Parking Pal is a family-owned company offering physical aids to help parents teach parking lot safety to children. They offer Parking Pal Magnets in a variety of fun patterns that attach to the outside of your vehicle. A handprint is the center of each magnet. It gives young children a specific place to touch and reminds them to be still while waiting for their parent to grab siblings or things from the vehicle before crossing the lot. Included with the magnet is the colorfully illustrated 26-page book Cars are BIG and I am SMALL to assist parents in teaching the rules of parking lot safety. The set with the magnet and softcover book is $8.99. 

This magnet worked superbly for my three-year-old daughter. She has a fear of the dangers of parking lots naturally and typically does well staying close, but she loves the safety of knowing exactly where she needs to stand. I was hoping it would also work well for my nearly two-year-old, but its success was brief. He found it more fun to take the magnet off and play with it instead. I’m anticipating this would improve as he gets a little older and gains comprehension.

The magnet has been on my van for some time now. It’s been played with repeatedly, endured the grime of rain, snow, ice, and salt, and still looks as new as it did when it arrived. It sticks remarkably well and has stayed in place while driving many miles. 

We’ve really appreciated this one! I have many older children who loved to play the game alongside the little ones to encourage them to stand where they ought, and there was a request made by one of the children for seven more magnets so they’d each have one. It might help the littlest to stay where he ought! It would definitely be helpful to have one for each small child needing the colorful reminder where he ought to be. 

-Product review by Adrienne Falkena, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, February, 2018