Safety and Shapes

Shape and Safety Day!

Daily Question: Do you know what safety means?

Toys: Shape Puzzles, Shape Sorter, Patterns and Shapes (Discovery Toys), Moon Sand, Zhu zhu, and Tinker Toys.

Snack: Sugar Snap Peas, Ranch, and Ritz Crackers

SHAPES: We started out the day by playing a shape game. We've reviewed shapes before in preschool and most of the children know their basic shapes. Today, Ms. Jessica introduced a rhombus (diamond), pentagon, hexagon, and octagon. The children learned to count the sides of the shape to help them figure out which shape it was. Each child got to pick a shape or object out of the bag and tell what shape it was. 

 Circle Time: "What is safety?" "Has your mom or dad ever said, 'Be safe!'?"

We began the discussion by reading a book about different ways to stay safe. Then the children each came up with their own ideas. I was impressed with how original they were!

After the discussion, we learned the correct way to cross a street. We learned to approach a street, listen, and look one way, the other way, and then back the first way. We got to practice crossing the play mat and running to "our best friend's house." Many of the children wanted to do it multiple times!

We then learned about safety signs that they may see around the city. With each sign, we reviewed the shape it was and then they guessed what it meant. We learned signs such as: traffic lights, crosswalk, railroad, poison, caution, and crosswalk signs.

We then used our new knowledge to play Red Light, Green Light with the crosswalk signs!

Safety Tips to Talk About at Home:  

• Remember your 1-2-3s!  Stop, Look and Listen before crossing the street.
•  Cross at a cross walk. If you are lost, what do you do?  
• Stay put! Look for a mother with a baby/ children or a person in a uniform. Go up to them and ask them to help you. Tell them your full name* (we practiced this), phone number*, parent's names*, and address*. 
• Wear your seat belt. 
• Ask permission to go somewhere.

* It is felt that by five years, children can learn and memorize these things. Please practice these things at home.

Safety and S Books:

Safety City: All About Street Signs* (Panoramic Pop-up Book) Rodman/DeKlerk
What to Do if You Get Lost by Cynthia MacGregor

Play it Safe: A Book About Safety All Year Round, Joan Webb, Terry Super

Shapes (The Wild Bunch, pop ups-flaps) by Igloo Books 

Silly Sally by Audrey Wood (Big Cardboard book and audio CD)
Officer Buckle and Gloria (Caldecott Medal Winner) by Peggy Rathmann, Audio tape. Guide for Parents, Childcraft. "Health and Safety of the School-Age Child," pg. 75.
Be Safe, Blue!