Roads, footpaths, driveways and shopping centre car parks can pose a number of hazards for young children.
Walking is an important part of a child’s life. It is important for their health, fitness, and their ability to get around their neighbourhood. Getting to and from school may also rely on walking.
Before 5 years of age children should never be left alone to cope with traffic situations. It is important that you hold your child’s hand at all times when near traffic. Set a good example for your child to copy. Explain to your child what you are doing when you cross the road together.
From 5 to 9 years, children should still be supervised at all times near traffic.
Tips to keep your child safe
- Hold hands when crossing the road.
- Set a good example for children around traffic. Children are always watching – they want to be grown up like older children and adults.
- Talk with children about traffic and road safety.
STOP at the kerb
LOOK both ways for traffic
LISTEN for traffic
THINK about whether it’s safe to cross
Elmo Stays Safe
Sesame Street's Elmo and Grover Help Keep Kids Safe In New South Australian Road Safety Program
We were excited to roll out the Elmo Stays Safe road safety education program to all early childhood sites across SA during 2015. The program, developed by Kidsafe in partnership with Sesame Workshop (the non-profit educational organisation behind Sesame Street), and supported by the Motor Accident Commission, Holden, Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure and RAA, teaches pre-school aged children about safe road practices including child restraints, crossing the road, carpark safety, driveway safety and walking down the street.
The program was officially be launched by Minister for Road Safety, the Hon Tony Piccolo MP and Minister for Education and Child Development, the Hon Susan Close MP during Global Road Safety Week – Monday 4th May 2015.
Featuring Elmo, Grover and our favourite friends from Sesame Street, the storybook was written to help educators involve children in learning and discussion about staying safe while on the go. Throughout the storybook, keep an eye out for Crossing Supervisor Grover icons! They appear to indicate learning activities that will reinforce a road safety message on that page. While reading with children and completing the activities on the cards, you can guide children’s learning by helping them to reflect on the importance of certain road safety practices.
The learning opportunities presented in the Elmo Stays Safe resources are designed to link with the philosophy of the National Quality Framework - namely the Early Years Learning Framework and the National Practices for Early Childhood Road Safety Education.
The Elmo Stays Safe resource packs were distributed to 2000 early childhood sites across South Australia.
This program enables children an early, consistent, and unambiguous presentation of road safety messages, and influence their knowledge and attitude toward road safety now and into the future.
Storybook, Learning Experiences and Resources
As part of the program, a storybook and range of learning experiences have been developed to reinforce key messages to children and their families on how to be safe in vehicles and around roads, driveways and car parks. You can download these for free below!
Ipad App and E-Book
For more information on road safety visit our resources tab