Preschoolers are at a stage where they are exploring their world and learning about new things. Unfortunately, they may not be aware of potential dangers, so teaching them about road safety and the danger of water can help keep them safe is important.
If you’re a preschool teacher, you should teach and find ways to incorporate safety into your lessons. It could just help save a life!
As they are typically very active, you can take advantage of their energy in a fun way by incorporating songs, fun games, and activities to teach them about safety. This guide will help you organize activities to teach safety to preschoolers for the six most common dangers, including:
- Road Safety
- Fire Safety
- Safety against sexual abuse
- Safety against water and drowning
- Electrical safety
- Internet Safety
How To Teach Road and Driveway Safety To Preschoolers
Each year, no less than 7000 children die due to road accidents. As kids grow up, the first thing they will want to do is to go out and explore the roads.
It is essential to teach road safety to preschoolers as they are at a stage where they are beginning to explore the world around them. Here are some road safety activities, lessons, and games to help them learn how to stay safe on roads.
Road Safety Lessons
Why are road safety rules important?
Discuss with your students why it is crucial to follow road safety rules. This can include discussing the dangers of not following rules, such as getting hit by a car.
What are some common road safety rules?
Go over some of the most common road safety rules, such as stopping at stop signs, yielding to pedestrians, and looking both ways before crossing the street.
How can you be a safe pedestrian?
Discuss with your students how they can be safe when walking near roads. It can include staying on the sidewalk, crossing crosswalks, and looking both ways before crossing the street.
Road safety game and activities
Many different road safety games can be found online or in educational magazines. These games typically involve following road safety rules to avoid hazards and safely reach the finish line.
Red light, green light
It is a classic game that can be played with any number of people. One person is the traffic light, and the others are the drivers. The traffic light calls out “red light”, and the drivers must stop. The traffic light then calls out “green light”, and the drivers can go. The first person to reach the finish line wins.
Stop and Go
Here, one person is the stop sign, and the others are the cars. The stop sign calls out “stop,” and the cars must stop. The stop sign calls out “go,” and the cars can go. The first person to reach the finish line wins.
Cross the street
One student should be the crossing guard to play cross the street, and the others are the pedestrians. First, the crossing guard calls out “stop”, and the pedestrians must stop. The crossing guard then calls out “go”, and the pedestrians can go. The first person to reach the finish line wins.
Traffic Safety
It is a game that can be played with a group of students. One student is the traffic officer, and the others are the drivers. The traffic officer calls out “stop,” and the drivers must stop. The traffic officer then calls out “go”, and the drivers can go. The first person to reach the finish line wins.
Related: What Type of Problem Solving Activities Teachers Can Choose In Kindergarten?
How To Teach Fire Safety To Preschoolers?
Fire claims thousands of lives each year, and a significant percentage are kids as they are most vulnerable to the fire. However, introducing fire safety to preschoolers can seem daunting, but many crafts, activities, lessons, and games are available to make it fun and engaging. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Fire Safety Lessons
Explain the dangers of fire
The students should be aware of fire’s dangers, such as burns and smoke inhalation. It is also essential to explain why it is important to be careful around a fire, such as not leaving burning candles unattended.
Teach them to stop, drop, and roll
Once the students are aware of the dangers of fire, they should be taught how to stop, drop, and roll. This key safety measure can help prevent serious injuries if they are ever on fire. They should then be instructed to roll back and forth until the fire is extinguished.
Make them practice using a fire extinguisher
The students should be given a chance to practice using a fire extinguisher. This is an important skill for them to learn in case of a fire emergency. The students should be shown how to aim the extinguisher at the fire’s base and use a sweeping motion to put it out.
Fire Safety Game and Activities
Simon Says
You can teach preschoolers a lot about fire safety by making them a simple “Simon Says” game with a fire safety twist. For example, Simon can give commands like “Simon says touch your fire drill poster,” or “Simon says to pretend to stop, drop, and roll.”
Fire safety memory game
Cut out pictures of fire safety objects and symbols (firefighter, fire truck, fire hydrant, stop sign, etc.) and glue them onto index cards. Turn them over and mix them up. Take turns flipping over two cards simultaneously, looking for a match. If the pictures match, the player keeps the pair and takes another turn. If the pictures do not match, the player turns the pictures back over, and the next player takes a turn. The game is over when all of the pairs have been matched.
How To Teach Safety Against Sexual Abuse To Preschoolers?
Sexual abuse can happen to both boys and girls and can be done by strangers and family members. Unfortunately, most of these children will never tell anyone about the abuse because they don’t have the concept of distinguishing between good and bad touch.
Teachers can play a more prominent role by teaching preschoolers about sexual abuse to recognize it if it happens to them and tell us if it happens to them. Here are some lessons to teach preschoolers about sexual abuse:
Teach them about body parts
One of the best ways to protect children from sexual abuse is to teach them about their bodies and personal boundaries early. It can be complex and sensitive, but many excellent resources are available to help.
Make sure you use the proper terminology when discussing body parts with your students. It will help them understand that certain body parts are private and should not be touched by anyone else.
Explain the difference between good and bad touch
Preschoolers need to understand the difference between good and bad touch. Explain that good touch is when someone touches you in a way that feels good, like a hug from a friend. Bad touch is when someone touches you in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, like if someone tries to touch your private parts.
Teach them to say “no.”
Children need to know that it’s okay to say “no” to anyone; even if that person is someone they know and trust. Teach them to “no” loud and clear if someone tries to touch them in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable,
Tell a trusted adult
Make them understand that if someone does something that makes them feel bad or scared, it’s important to tell a trusted adult immediately. It could be a parent, teacher, or any other adult they feel comfortable talking to.
