| Wednesday, March 10, 2004 Building fun and education go hand in hand By Mac McKinney, President Brightly colored blocks, Lincoln Logs and LEGOs -- something about building has fascinated children for generations. However, building is about much more than placing blocks on top of one another, and home builders across the country are teaching youth of all ages the intricacies of constructing a home. From preschool to high school, children are learning about everything from safety to the environment to the amount of money it takes to build a home. Bob the Builder "Blueprints for Home Safety." With the help of a beloved children's character, builders are helping to educate preschoolers, parents and caregivers about keeping kids safe in their homes. The 12-page Bob the Builder "Blueprints for Home Safety" themed activity book highlights key safety messages to increase awareness of accidents and unintentional injuries that young children can sustain in their homes. To date, more than 250,000 activity books have been distributed to children from coast to coast. The books, developed by the National Association of Home Builders in partnership with HIT Entertainment, creator of the Bob the Builder brand, support community outreach programs and are being distributed at home and garden shows, fire and safety awareness programs, local charity events and preschools. Homes of Our Own. Thanks to a new initiative by the NAHB Women's Council, elementary school students across the country can combine home building education and virtual fun with the Homes of Our Own online coloring book. Located at www.nahb.org/coloringbook, the online coloring book is the interactive new home of NAHB's traditional Homes of Our Own program. Since Homes of Our Own launched in 1996, builders have helped teach thousands of children across America about home building and tree preservation through this inventive, informative environmental education program. Now that the program has debuted online, all children with Web access in school, at home or at the library, can learn the process of building homes, discover how builders protect the environment and even draw and color pictures of their own homes in a virtual environment. Building Homes of Our Own. Once children reach middle and high school, they can take advantage of Building Homes of Our Own, a CD-ROM-based educational tool that challenges students to work against a schedule and within a budget to design and build a 3D home, starting with selection of a site and ending with the sale of their home. Throughout the process, they rely on core subjects including math, social studies and economics as they work to collect information, solve problems and make decisions. The program also provides a valuable look at both the risks and rewards of the home building industry. Building Homes of Our Own is free to educators upon request on the internet at www.HomesOfOurOwn.org. Since the program launched in September 2002, more than 25,000 copies of the CD-ROM have been distributed to educators, reaching an audience of approximately 1.9 million students, parents and teachers. Through these educational initiatives, NAHB and your local builders association help put home building knowledge into the hands of America's youth. For more information about these educational opportunities and to find out about associated programs in your area, please contact the Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia office by calling 770-716-7109 or visit www.nahb.org and click on "Children and Young Adult Education." (Mac McKinney, who is owner and president of McKinney Builders Inc., is president of the Home Builders Association of Midwest Georgia, which serves a membership of approximately 550 builders and associate members in Fayette, Coweta, Spalding, Meriwether, Heard, Pike, Upson, Lamar, Butts and Jasper counties.)
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