Learning outcomes
The activities on this page will help children learn and understand:
- The importance of holding holds with a grown up when walking near roads
- The health and planet-saving benefits of walking
- Key road safety concepts and vocabulary
- How grown ups can help keep them safe near roads.
Let's talk about road safety: keywords
Use the following keywords when talking to children about road safety: walk, move, healthy, stop, wait, hold hands, car, traffic, danger, fast, road, crash.
Did you know?
It’s hard for young children to see and hear traffic. Young children see things a bit differently – they tend to concentrate on what’s going on right in front of them, and don’t always pay attention to the detail around the edges. They’re not always tall enough to see the things that grown ups can see, and – because of the way their brains are developing – they find it much harder to tell how fast a car is travelling when it’s coming towards them.
Activity 2: Holding hands (English)
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Activity 2: Holding hands (Welsh)
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We're taking part in a Beep Beep! Day
We’re taking part in a special day to help us learn how to stay safe near roads. We’re taking part in a Beep Beep! Day and our friends at Timmy Time are going to help us learn about road safety.
Timmy is going for a walk today. Walking is fun and it is good for our bodies. It keeps us healthy and strong. Because Timmy is young like you, he needs to hold hands with a grown up when he walks near roads. How many of you hold hands with your grown up when you go for a walk? [Show of hands] Can you show me how you hold hands? [Hold hands with each other.] Why do we hold hands with grown ups? [To keep us safe and away from traffic.] Why do grown ups find it easier to keep away from traffic? [Taller/can see traffic more easily.]
What can you do if your grown up is pushing a buggy and does not have a hand for you to hold? [Hold on to the buggy, or hold their coat, etc.] Keep holding on! If a grown up has to stop and let go of your hand [e.g. to tie up their shoe lace] what should you do? Carry on walking or stop and wait? [Always stop and wait.]
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Activity 1: Hold, stop and wait!
You will need:
- A pile of cuddly toys
- Music
Instructions:
- Say: “Let’s show Timmy and his friends how to hold hands, stop and wait!”
- Everyone hold hands with a cuddly toy [one cuddly toy between two people so they have an arm each].
- Tell children that when the music starts, they should walk sensibly with their toys, holding their hands. When the music stops, everyone must stop walking, keep holding onto their toy's hand and wait until you say “Go!” and the music starts again.
- If they don’t stop and wait they are out. If they let go of their toy, they are out.
Discussion:
Remind children that when they are walking near roads with grown ups they should always hold hands and stay away from traffic. If their grown up needs to stop, they should stop too, and keep holding onto their grown up’s hand all the time.
A walking song
A road safety song, to practise what you have learned! [sing to the tune of ‘The wheels on the bus!’]
The traffic on the road is big and fast, big and fast, big and fast
The traffic on the road is big and fast, all day long. [Action: reach up tall for ‘big’; move arms like wheels
going round for ‘fast’]
When we’re walking near roads we all hold hands, all hold hands, all hold hands When we’re walking near roads we all hold hands, all day long. [Action: march while holding hands]
When we have to cross a road we stop and wait, stop and wait, stop and wait
When we have to cross a road we stop and wait, all day long. [Action: hold up hand, palm outwards to indicate stop]
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Activity 2: Get messy for road safety!
You will need:
- A big piece of paper
- Poster paints and brushes
Instructions:
- Tell children that they are going to make a giant poster to remind grown ups to hold their hand when walking near roads.
- Let children make hand prints by dipping their hands in poster paint or painting their hands with a brush and pressing on the paper.
- Write each child’s name next to their hand print.
- Write ‘WE HOLD HANDS WHEN WALKING NEAR ROADS’ in big letters across the top.
- Display your finished poster in an area where parents and carers will see it.
Discussion:
Ask children to show the poster to their parents and carers. They can find their own hand print and explain that the poster is to remind grown ups to always hold their hand when walking near roads.
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Additional activities - shouting out for road safety
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 Time – helping young children learn about road safety
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’.