Ray and the Sunbeatables®: A Sun Safety Curriculum

The University of Virginia’s Comprehensive Cancer Center works with Head Start programs, preschools, and elementary schools to implement Ray and the Sunbeatables®: A Sun Safety Curriculum. This free, evidence-based curriculum educates children, parents, and teachers about sun protection and promotes sun safety behaviors to reduce children’s lifetime risk of developing skin cancer. The curriculum was developed by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Curriculum lessons promote the use of all sun protection behaviors, every day and everywhere, including when the student is outdoors on the playground, on field trips, at home, on the beach or during other outdoor activities.

Curriculum Goals

• Express why sun protection is important
• Demonstrate how to protect their skin from the sun

Why Sun Safety Education? [1], [2]

• Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the U.S.
• Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer among adolescents and young adults
• Sunburn during childhood increases a person’s lifetime risk of developing skin cancer
• The leading causes of skin cancer are the suns UV rays and tanning beds
• Anyone, regardless of skin color, can develop skin cancer
• Sun exposure is the most preventable risk factor for all skin cancers
• Starting education early can build lifelong sun safety habits

Ray and the Sunbeatables™: A Sun Safety Curriculum Highlight Video ^[3]

[1] https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/basic_info/index.htm

[2] https://www.skincancer.org/risk-factors/sunburn/

[3] https://letsgo.catch.org/bundles/sun-safety