One Australian child dies after being hit by a car every week[i], and land transport accidents are the biggest cause of death for children under the age of 14. That’s why Young Academics Early Learning Centre has teamed up with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs for Road Safety Week to create a new road safety campaign for the children in its care – and their families.
Community-minded Bulldogs players Connor Tracey, Karl Oloapu and Viliame Kakau visited the children and educators at Young Academics Pendle Hill earlier this week to help to bring the road safety message to life through a series of age-appropriate games, storytelling activities, role playing, seatbelt safety demonstrations and workshops on traffic signs and crossing the road safely.
Their efforts, together with those of Young Academics’ educators, will be used in a social media campaign which will help remind Young Academics’ families, and the broader community, to remain vigilant whenever children are around cars, roads, and driveways and to reinforce the fact that children are never too young to start learning about road safety.
“We would like to thank the Bulldogs players for volunteering and taking the time to engage with the children on such an important issue. Children are naturally curious, excitable, fast moving and often unable to assess risk, which makes them particularly vulnerable,” explained Jenni Gaffney, Director of Operations at Young Academics.
“Unfortunately, whilst schools have mandatory 40km zones, there is currently no such safety provision for childcare centres in New South Wales, so it is critical for us to do everything we can to teach our children how to behave safely around roads, and to remind families to always hold their child’s hand when crossing the road, walking alongside the road, or when dropping their child off, or picking them up for childcare or preschool.”
Ms Gaffney said the content for the campaign, including the role-playing, games, mock car activities and real-life demonstrations provided by the Bulldogs players, was part of Young Academics’ Evolution and Transition to school program, utilising external experts and road safety resources to reflect and enhance the curriculum, with activities planned according to different age groups, including toddlers and preschoolers.
“The statistics around children being hit by cars are devastating, and we are committed to doing everything we can to promote road safety education and to create learning opportunities that are socially and developmentally appropriate for the children in our care,” advised Gaffney.
During their visit, the players will also play mini football with the children whilst reminding them that just like passing a ball, it’s important to stay alert, be aware of your surroundings and signal your intentions when on or near the road.
Examples of simple activities parents can do with young children to reinforce road safety lessons include:
– Traffic light colour matching art and craft
– Use daily walks with your children to point out traffic signs, explain what they mean, and demonstrate how to safely cross the street at designated crosswalks
– Play road safety games like ‘Red Light, Green Light’ to teach children about traffic signals and when to stop and go
– Print our road safety-themed colouring pages
– Show your child how to fasten their seatbelt, and supervise whilst they practice
– Read stories with safety messages such as Duck and Cover by Jackie Urbanovic or Be Safe Around Traffic by Bridget Heos
– Sing themed nursery rhymes such as Traffic Light (to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star):
Twinkle twinkle traffic light
on the corner shining bright
Red means Stop and green means Go
Yellow means go very SLOW
Twinkle twinkle traffic light
on the corner shining bright.
As a family-owned and operated early learning provider, Young Academics is committed to partnering with like-minded organisations, such as the Bulldogs, to add value to its offering for the families enrolled in its services, and to ensure young children receive clear and consistent road safety messages from their educators and parents or carers.
As part of the new campaign, Young Academics will provide resources to families in all of the communities where it operates, including road safety awareness tips and links to additional information.
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