Contact Information: To obtain further information about Wild About Eyes, please contact:
Prevent Blindness Ohio
Wendy Klein 614-464-2020 x 103
email: info@pbohio.org
1. Project name, purpose and objectives.
Wild About Eyes is an interactive educational exhibit whose purpose is to increase awareness among young children, ages 4-10 and their adult companions about how to keep their eyes healthy and safe.
Objectives:
a) To travel the exhibit for month-long visits to a minimum of 4 venues annually, targeting communities in Prevent Blindness Ohio’s 88-county territory that represent underserved populations.
b) To provide information on eye health and safety to more than 20,000 young children and their adult companions per year.
c) To increase Prevent Blindness Ohio’s visibility, recruit volunteers and leverage support from community leaders and the general public.
d) To connect the Prevent Blindness mission to literacy and the importance of good vision in learning.
2. Project description.
The Wild About Eyes exhibit educates families in four key areas: eye safety, common vision problems and diseases, how our eyes work, and the effects of vision loss. The 32” x 32” kiosk (6 ft. high) employs hands-on activities, interactive media, brochures, and a fun animal theme to carry out the message that our eyes are important! The Wild About Eyes kiosk is designed to be displayed in libraries, hospitals, community centers and other public spaces with limited floor area available for displays or exhibits but with a high traffic volume. Wild About Eyes gives Prevent Blindness Ohio the opportunity to provide on-going education across the state for years to come. The Wild About Eyes logo is displayed above.
The Wild About Eyes kiosk was researched and constructed in cooperation with the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton, Ohio in 2003-04. The design of the kiosk’s learning components were based on Prevent Blindness Ohio’s successful Wise About Eyes 1600 square foot exhibit which has traveled to 18 large museum/community center venues across Ohio since 2001 reaching over 545,000 Ohio consumers. The Wild About Eyes kiosk is four-sided and is free standing with animals painted on each side and integrates four main themes from the into its design:
1) An interactive computer game that teaches young children about eye health.
2) How the world looks through eyes that have a specific eye disease or disorder is conveyed with a set of hand-held paddles that are distorted to represent each disease/disorder.
3) The bowling ball drop demonstrates how shatterproof, polycarbonate lenses help protect the eye.
4) Be Safe With Your Eyes asks visitors to use pushbuttons to match the activity (welding, mowing, sports, etc.) with the right choice of protective eyewear (mask, safety goggles, safety glasses, etc.).
The button lights up to show the correct matches.
3. Results of the Project:
Based upon the objectives of Wild About Eyes, the following results were achieved during the pilot phase of its development and exhibition:
a) To travel the exhibit for month-long visits to a minimum of 4 venues annually, targeting communities in Prevent Blindness Ohio’s 88-county territory that represent underserved populations: The Wild About Eyes kiosk was piloted at two small town libraries – Greene County Public Library (Xenia) and Franklin-Springboro Library (Franklin) during Spring 2004 for 4 weeks each. Wild About Eyes is scheduled for display in 2004-05 at 4 additional locations located in Ohio’s Appalachian counties: Chillicothe and Ross County Public Library, St. Paris Public Library, Dr. Samuel L. Bossard Memorial Library of Gallia County, Washington County Public Library (Marietta).
b) To provide information on eye health and safety to more than 20,000 young children and their adult companions per year: Prevent Blindness Ohio has an ongoing commitment to provide information to young children regarding healthy behaviors they can adopt to help ensure that they have good eyesight for their lifetime. Wild About Eyes was developed in response to the alarming number of child eye injuries (approximately 4,000 annually in Ohio), and the fact that young children receive very little, or no, information on how they can keep their eyes healthy and safe. Children, even very young children, can be taught how to prevent blinding eye accidents and diseases thus empowering them to make good, informed decisions about how to keep their eyes healthy and safe. 9,250 children and adults interacted with the kiosk while it was on display at the two pilot-location libraries in spring 2004. Based on this pilot experience, PBO expects that exhibition at 4 locations in 2004-05 will reach over 20,000 young children and their adult companions.
c) To increase Prevent Blindness Ohio’s visibility, recruit volunteers and leverage support from community leaders and the general public: At each exhibition site, PBO hosts a “celebrity reading hour” featuring local dignitaries including state legislators, public safety officials, local government officials and health professionals (pediatricians, eye doctors). Local celebrities read children’s books emphasizing vision (i.e. Arthur’s Eyes) at this “reading hour” of Wild About Eyes. This event is typically held in conjunction with a regularly scheduled children’s reading hour at the libraries.
d) To connect the Prevent Blindness mission to literacy and the importance of good vision in learning: Approximately 80 percent of what a child learns is learned visually. Early detection and treatment of vision disorders are important to maximize a child’s visual potential. The longer eye conditions are left untreated, the more likely they are to worsen, affecting learning ability, athletic performance and self-esteem. Making the direct connection between preventing blindness/keeping your eyes healthy and the ability to read becomes much easier by placing the Wild About Eyes in libraries. At each reading hour, each child in attendance receives a gift bag that contains the book Arthur’s Eyes, Patch the dog (from the PBA Eye Patch Club), and a selection of PBA eye health/safety brochures in a canvas PBO tote bag.
For additional information on the Wild About Eyes kiosk, and the current travel schedule, contact Prevent Blindness Ohio at 1-800-301-2020.
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