National Sunglasses Day | EYFS & KS1 Activity Ideas

**Note: This page is for educational inspiration and is not officially affiliated with National Sunglasses Day. National Sunglasses Day is an annual awareness day founded by The Vision Council, a U.S.-based trade organisation for the eyewear industry. It is celebrated every year on June 27th to raise awareness about the importance of wearing sunglasses to protect our eyes from the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays. The day promotes the message that eye protection is a vital part of overall health, especially during the summer. For official information and details, please visit The Vision Council website: www.thevisioncouncil.org/members/national-sunglasses-day.

Understanding National Sunglasses Day in EYFS & KS1

Time to put on our shades and protect our eyes for National Sunglasses Day! 😎☀️🕶️

For early years settings, nurseries, preschools, childminders, and Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms, this day provides a fun and crucial theme for exploring sun safety, eye health, weather, and personal health. It’s about teaching children that taking care of our bodies, including our eyes, is very important. This day offers fantastic planning ideas and inspiration for engaging activities that truly resonate with young minds, making learning about health, science, and safety both essential and wonderfully fun!

Why Is Learning About Sun Safety Important for Young Children?

Integrating National Sunglasses Day and themes of sun safety and eye health into your practice with young children (aged 0-7) builds positive health habits, and promotes an awareness of personal safety.

• Fosters Positive Health Habits: Encourages children to see eye protection as a normal and fun part of their routine.

• Builds Awareness of Personal Safety: Teaches children how to stay safe from the sun's rays.

• Enhances Understanding of the Body: Helps children learn about their eyes and how to keep them healthy.

• Develops Observational Skills: Encourages children to notice the weather and understand when sun protection is needed.

• Promotes Creativity: Inspires children to design and create their own sunglasses and sun safety posters.

Engaging Sun Safety & Eye Health Activities for National Sunglasses Day (EYFS & KS1)

Time to celebrate sunglasses for National Sunglasses Day with these planning ideas and activities perfect for EYFS and KS1 children. The focus is on fun, creativity, and learning how to stay safe in the sun! Many of these early years and year 1 activities can be supported by our dedicated ‘Sun Safety’, ‘Eye Health’, ‘At the Seaside’, and ‘Weather’ resources.

Here's some inspiration for celebrating National Sunglasses Day in your setting: (Please use your own discretion and knowledge of your children to ensure appropriateness of each activity and safety concerning any materials given and activity undertaken.)

Understanding Sun Safety

• Sun Safety Fashion Show: Get children to dress up in sun safety clothes—hats, long-sleeved shirts, and, of course, sunglasses! They can show off their outfits and explain why each item is important.

• Sun Safety Posters: Use our 'Sun Safety Items - Posters' and 'Sun Safety 'Don't Forget...' Posters' to talk about all the things we need to stay safe in the sun.

• Sun vs. Shade: Take children outside on a sunny day and ask them to stand in the sun and then in the shade. Talk about the difference in how it feels and why the shade is so important.

• Sun Safety Games: Play a memory game using our 'Sun Safety Memory Find Game' to reinforce key sun safety messages.

Creative & Hands-on Fun

• Design Your Own Sunglasses: Provide children with cardboard, coloured cellophane, and craft materials. Challenge them to design and create their own sunglasses.

• Sunglasses Colouring: Use our 'Sunglasses 2-Piece Puzzles' or the 'Sun Safety Colouring' sheets to get children to colour in sunglasses and other sun safety items.

• Sun Safety Mark Making: Use our 'Keep Sun Safe! - Mark Making/Writing/Drawing' sheets for a creative activity where children can draw about staying safe in the sun.

• Sunscreen Painting: Put a small amount of sun cream in a pot and let children use their fingers to 'paint' a picture on blue paper, showing how it protects our skin.

Role Play & Learning About Eyes

• Optometrist Role Play: Use our 'Optometrist Dramatic Role-Play Pack' to set up a pretend eye doctor's office. Children can take turns being the optometrist, helping their friends read eye charts and check their vision.

• Matching Puzzles: Use our 'Eye Health - Glasses - 2-Piece Puzzles' to help children understand why some people wear glasses.

• Talk About Eyes: Use our 'Eye Health - Word Cards' and 'Eye Health - Word Mat' to talk about the different parts of the eye and how we look after them.

• Shadow Puppet Show: Use a light source and create shadow puppets of different sun safety items like hats and sunglasses to reinforce the message in a fun way.

Connecting to the World

• Beach Fun: Use our resources related to 'At the Seaside’ and 'Beach School' to talk about how sun safety is especially important when we are near water or sand.

• Water and Heat: Use our 'Heat Health Poster' and ''Heat Health - 'Drink some water' visual communication aid' to remind children of the importance of drinking water on hot, sunny days.

• Weather Observation: Use a daily weather chart to talk about sunny days and what sun safety items we need on those days.

• Explore More: To explore our extensive catalogue of resources on these themes, please visit our ‘Sun Safety’, ‘Eye Health’, ‘At the Seaside’, ‘Stay Healthy’, and ‘Weather’ pages.

These activities offer great inspiration for making National Sunglasses Day a memorable and impactful experience in your early years and Key Stage One setting, fostering health awareness, creativity, and a lifelong understanding of sun safety.

To explore ideas surrounding additional early years events, please visit our 'Special Dates Calendar' page.

Printable resources to support teaching & learning surrounding: ‘National Sunglasses Day’

Free EYFS & KS1 ‘Sunglasses’ and ‘Sun Safety’ printable resources and activities:

EYFS & KS1 ‘Sunglasses’ and ‘Eye Health’ printable resources and activities:

Additional Pages you may like to explore which cover relevant &/or Connected themes

More Early Years Event Pages for June

Explore special dates (including awareness dates, festivals, celebrations & events) relevant to your EYFS & KS1 children

Browse our ‘Special Dates Calendar’ page using the link below. You’ll find calendars for every month of the year to aid your planning!

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Disclaimer:
This page is for educational purposes only and is intended to support early years and primary practitioners with ideas and resources related to 'National Sunglasses Day'. We are not officially affiliated with or endorsed by The Vision Council, which founded this annual initiative. We do not claim any rights to specific trademarks or official materials associated with this event. For official information and details, please visit The Vision Council website: www.thevisioncouncil.org.