Activity 1: Child seats

Discussion:

Timmy is young, like you, and he needs to sit in a child seat when he travels by car. Timmy’s child seat is special – it helps keep him safe. How many of you have a special seat that you sit in when you travel in the car?

Let’s look at a child seat and see how it works. Who can show me? [Invite children to sit in the child seat and put the straps on; they can also strap toys into the seat.]

Which bits keep you safe? [Straps stop you falling out/ it’s the right size / padding protects your soft body / it protects your head.]

What do you think would happen if you didn’t have a child seat to keep you safe? [You could get hurt in a car crash.]

Our bodies are soft and cars are hard, so we can get hurt very badly if we hit the inside or the outside of a car. When a car crashes, people inside the car can get hurt if they are not strapped in, because the people keep moving even when the car stops. Child seats keep us safe because they stop us from moving inside the car if there’s a crash.

How do child seats work? Let’s have a look…

You will need:

• A soft toy
• Toy car
• Length of ribbon or string
• Small ramp made from wooden blocks and a flat piece of wood, card, or plastic.

Instructions

1. Put soft toy loosely in the car and push it down the ramp so that it crashes into something and the toy falls out. [You might want to practise this first!]
2. Now try the same thing with the toy strapped in, using ribbon/string as the straps. Show that the toy doesn’t fall out this time because it is strapped in.

Discussion:

Talk about how the toy is much safer when it is strapped in, and that this is the same as when you sit in a child seat. Explain that the straps stop you from falling out of your seat if the car crashes, and stop you from hurting yourself on the inside of the car. Explain that when real cars crash, they are often moving very fast, and this means children can get hurt very badly.

You will need:

• Chairs or cushions (one for each child)
• Ribbons or strips of card to represent child seat straps/seat belts
• Child to be the driver
• Other children and toys to be passengers

Instructions:

1. Arrange chairs or cushions in pairs to represent seats in a car (or a bus if lots of children are taking part).
2. Nominate a driver and ask all the other children to be passengers.
3. Ask the driver to tell all the other children to belt up, and to make sure that any toys they are responsible for are also wearing a seat belt. [Children hold ribbons or strips of card across their chest to show they are wearing a seat belt.]
4. Ask children to act out some possible scenarios: driver forgets to tell everyone to belt up; passenger is sleepy, car sick or needs the loo; someone drops something on the floor. What should they do?
5. Let everyone have a turn being the driver.

Discussion:

Say that sometimes grown ups forget to make sure that children are strapped in their child seats. What would you do if a grown up forgot you needed your special seat? [Tell them we can’t go yet.] What about other people who are travelling with you? [The driver and all passengers must be belted up before you start moving.]

Explain that sometimes children get sleepy, car sick or they need the loo. Sometimes they drop something on the floor and can’t reach it. Ask children if any of these things have happened to them in a car? Do they have to stay belted up if these things happen? [Yes – safety is the most important thing. You must stay in your child seat all the time that the car is moving.]

You will need:

• Weighing scales
• Measuring stick or tape measure
• Letters to parents (child seats and height), which you can find in your online action pack

Instructions:

1. Weigh and measure children and record their weight and height on the letter to grown ups supplied in your action pack.
2. Send letter home asking grown ups to make sure they are using the right size child seat.

Discussion:

To keep children safe, their child seat should be appropriate for their height and weight. Explain to children why you are measuring them and explain that you will be sending a letter home to their grown ups that explains how they can keep them safe in their child seat. Tell them that road safety experts recommend that all children use a child seat until they are 150cm tall. Show them how tall this is. [You could show that if you strap a toy that is too small into the child seat, the toy could easily fall out. This is the same for children.]

Belt us up song

A fun song that children can sing to grown ups when they are getting in the car. [Sing to the tune of ‘If you’re happy and you know it!’. Add some more verses and think of noises and actions.]

When we're driving in a car, belt us up [shout “click click” ; action = belting up]

When we're driving in a car, belt us up [“click click”]

When we're driving in a car, and we're going very far…

When we're driving in a car, belt us up [“click click”]

Even the very youngest children can be leaders for road safety by asking grown ups to keep them safe near roads. Ask children to colour in the postcards and colouring sheets in your online action pack.

Send their artwork home with a letter that asks parents to talk to children about the message on the postcard, and to display artwork proudly – to show they understand the importance of keeping children safe near roads.

Timmy’s youth and inexperience make him the perfect character to help very young children learn important lessons about road safety. As Timmy and his friends head off to Nursery, they have lots to learn about the important things in life, including caring for other people and doing ‘the right thing’.