URBANA — Entertainment, food and more than 40 activities focused on family safety will be offered at the upcoming Playing it Safe event sponsored by Carle and Safe Kids Champaign County.

It will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 4 at the Champaign County Fairgrounds

Admission is free, and so are the activities. The first 1,500 people in the lunch line will get free hot dogs courtesy of Sonic Drive-In.

Some of the activities at this safety fair:

— CHIP child ID kits.

— A fire safety stage show.

— Tours of a firetruck, ambulance, police SWAT unit and medical helicopter.

— Experts checking your child's safety seat in your car to see if it's installed properly.

— A calling 911 practice station.

— Build your own first aid kit.

— Bike rodeo and inspections.

— Activities focused on pet safety, firearm safety, crosswalk safety, water safety, fireworks safety, sun safety, grain entrapment danger, ATV safety, bus-riding safety, outdoor safety, hearing safety, food safety, crime prevention and poison prevention.

Local police and firefighters will be on hand for information and demonstrations, and there will also be concessions and inflatables.

There is only one event that costs money: You can get a bicycle helmet fitting and new helmet for $10, according to Amy Rademaker, a farm safety specialist at Carle who is coordinating the event.

There is also a charge for food concessions, except for the free hot dogs, she said.

The goal of this event is to prevent unintentional injuries, which are the cause of death to one out of 14 youths, Rademaker said.

"We lose way too many youth to unintentional injuries," she said. "We're trying to teach them practical ways they can make everyday activities safer."

Of particular interest for parents this year may be some new recommendations they might have missed from the American Academy of Pediatrics to make riding in vehicles safer for kids, says Safe Kids Champaign County Coordinator Reagen Bradbury.

In a new policy published this spring, the American Academy of Pediatrics advised parents to keep toddlers in rear-facing car seats until they reach age 2 or until they reach the maximum height and weight for their seats.

Pediatricians also advised that most children continue to ride in a belt-positioning booster seat until they are 4 feet 9 inches tall and are between ages 8 and 12.

These recommendations are more stringent than Illinois law, "but they're best practice," Bradbury said.

Another activity that parents may want to watch for at this event: Spot the Tot, in which parents get a chance to sit in the driver's seat of an SUV and practice spotting children outside the vehicle.

With summer coming up, there will be lots of kids playing outside, so be sure and check in your mirrors and look around before pulling out of garages and driveways, Bradbury said.

Another event will allow people to get in the front seat of a semi and find out just how visible cars and bicyclists are to truck drivers from their driver's seats.