Keep children safe by introducing water safety activities. A life-jacket relay race that involves children correctly putting on and taking off flotation devices with a partner is a game promoting water safety. Hold a water safety slogan and poster contest or encourage older students to prepare water safety skits to perform, for those who are younger, during a safety assembly. Another activity option to promote water safety is to invite a representative from the Red Cross, high school swim team or local YMCA to hold a question and answer session. Instruct students to prepare questions or scenarios ahead of time to ask the water safety expert.
Extreme weather conditions may be fun for children in play but may also possess hazards to the safety of the kids. Place a thermometer inside a white sock and one inside a black sock. Leave the pair of socks in the shade for 15 minutes and record the temperatures. Replace the thermometers back in the socks and place in direct sunlight for 15 minutes. Compare the results of the two experiments and discuss the importance of light-colored clothing and playing in the shade.
Winter also poses safety hazards with cold temperatures and bitter winds. Retrieve two hot dogs from the refrigerator and place one hot dog into a mitten and one hot dog without a covering into the freezer. Leave the hot dogs in the cold temperature, with the freezer door closed for 15-20 minutes before taking them out. Compare the look and feel of the hot dogs and make the connection to fingers covered with gloves and those without protection from the winter.
Children should become familiar with effective methods of fire safety. As a reinforcement activity, cover a child's shirt with pieces of red paper, shaped as flames, with double-sided tape on both sides. When instructed to stop, drop and roll, the child will perform the fire safety technique until all "flames" have come off.
Another activity to prepare children for fire in the home is to blindfold him in his room and instruct him to crawl to the front door, feeling each closed door for hot temperatures. The activity simulates the lack of visibility of black smoke that fills the home when in flames. When the child successfully reaches the front door, give him a fire safety seal of approval with a high five or a "good job" sticker.
Internet safety is a concept that many parents are introducing to children as it has become a concern due to child predators and inappropriate content. Scan old magazines or store catalogs to find four pictures of adults and paste them to pieces of card stock. Hold up one paper at a time before the class, with the picture facing away from the students, and read prepared characteristics of a person. Examples of characteristics may be that the person pictured likes to groom dogs, eat pizza or dance to classic rock. Instruct students to draw a picture of what each person looks like according to the statements. When finished, the teacher shows students the pictures of the adults and promotes discussion regarding the anonymity of people who use internet. Reinforce the potential dangers of meeting or conversing with online strangers and explain that absolutely no personal information should be released via the internet.
To encourage bike safety, encourage children to make their own make-believe bicycle helmets from empty gallon milk jugs. Cut a plastic jug in half and throw the spouted portion away. The bottom section of the jug creates a pretend helmet. Attach two pieces of ribbon to the sides long enough to tie into a bow under the chin of the child.
Display various street and traffic signs for children to learn the ins and outs of the road. Children can artfully draw or cut and paste scrap paper to make a bicycle route, stop sign, three-colored traffic signal and a detour sign in order to become more familiar with bike safety.