How To Teach Water Safety To Preschoolers?
It is estimated that drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death for children ages one to four and the second leading cause of death for children ages one to two.
With such high stakes, teachers must know how to teach preschoolers about the dangers of drowning. Here are some ways to teach your students to be safe around waters.
Use visuals to explain the dangers of water
Many preschoolers don’t understand the dangers of water. They may think playing in the pool, or the ocean is fun, but they don’t realize they could get hurt. Explain to them why it’s essential to be safe around water.
The most effective strategy for teaching preschoolers about the dangers of drowning is to use age-appropriate language and visuals.
For example, teachers can tell children that drowning happens when someone’s face goes underwater, and they can’t breathe. They can also show pictures or videos of children drowning and explain the dangers of going near water alone.
Water Safety Games and Activities
Create a water safety poster or wall art
Make a water safety poster or wall art with them. You should include essential tips such as never swimming alone, always wearing a life jacket, and never going near the water if you are not feeling well.
Water Rescue
Water Rescue is a fun and easy game that can teach kids water safety skills. For this game, you will need a small pool and some toys.
- Place the pool in the middle of the room and have the kids stand around it.
- Choose one child to be the rescuer, and the other children will be the victims.
- The game’s object is for the rescuer to save as many victims as possible by using the toys to float them to safety.
Rescue Relay
Rescue Relay can be played with a group of children of any size and can be adjusted to accommodate different ages and skill levels.
Here’s how to play:
- One child is chosen to be the “lifeguard”, and the other children are divided into two teams.
- Each team lines up at one end of the pool, with the lifeguard at the other.
- The lifeguard calls out “Rescue!” and throws a floatation device to the first child in line on one of the teams.
- The child catches the device and swims to the other end of the pool. Then they hand off the device to the lifeguard.
- The lifeguard throws the device to the first child in line on the other team.
- This continues back and forth until all of the children on both teams have had a turn.
Read: What is the Difference Between Preschool And Kindergarten?
How to teach electrical safety to preschoolers?
When it comes to electrical safety, kids are like sponges – they absorb everything you teach them. And that’s a good thing because electrical safety is no joke. Just a few simple household items, like hair dryers, curling irons, and toasters, can pose a serious safety hazard if not used properly.
Teachers need to help students learn about electrical safety so they can avoid accidents and injuries. The following are a few simple classroom lessons and activities you can use to teach preschoolers the basics of electrical safety:
Electrical safety Lessons
Explain to Them The “No Touch” Rule
Explain to kids that they should never touch an electrical outlet or cord with their bare hands. If they do, they could get a nasty shock. To drive the point home, you could have kids hold hands with a partner, then gently touch the partner’s hand with the index finger of their other hand. This will simulate the shock they would feel if they touched an electrical outlet.
Set a visual boundary in their mind
It’s important to keep electrical cords and outlets away from water sources, like sinks and bathtubs. To help kids remember this rule, measure 3 feet of string or tape and place it around the room in areas with electrical cords or outlets. This will create a visual boundary that kids should avoid.
Teach them to avoid overloading outlets
Overloading outlets can cause fires. Help kids understand this by overloading an outlet with too many plugs. You can use play plugs or real plugs; just make sure the outlet you’re using is not live. Once the outlet is overloaded, explain to kids why this is a bad idea and have them suggest ways to avoid overloading outlets in the future.
Electrical Safety Games
The “Safety Scavenger Hunt”
Safety Scavenger Hunt works excellent for teaching kids about electrical safety around the home.
To play, you’ll need a list of electrical safety hazards and a few prizes.
Give the kids the list and send them on a hunt to find all the hazards.
As they find each one, explain why it’s a hazard and what they should do if they ever see it around.
How to teach Internet safety to preschoolers?
Most preschoolers have already been exposed to the internet and everything they can do with it. But whether your preschoolers are already exposed to the internet or not, here are a few ways you can prepare them to be safe online.
Internet Safety Lessons
Explain The dangers of online
Talk about how the internet is a place where we can share information and communicate with others, but it’s also where we need to be careful about what we share. Explain that just like we wouldn’t give our address or phone number to a stranger, we also need to be cautious about what information we share online.
Create a list
Help them create a list of things never to do online. This list can include things like never giving out personal information, never clicking on links from people we don’t know, and never meeting up with someone we’ve only met online.
Internet Safety Games
Teaching preschoolers about internet safety doesn’t have to be complicated or boring. By incorporating a few fun activities and games into your lesson plans, you can help your students to understand why it’s important to be careful online and how they can stay safe.
Spot the difference Game
Show your students two pictures side by side, one that is safe to share online and one that is not. For example, one picture might show a group of friends at the park, while the other picture shows the same group of friends with their home address written on a piece of paper.
Help them to spot the differences between the two pictures and discuss why the second picture is not safe to share online.
The Cookie Game
This is an excellent game for teaching kids about online privacy. The game’s object is to collect as many cookies as possible without giving away too much personal information.
Each child should be given a piece of paper with a list of personal information items (name, address, phone number, email, etc.) to play this game.
They then go around the room and collect “cookies” (candy or other small prizes) from other students.
Each cookie they receive must give away one piece of personal information. The goal is to collect as many cookies as possible without giving away too much information.
Final Words
Accidents can happen anywhere, so it is important for preschoolers to learn about safety at home, at school, and when they are out and about. But it is also important to be creative when teaching safety to preschoolers. They should be engaged in the learning process and have fun while learning.
This guide on how to teach safety to preschoolers can help you prepare interactive lessons and activities to teach safety in a fun and perfectly designed way for their age group.
