasses Play Day!
The first weekend in August kicks off not only Children’s Vision and Learning Month, but also the 2nd Annual Great Glasses Play Day! And we are excited to be involved!
If you haven’t heard about Great Glasses Play Day (GGPD), it is a day to celebrate children who use glasses, contacts, patches, or other visual devices! This is a day for parents to show how proud they are of their children in glasses, how thankful we are for better vision for their kids, but most of all, just to have fun and support one another! There are lots of ways to participate both at local meetups and online.
We are THRILLED to supporting GGPD with a special weekend event! Kids in glasses are just SO CUTE! 🙂
From 10am to 3pm
Sunday, August 4th, 2013
(Back to school – tax free weekend)
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
9912 W. Linebaugh Ave
Tampa, FL 33626
We are featuring tons of great stuff for kids!
- Sale on ALL kids eyeglasses – 25% off
- Skechers, Bongo, Guess eyewear show – featuring all colors and sizes!
- Every kid gets a FREE coloring book and FREE non-prescription sunglasses!
- Dan the Balloon Man will be entertaining everyone.
- Fun magic tricks.. might make your glasses disappear!
- Coloring Contest- 2 winners will receive a backpack filled with school supplies
- Decorate your own eyeglass frames – model it for our photographer
- Enter your child to win a pair of Prescription Swim Goggles!
- Fun Games & Door Prizes
- Snacks and water will be provided
Plus, Dr. Nate will be open for children’s eye exam appointments on Sunday, August 4 from 10am to 2pm, so schedule now!
Want to know more about the origin of GGPD? Visit the official site or read an interview that Dr. Nate did with the GGPD founders.
Great Glasses Play Day is Almost Here!
You can read lots of good press coverage of the Great Glasses Play Day here. But I am glad to bring you an interview with Ann and Kristin here. Enjoy! – Dr. Nate
Dr. Nate: How did the idea for the The Great Glasses Play Day come about?
Kristin: For me, it came about shortly after my daughter was diagnosed with strabismus and amblyopia. We were thankful her vision impairment was caught early. We had a positive attitude toward our daughter getting glasses. However, many of my friends’ and family’s reactions were less than enthusiastic. I wanted to change that. Our culture has shifted it’s attitude toward getting braces, why not glasses? I am hoping to do that with my ideas for children’s eyewear and I imagined a day when children will be running around parks and schools proudly wearing corrective eyewear and every parent will know about the importance of early child vision health.
Ann: When Zoe first got glasses, I kept hoping I’d run across some kind of play group or get together for kids with glasses, but never really found anything. Then I started Little Four Eyes, and the idea was always at the back of my mind. Here were all these wonderful people with kids in glasses, and we’re all connecting on line, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to get together in person? Especially for our kids who often don’t know other kids their age in glasses. The idea of a day to celebrate kids in glasses came up about year ago in the Little Four Eyes facebook group, so I started asking around if people were really interested. Kristin called me and said she’d always wanted to do something like this, and let’s make this happen! So we ended up combining the ideas, the day is really focused on celebrating our kids with glasses and their improved vision, and what better way to celebrate than to have ways of meeting in person and online?
There are a lot of great messages you are trying to convey about children’s vision and eyewear. If you could narrow it down to one, what would it be?
Ann: It’s similar for me. I hear from so many parents who have just learned that their child needs glasses, and they’re often very upset by the idea. I was too! I think it’s in part because there just isn’t recognition of how prevalent eye issues are and how important it is to treat them. I really want this day to focus (pun intended) on the positives of glasses and contacts and patching. How wonderful that most of these issues are treatable! How wonderful that our kids can see better!
This is truly an international event. How did the event in China get organized?
Are you planning on doing it again next year?
Ann: I cannot wait to do this again! The response has been great, and I think there’s a lot we can build on in future years! I really hope that we can have more in-person events so that more of us can meet and connect, but I look forward to expanding the online celebrations, too.
Kristin: I want to thank you, Nate, and all the organizations, companies, and innovators that take the time to help children and their families with their vision health. Every child has a right to see clearly, enjoy the world around them and learn all that they can from an early start. Healthy vision is truly a precious gift.