Safety Games for Kids – Play Based Learning
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Online gaming is an activity that is on the rise in developed countries. Games are not exclusively for children in the modern era as the number of adults gaming is as high as it has ever been. However, this does not mean that the targeting of games towards children has stopped.
Millions of children across the globe engage in online gaming. While this is a fun activity for kids, it does have its dangers, especially for young users. Thus, parents need to inform the children about these dangers and teach them how they can stay safe. It is impossible to keep an eye on your child at all times. Hence, developing the decision-making abilities of kids is essential to keep them safe.
Despite the focus on allowing the child to take responsibilities, it is also vital to implement features or boundaries at home that will promote safety. Safety games for kids can provide experience of using the internet and raise the awareness of security among the kids.
Safety Games for Kids at Home
While online games and other games can provide kids with information about safety, other non-screen based activities can be carried out by kids at home. These activities are fun, and they allow the kids to learn basic safety guidelines such as traffic signs and emergency numbers they can call when they are in of assistance.
Physical Activity
#1: Stop, Drop, and Roll
This is one physical activity that the kids will enjoy as it can be carried out by multiple kids. The purpose of this activity is that it allows parents to introduce a fire safety activity. This teaches the children how to react safely in the event of a fire.
#2: Sidewalk Safety Game
The teacher can introduce this game at school, and kids can easily play at home. The focus of the game is to introduce the concept of safety in the everyday life of the child. To play the game all that is needed is some colored chalk to draw on the sidewalk or some cones. Kids can draw danger signs and other symbols to avoid in hopscotch squares.
Parents can also incorporate bike safety lessons for kids by putting out cones on the sidewalk. These can be used to teach kids how to safely maneuver and turn on their bikes and also the dangers of road traffic.
This means that the child can remain safe even when under minimal supervision as they learn the basics of safety. To make the game enjoyable, the kids can be given certificates as their prize.
Safety Board Games and Puzzles
#1: Jett’s Crossword Puzzle
While the U.S. Fire Administration offers puzzles about safety at home, there are plenty of other safety crossword puzzles available. The crossword puzzles aim to test the comprehension of the child as it relates to safety at home. There are different puzzles that include safety as it pertains to traffic lights and other scenarios.
#2: An A-Maze-ing Escape
This game will allow the kids to practice various scenarios in printed versions. The puzzles can be printed, and it also involves multi-choice questions. These games can also be jigsaw puzzles as they are aimed at ensuring the kids do succeed in learning the basic safety rules. Advantages of such board games are that they allow the parents to evaluate what the kids do not know about safety.
Internet Safety Games
While online gaming provides plenty of options for children to learn about safety, the parents need to be mindful about the games that the kids are playing. The parents need to check the rating of the games to determine whether the games are suitable for the children.
Safety awareness games are available where children can play in their own time. While these games are fun and engaging, children knowingly learn the tips to ensure that they can play safely and also walk safely.
Caution about internet safety games: While online safety games aim to teach children about the safety guidelines, it does expose the child to many threats. Thus, it is important to play with the child, especially when they are young, and this allows the parent to monitor the interactions with other players.
The child should also be taught to only engage with individuals that you both know. To ensure that the child follows the rules, it is crucial to have conversations which are targeted towards internet safety as it pertains to gaming. Scheduling is yet another critical aspect of implementing safety games for kids as it prevents gaming addiction which is evident in older children who are miserable with time management.
Adding Safety in Pretend Play
Safety is a point of focus that can be added to the kid’s pretend play. Pretend play can cover a host of scenarios such as a hospital or fire station. Kids just love dressing up in construction site safety gear too.
These safety games create an opportunity to introduce the child to safety guidelines associated with each of the scenarios. The parent should monitor the play of the children and guide them on the safety features that they are executing wrongly or some they do not know. Pretend play is a spontaneous game that can happen at home or at school. Hence, the repeated nature of the game allows the child to gain a fundamental understanding of the safety features.
Safety Activity Books
Such books are great for creating safety awareness among kids since they involve engaging activities. Follow this link to download a free copy of the great safety activity at home book from Safekids.org.
The introduction of the books ensures that the learning of safety rules is a continuous process that does not end with physical games. Books can be intriguing for indoor kids as they do have plenty of tips that the child can learn. Discussing with the child about the books ensures that you can evaluate the progress that they have made.
The Bottom Line!
Safety awareness games for kids are an incredible way in which way children can learn how to be responsible. While these games are important, parents and teachers have a role in ensuring that the learning process of the child is successful. Internet safety games require the supervision of the adults who can guide the kids through the execution of the games. The purpose of the monitoring is to ensure that the kids are not exposed to the multiple dangers that exist in the online platform. It is through conversation that the parents can protect the children without making them panic.
