60,000 Get Set For Life Welcome to Parenting Boxes Reach Parents of Newborns Across Canada

Invest in Kids, with the generous support of Unilever Canada Foundation, has produced 60,000 Get Set For Life Welcome to Parenting Boxes for parents of newborns. In 2003, 10,000 new parents, most in need, received a box directly from frontline professionals working with families of young children. The positive response from parents and professionals to this new initiative was overwhelming and led to the production of 50,000 boxes in 2004.

“There was a lot of really good stuff in the box. It just helps you out when you’re young and you don’t have a lot.”
-Teen mom, Saskatchewan

“As a family support worker, I very much appreciated having this box to use with my families.”
-Professional, Manitoba

“Continue what you are doing. Parents are extremely please with all the materials.”
-Professional, Gander Military Base, Newfoundland

“I found everything in the box useful/helpful. I really enjoyed it and pland to use the information parenting my children.”
-Parent, Chatham Kent, Ontario

The Box is based on Comfort, Play & Teach: A Positive Approach to Parenting™ which Invest in Kids developed to encourage positive parenting behaviour through the everyday routines and activities all parents engage in with their children. Each box contains a wealth of practical, easy-to-understand materials, including Comfort, Play & Teach™ activity cards, designed to help parents enhance their child’s social, emotional and intellectual development while building their own parenting knowledge, skills and confidence.

The materials include:

• A developmental toy, with Comfort, Play & Teach card
  
  
• Children’s book, donated by Scholastic Canada Ltd., with Comfort, Play & Teach card
  
  
• Bath mitt, with Comfort, Play & Teach card
  
  
• Welcome to Parenting: The Amazing World of Your Baby – Birth to 18 Months, a guidebook of developmental milestones and Comfort, Play & Teach activities for every stage of baby’s development
  
  
• Parenting with the Zap Family, an entertaining and informative video and guidebook that provide insights into typical child rearing situations and how to deal with them.
  
  

Also included is information from Parent Help Line, Safe Kids Canada and the Government of Canada.

The Box is available in English and French and, this year alone, 25,000 will reach new parents, most in need, through home visiting and other parenting support programs offered by organizations and agencies in communities across Canada. The additional 25,000 Boxes can be purchased from the Invest in Kids website. Buy now. Companies, retailers and others can help us us expand our reach to parents by purchasing quantities for mass distribution. Click here for details.

The Get Set For Life Welcome to Parenting Box is developed by Invest in Kids with the generous support of Unilever Canada Foundation.

For more information about Unilever Canada Foundation, visit www.unilever.ca.

The children’s books inside The Get Set For Life Welcome to Parenting Box were generously donated by Scholastic Canada Ltd.

When you comfort, play with and teach a child, you open a world of possibilities.

Click here for Get Set For Life.