Perhaps the most important lesson that preschoolers can learn regarding police officers is that they can turn to them for help. Tell your students that police officers can always help with a dangerous situation. Ask your preschoolers for suggestions of situations that might require the help of the police. Make a list on the board. Go through it item by item and ask students to name ways in which a police officer could help.
You can further teach preschool students the role of a police officer by having them perform short skits in front of the class. Ask three students to come to the front of the room. Have two of them act out some sort of conflict, such as fighting. Have the third student play the police officer who steps in to resolve the conflict. Ask the rest of the class for suggestions on what measures the officer should take. Have the students dramatize some of the suggestions.
One of the most alluring aspects of the police officer for small children is the fancy and shiny badge. Have students make their own police badges as a craft. Get students to draw the shape of a badge on white paper, write their names on it and color it bright yellow. Help students cut out their badges and glue them to thicker construction paper. Use safety pins to affix badges to students' clothing. Alternatively, cut out cardboard badges in advance and have students wrap them in tin foil.
A component of solving crimes that young children might be familiar with is fingerprinting. Ask students why they think police officers take people's fingerprints, and ask students why taking fingerprints is an effective way to catch criminals. Tell students that everyone's fingerprints are unique. Let students make their own fingerprint art using paint. Student can dip their fingers in paint and make beautiful patterns out of their prints on a sheet of paper.