Help children become safer, more confident pedestrians with Footsteps

With the Easter holidays just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to practise road safety skills with your children or grandchildren – and our Road Safety Education team have just the thing to help get you started. Their Footsteps guide and new videos for parents and carers are packed with practical tips, questions and activities, to help you to teach your child the skills needed to use the road safely, while you are out and about together.

It’s never too early to start building good habits. Use our scavenger hunt with younger children, so they begin to notice traffic and the world around them.

Here are some top tips to use when you’re out and about:

Ask questions

The most valuable thing you can do is ask your child plenty of open questions to find out what they know and understand.

Try questions like:

• Are we always safe on a pavement or path?
• Why does the kerb go down in places, what might happen there?
• Does the green man always mean go?
• How can you tell if a vehicle might be about to move?
• What colour lights up at the back of a vehicle when it is reversing or moving backwards out of a space?
• What colour lights up at the back of a vehicle when it is reversing or moving backwards out of a space?

Check your child understands the words you are using and take it at their pace. As your child shows you that they can cope, you can move on to more challenging tasks. You know your child best, so you will know when they are ready to go out without you.

Involve your child in decision making

When you’re out and about, involve your child in decision-making to help them to think for themselves about how best to keep themselves safer around roads and traffic. You could ask your child to choose a good place to cross the road and ask why they have made that decision? Ask your child where traffic might come from, if you are near a T junction or driveway, can they identify all the directions?

It can be easy to just tell your child when and where it’s safe to cross the road but that won’t prepare them for the time you are no longer accompanying them.  By asking them questions you are encouraging them to be more aware of traffic. Getting them to tell you where and when they think it’s safe to cross helps them develop the risk assessment skills they will need when the time comes for them to go out without you.

Practise, practise, practise

Road safety is a life skill that can only be learned over time and with practise in a variety of locations. While you’re out and about, use the simple activities and ideas in our Footsteps guide to give your child the opportunity and experience needed to eventually become a safer, independent pedestrian.

And remember – always be a good role model as your child will copy what you do!

Get started with Footsteps

Take a look at the step-by-step guide and brilliant new videos showing the training in action.