Primary: age 5-7 teaching ideas

Under-8s shouldn't use roads without an adult and can't be expected to make their own choices when using roads. However, they can be taught rules and encouraged to follow them, and you can help develop their understanding of the dangers on roads and how to avoid them. This will help ensure that as they start to gain independence, road safety is already well engrained. You can explore road safety as part of subjects such as literacy, maths, and science (see lesson ideas below).

See our information on 'what to teach' for more advice before you get started and see our resources section for materials to help you. You can also make use of Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency's education web pages.

In literacy

Expand children's road safety vocabulary to include words like pedestrian, zebra crossing, kerb, while talking about road safety.

This activity could be delivered using an interactive white board if you have one, or using a tablet or computer for a small group, by showing a picture of a street scene and asking the children to name different street features.

In science or numeracy

Measure your children's height and weigh them. Then talk to them about how they are small, and traffic is big. Because they are small they find it difficult to see traffic. Because they are small they have to be in a special seat in their car. Photocopy our letter to send home to parents and fill in the blanks with the children's height and weight, then put it in children's 'book bags' so they can talk about road safety with their parents when they get home.

Discuss scenarios together

Present scenarios using pictures, film clips or demonstrations on the playground or in the school hall and discuss them with the children. For example, 'Ahmed's ball is in the road because he threw it over the fence by accident. What should he do now?' or 'Where is a safe place to play? Let's name some around here.'

Creative projects
Draw or paint posters of people on pavements holding hands and vehicles on roads. Discuss how holding hands keeps children safe. Write road safety slogans for the posters and display them where parents will see them.

Paint an ambulance

Ask the children to paint an ambulance in its bright colours. Discuss why it is painted brightly - so people can see it coming, when it's travelling fast. Discuss, with appropriate sensitivity, how the ambulance could be carrying someone to hospital who has been hurt on the road. You can help make sure this isn't you by staying away from the road.

Experiment with wheels

In a large room, send a large toy truck racing across the floor. Discuss how trucks go faster because they are on wheels. Wheels are fast, and traffic can go really fast - much faster than the faster person can run. A car or truck might look a long way away but it can get to you fast and hit you hard.

Do a seat belt experiment

Belt up a small teddy into a toy car using ribbon. Put another teddy in another toy car without a seat belt. Carry out experiments using slopes and obstacles to demonstrate that the teddy who doesn't wear a seat belt can fall out and get hurt.

Bake for Brake!
Follow this traffic light biscuit recipe and use it to talk about the colours of traffic lights and what they mean. Red means stop, green means go - always wait till you see the green man at a pelican crossing.

Sing a road safety song

Get the children to do actions in time to the song using the words stop, go, pavement and hold hands. You could invent new verses to 'Wheels on the bus' such as 'The children and the grown ups all hold hands, all hold hands, all hold hands'.

Listen to some recordings of road noises

Play recordings of road noises, e.g. an ambulance, car, pedestrian crossing beeping. What are they? Can the children match them with pictures you hold up? Listen out for noises on roads; it can warn you that traffic is coming.