Home safety activities are extremely important for parents to engage in with their kids. Children need to learn about how to keep themselves safe in all situations as well as how to respond to emergency situations as well. The home safety activities below help kids practice how they would react in different safety scenarios. Kiddos will also learn important information like phone numbers, where important safety buildings are located, and who their neighbors are. Each activity is a great start to a conversation about safety. Here are 18 home safety activities to help you equip your kids with everything they need to know in case of an emergency!
1. 9-1-1 Number Game
This fun number game helps kids learn how to dial 9-1-1 and speak to an operator. Kids play the traditional game of Hopscotch, but with an added goal to only jump on boxes that have nines or ones. It’s even better if kids can jump on nines and ones in order of 9-1-1.
Learn More: Kinder Care
2. Safety Pretend Play
Kids are great innovators and creators, and this activity uses kids’ imaginations to teach safety procedures. Children play with adults and use different scenarios to go through different safety topics like personal safety, toy safety, and fire safety.
3. Safety Read-a-Loud
Read-aloud is a great way to get kids interested in a topic. There are numerous safety books that are fun and colorful and that teach children how to stay safe. Each book linked below covers a different topic about home safety.
Learn More: Amazon
4. Safety Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts are fun activities for all ages. Kids can find different safety items in the house so that they know where they are in case of an emergency. It’s a great idea to put safety gear such as a fire extinguisher, smoke detectors, and fire exits on the scavenger hunt route.
Learn More: Starts at Eight
5. Mock Safety Inspection
A mock safety inspection of the home is another way for children to learn about home safety. Adults can put together a safety checklist for an “inspection report”. Then, as they go through the inspection checklist, the kids go with and learn about key safety topics.
Learn More: Starts at Eight
6. Create Safety Rules Together
Any time you can include kids in their own learning, they benefit by being better able to remember the information. In this activity, parents create safety rules together with the children in the house. This way, the whole family is on the same page and aware of the safety plan.
Learn More: Empowered Parents
7. Stop, Drop, and Roll
“Stop, Drop, and Roll!” is an old safety adage that still has plenty of relevance. Hopefully a child never actually has to use this action, but if they practice the stop, drop, and roll method, they are better equipped to stop a fire from spreading or creating significant burns.
Learn More: Empowered Parents
8. First Aid Collage
This is a fun art project where kids use medical supplies, like band-aids and gauze, to create a collage and poster. It’s a great way to encourage kids to locate medical supplies and know where to find safety equipment in the house in case of an emergency.
Learn More: Child Fun
9. Safety Songs and Poems
Songs and poems are helpful- especially for things that kids need to memorize. There are a ton of safety-related songs and poems that you can read and teach your kids to help them learn about home safety topics like bike safety, water safety, and poison safety.
Learn More: Child Fun
10. Meet Your Neighbors
It’s really important to take your kids to meet your neighbors. In the case of an emergency, kids need to know who they can run to for help. It’s also important for kids to know who their neighbors are when they are answering the door.
Learn More: Boston Mamas
11. Sun Protection Experiment
This sun protection experiment demonstrates the importance of using sunscreen. Kids put handprints on construction paper using sunscreen and regular paint. Then will they see that the handprints with sunscreen are protected from the sun, whereas the other handprints are faded.
Learn More: Life Cubby
12. Spot the Safety Hazard
This is another scavenger hunt activity, but in this one kids are looking for safety hazards. They need to identify the dangerous situation in a picture and then explain why it’s dangerous. This activity helps kids recognize unsafe situations.
Learn More: What U Talking ‘Bout Willis
13. Personal Safety Lesson
In this lesson, kids watch a video on personal safety. Then, they practice responding to different safety scenarios using flash cards with different safety events. They also learn their parents’ phone numbers in case of emergency.
Learn More: Raj Classroom
14. Use a Family Command Center
In this activity, families create a command center together. The center should have everyone’s schedule, as well as the phone numbers of the fire department, police department, and a trusted family friend or relative.
Learn More: Schlage
15. “X” Marks the Poison Prevention
In this activity, kids look for “poison” by locating the “X”. This helps kids recognize that “X” means off limits. Then they can help parents mark “X”s on everything in the house that should be off limits.
Learn More: Disaster Rally
16. Let’s Visit
Family field trips are another fun way for kids to learn about safety. Families can visit the fire station, the police station, and other places in town to learn about safety like the electric company, schools, and the family doctor’s office.
Learn More: Disaster Rally
17. Imaginative Logic
Imaginative logic is a type of play where kids learn about new information by “playing”. For example, a parent gives a scenario like, “What would happen if you crossed the street without looking?” and kids must then demonstrate what would happen using dolls and toys.
18. Home Safety Coloring
Kids love to color. Using this home safety coloring packet, kids will color pages that show different safety scenarios. Kids color the pages while also learning about how to stay safe at the home.
Learn More: Arizona.edu
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