Community Helpers Theme: Police Officers & General Safety

Our table time activity and dramatic lay area were all set up and ready for some fun and learning about Police Officers. This theme seemed like a good one to also incorporate some lessons about general safety. Discussing fire and general safety as a family has been an important part of this week's learning about rescue workers in our community. These conversations are so important and have naturally also led us to ask some questions or put some plans in place where there were previously gaps. Children even as young as preschool age can learn important safety information to help manage an emergency situation should one arise, G-d forbid. Topics you may wish to explore as a family include (but are certainly not limited to):

• what to do in the event of a fire in the home (where exits are in each room/floor, where to meet and stay as a family, what to do if your clothing is on fire
• how to stay safe in busy public places and what to do if they get lost
• who the "safe" adults are in their life and how to identify a safe adult in a public location
• in addition to talking about not talking to strangers, we should also inform our children how to talk to safe strangers (like police officers, security guards, firefighters, EMTs and other rescue workers)
• personal safety and what to do if someone makes them feel uncomfortable (including safe and unsafe touch, parts of their bodies that are private, etc.)
• how to behave around animals outside of the house--even others' pets!
• children should also learn their parents' first and last names, their own full names, their home address and relevant phone numbers
• household safety--what items are safe to use and touch without an adult to help and which are not!
• who is allowed to pick them up at school/from home/from the babysitter and what to do if someone else comes to pick them up (even if it is a famiar person). In this day and age, most schools have policies about authorized pick-up anyway, however it can always be helpful to set up a secret family password that can be used in the event a child is unsure.
• how to dial 911 and what constitutes an emergency

Sometimes these conversations are best had informally and in the moment such topics arise. Talking about staying together is a great thing to do as you arrive at the zoo or museum or theme park. Sometimes children will have questions and these topics can be explored together. Other topics likely do require formal conversation and family meetings and it's a good idea to make a habit of regularly going over them as a family. We do not want to instill undue fears in our little ones; we do want to ensure they have the resources and tools in place should they need them. The good news is that there are a lot of great free resources through your local library, online, through schools and through parenting support and education programs to help us address these topics in an informed and prepared manner!

 We try to supplement more serious subject matter with some fun and play. We had a lot of fun playing some safety-themed gross motor games. I love playing games like this to help my toddler practice staying safe and close to us in public places like the park, museums, etc. We played the classic schoolyard game "Red Light, Green Light" and a slightly more detailed version, "Stop, Go, SLOW!" to help practice walking together in public places. Using games like this in times of play is a great way to practice developing the skills that are required to be prepared for how to behave when you are in a busy public place. We also make a game at our local parks/playgrounds of singing this little song we learned at our library's story time:

(to the tune of "Are You Sleeping?"
Walking, walking,
Walking, walking,
Hop, hop, hop
Hop, hop, hop
Running, running, running,
Running, running, running,
Now we stop!
Now we stop!

When we take the time and make a playful scenario of practicing the important direction of stopping and waiting as soon as an adult requests it, it is easier to practice it in the moment when you are out in public. We use the phrase "stop and wait" with my son, though some parents find it more helpful to use only a positive command in these instances like "freeze" or "pause." Generally speaking, children respond best to a positive command as opposed to being told "don't___" or "no____." We also give prompts in advance when we are out that at a particular point we will have to hold hands or that he may walk ahead but must stop and thus and such a landmark, etc.

My little guy had a lot of fun playing these games together and also especially enjoyed taking a turn to be "the officer" and calling out commands of "Stop," "Go," and "Slow" for me to follow! We found some great fiction and non-fiction children's literature about police officers at our library. My son has for quite some time adored the award winning book Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann. I made sure to include that one in our reading repertoire this week! I was, therefore, not at all surprised by my son's creative dictation in our journal prompt!

Using journals together is a great way to record play and learning adventures through this theme. The only thing more fun than imagining about what you might like to be when you grow up is going back years later and seeing what you had once imagined!

 I wanted to include a fun, hands-on activity related to this theme. Our mommy & me group did a great activity with washable ink pads and fingerprints related to police officers and there are some great ideas and printables online to do this as well. Observing how each of our fingerprints is different can be a great way to mix art and science! I decided to include some fun "detective work" in our police officer theme at home by writing and revealing secret messages and drawings. Using white crayons, we each wrote/drew our secret message. Next we used dot markers over the top (which is resistant to the crayon) to reveal our previously hidden message! This would work as well with watercolor paints and even washable markers. Hint: the harder you press and draw with the white crayons, the easier it will be to see your secret message in the end!

Happy (and SAFE) Playing!