Time Out Teddy

How to Take Time Out to be a Better Parent

The Nation­al Exchange Club Foun­da­tion has adopt­ed Time Out Ted­dy as its nation­al spokes­bear to car­ry the mes­sage of good par­ent­ing across Amer­i­ca. Your Exchange Club and Cen­ter can help by dis­trib­ut­ing:

Time Out Ted­dy brochures, posters and T‑shirts to edu­cate both par­ents and care­givers on a more pos­i­tive form of dis­ci­pline.

Time Out Teddy Brochures

The pop­u­lar Time Out Ted­dy brochure pro­vides par­ents with insights on devel­op­ing pos­i­tive and effec­tive child-rear­ing skills.

This attrac­tive, easy-to-read brochure points out in a friend­ly, infor­mal man­ner that par­ent­ing is not some­thing that just comes nat­u­ral­ly— it is some­thing that is learned by all par­ents.

The brochure out­lines the var­i­ous needs of chil­dren for prop­er devel­op­ment. It gives exam­ples of basic needs such as:

Infant Needs: Food, cloth­ing, shel­ter, sleep. Infants also need extra warmth, atten­tion, cud­dling and eye contact—all giv­en in a con­sis­tent, lov­ing man­ner.

Tod­dler Needs: A safe place to explore and stim­u­la­tion of their phys­i­cal sens­es through play. They need to be allowed to do some things on their own, and to learn about their bod­ies. Tod­dlers need to be read to, so that they can learn to talk.

Preschool­er Needs: To be allowed to try new things, as long as they’re safe. They need rules that do not keep them from devel­op­ing their abil­i­ties. They also need our approval to express good as well as bad feel­ings.

Ele­men­tary School Stu­dent Needs: To know the prop­er way to do things. They need to be inde­pen­dent and depen­dent at the same time. Ele­men­tary school­ers need to form friend­ships, and to be like oth­ers their own age. They need to test your rules and begin to devel­op their own opin­ions.

High School Stu­dent Needs: To become inde­pen­dent from par­ents and accept respon­si­bil­i­ty for their behav­ior. They need to devel­op their own iden­ti­ty and beliefs. High school­ers need parental sup­port and per­mis­sion to become them­selves.

The brochure also explains the con­cept of dis­ci­pline, what it is and how pos­i­tive dis­ci­pline can be effec­tive through imple­ment­ing time out with chil­dren. Basic rules for tak­ing time out are giv­en as a guide for par­ents.

The brochure is also avail­able in a Span­ish lan­guage edi­tion. For infor­ma­tion on prices and quan­ti­ties, see the enclosed order form or con­tact the Nation­al Head­quar­ters Sup­ply Depart­ment, 800–924-2643.

Time Out Ted­dy Posters

Order Time Out Ted­dy posters from the sup­ply depart­ment and put them up where you will be hand­ing out brochures. Donate posters to the local police sta­tion and hos­pi­tals along with Time Out Ted­dy bears.

Time Out Ted­dy T‑shirts

Time Out Ted­dy T‑shirts are avail­able in sizes S‑3XL. They are made with 100% preshrunk cot­ton and fea­ture Time Out Ted­dy and friends, with the slo­gan, “It Should­n’t Hurt to be a Time Out Ted­dy Child … Take Time Out to be a Bet­ter Par­ent.” These T‑shirts can be used as raf­fle prizes or donat­ed to a local out­reach cen­ter. They can also be worn when you are pass­ing out brochures.

How to Share Ted­dy’s Mes­sage

• Order an ade­quate amount of Time Out Ted­dy brochures.
• Plan a project to dis­trib­ute the mate­ri­als at all of your com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice and fundrais­ing events.
• Obtain per­mis­sion to leave or dis­trib­ute the mate­ri­als in pedi­a­tri­cian, fam­i­ly prac­tice, and obste­tri­cian offices; local hos­pi­tal take home pack­ages for new par­ents; Lamaze class­es; chil­dren’s hos­pi­tals or pedi­atrics floors in gen­er­al hos­pi­tals; day care cen­ters; church­es; schools, PTA meet­ings and pub­lic libraries; chil­dren’s ser­vices offices; chil­dren’s cloth­ing or toy stores; and any­where else large num­bers of par­ents or prospec­tive par­ents would fre­quent.