Free Health and Safety Fair event for Shawnee Mission School District families with children 0-5 years old

The Shawnee Mission Parents as Teachers Health and Safety Fair is a free event for families with children ages 0–5. Vendors will be available to answer questions, share resources and provide free safety items.

Event Details

• When: 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 25, 2026 (Rain or Shine)
• Where: Shawnee Mission Early Childhood Center (6701 W. 83rd St.), enter at Door 15.

Key Highlights

• Safety Heroes & Vehicles: Kids can meet and learn from local first responders while exploring a fire truck and a police car and interacting with bicycle patrol officers. 
• Hands-on Activities: The fun continues with ride-on toys, planting with the K-State Extension, library card sign-ups with Johnson County Library and more.
• Life-Saving Skills: SMSD nurses will demonstrate CPR and choking response techniques.
• Home & Road Safety: Expert advice will be shared on home-proofing from Charlie’s House, Grandparents for Gun Safety, and Be SMART
• Recreation & Wellness: Families can receive free bike helmets (while supplies last) from Bike Walk KC, sunscreen samples from Outpacing Melanoma, and visit with KU Pediatrics and Johnson County Parks and Recreation Department representatives.
• Free Kona Ice Truck

“The goal is for families to walk away with information and materials regarding health and safety and be able to ask specialists questions,” Suzanne Sawalich, Parent Educator, shared. “Many of our families are new parents who are just learning to navigate that role.”

 

About Shawnee Mission School District Parents as Teachers (PAT)

Parents as Teachers is a no-cost, evidence-based program that supports caregivers from pregnancy until age 3. 

It provides monthly personalized home visits from certified educators to: Track developmental milestones

Offer parenting advice

Facilitate activities that strengthen the parent-child bond 

Promote growth based on the child’s individual needs 

These sessions offer research-based insights into child development, provide strategies for navigating common parenting challenges, focus on family well-being, and facilitate specific activities that encourage healthy parent/child interaction. Beyond individual visits, the program fosters community through group connections, parenting classes and weekly play center opportunities.

In 2024-2025, Shawnee Mission School District Parents as Teachers (SMSD PAT) served 465 children with 387 families receiving personal visits. Laura Miller’s family was one of those families enrolled in the PAT program. She started PAT when her oldest son was eight months old and found the home visits particularly helpful as a first-time parent navigating the early years.

“I felt like I did not know what I was doing so it was nice to have someone tell me that we were hitting the milestones, and we were doing the right things,” said Miller. “The developmental assessments were really helpful because they asked questions I never even thought to ask like, “Can your son pick up a piece of string with his fingers?’ “explained Miller. “And there were definitely some things that we were doing great and then other things they gave us activities to work on so we could practice and help my son. 

Our educator, Lauren Rentschler, was also really helpful in that she gave us guidance and resources on potty training and fine motor development, and since my son is really smart, she helped me find ways to feed that.”

Click here to enroll or learn more about Parents as Teachers.