Educational winter safety programs can be useful when teaching children of all ages about household and outdoor safety. Teachers can create their own curriculum or use one that has been written for them.
Winter Safety
Each year, hundreds of children are injured in winter-related activities. According to University of Michigan Medicine, head trauma is a common winter injury, usually resulting from sledding. Other winter injuries closely follow with snowmobile-related injuries, skiing and snowboarding. Teachers at school can help to educate children about winter injuries with educational winter safety programs. Teachers at each grade level can design course work that focuses on safety while being fun. Use crossword puzzles, coloring pages and short essays to teach children about winter safety.
Educational Winter Safety Program Curriculum
Educators who have been teaching safety classes for many years may find it easy to write their own course work for their students. New teachers may not have covered as much material and will find it helpful to use a pre-written safety curriculum for their students. Luckily, there are many places to find safety information on the Internet, designed especially for teachers, no matter which age group they are teaching.
Safety Topics
Not sure where to begin? Winter safety covers a wide array of activities, from within the home to school and beyond. The following are some topic ideas to get you started:
- Snow blower safety
- Snow mobile safety
- Sports safety - hockey, ice-skating, skiing
- Dressing for winter weather
- Hypothermia and frostbite - how to identify and treat
- Fire and fireplace safety
- Sledding safety
Internet Teaching Materials
The following Web sites offer teaching materials on a variety of safety subjects and student age groups:
- EdHelper - offers a variety of educational materials and printables on many safety issues such as snow blower safety and fireplace safety.
- Kids Health - research information on educational winter safety programs including sledding safety.
- The Electric Safety Foundation - lesson plans for teaching about the dangers of winter and how to stay safe.
- Kids Safety Fair- ideas for teaching children of all ages about safety.
Safety Videos
Teaching children can be enhanced with the use of videos. Many videos can be found for free, or they may be watched for free on the Internet. The following Internet sites either have safety videos for sale, for free or they can be watched for free on the Web site:
- Safety Net Kids - Offers curriculum materials for children's safety that can be purchased
- U.S. Fire Administration for Kids - downloads, printables, graphics, lesson plans and more for free
Teaching Winter Safety to Children
Teaching children at their age level is one of the most important things any instructor can do, especially when it comes to small children. Create or download teaching materials that are designed for a particular age group. This will help to keep each child's attention focused on the important safety tips you are teaching. Use discussion points whenever possible and be sure to ask questions of the children about the points you have covered. Share stories when appropriate as real life experiences often have a big impact, especially with tweens and teens. Educational winter safety programs can help children avoid injuries during the winter months, which as any parent will tell you is a blessing.
