Share your tips on teaching kids about road safety with Churchill Insurance. Win a £300 Love2Shop voucher! NOW CLOSED

[PoppyMumsnet]

Roads can be an intimidating place for children and a worrying place for parents, especially on the school run. Churchill Insurance wants to introduce extra lollipop men and women across Great Britain to help keep our children safe. Churchill would like to know how you teach your children about road safety. Which rules do you pass on about roads and cars? Do you have any fun and creative techniques to make them stick? How old were your children when you started teaching them – and how long did it take for things to sink in?

Lucy Brooksbank, Head of Marketing at Churchill, added: "Lollipoppers are the stalwarts of our communities, national treasures who bring fun and joy to everyone’s school run, as well as importantly keeping children safe. Churchill looks out for customer's best interests, so what better way to demonstrate that than by supporting our Lollipoppers and taking action to keep them on our streets? With child pedestrian casualties during the school run still an issue in the UK, we want to put 50 Lollipoppers on school crossings. We want people from across the UK, whether they are a parent or just concerned about a local crossing to nominate their schools and help to keep children safe during the school run.”

Please share your ideas about teaching road safety with Churchill Insurance below.
Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

Make sure your school has a chance of receiving Lollipopper funding by nominating at //www.churchill.com/lollipoppers

Click here for full T&Cs

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

[Dapootz]

Make looking for the pedestrian crossings fun and make sure children understand that is important to find the safest place to cross the road even if it makes the journey longer.

[hammyhunter]

We talk a lot about stopping and thinking before crossing. We always wait for the green man and we always find the safest place to cross. We live rurally so DS has had to learn from a very early age how to walk along narrow country lanes!

[Minnie43]

I'm all for more lollipop people as the traffic speeds seem to get faster with every day that passes. I started to teach mine at an early age about how dangerous roads are, that they should always stop, look, listen, never cross from behind vehicles/objects and always make sure they can see the road in both directions when crossing.
I have also been on Youtube with them watching road safety videos to drum in how important it is to be safe and that roads are dangerous places for the young and old alike.
Hopefully they're good and keep up what they've been taught when on their own, I do worry that accidents can happen at any time. I always try to buy clothes, bags, shoes with reflective strips, it could just make all the difference between being seen and not.

[whitbyranger]

Constantly reinforce all instructions given. Walk children on the inside of pavements and tell them how important it is that they stop before crossing. They need to use their sight and their hearing to make sure that nothing is coming before crossing.

[katieskatie82]

green cross code is still the best. STOP LOOK LISTEN

[myusername12345]

Always wait for the green man when the kids are with you, however tempting it is to cross when there's nothing coming.

[canonlydoblue]

We live in a very rural area so we're always walking in the road. The first thing we taught our boys was if they saw or heard a vehicle they had to move to the side of the road and stand very still.

[Teddy1410]

I always make sure to stop at a safe place to cross and explain to my niece why we do this. She's only one but I explain what the traffic light colours mean. I think teaching from an early age is important. And also I think that if you talk about it in an exciting way children become interested in it and ask their own questions!

[sjl19]

Always try and set a good example and your children - always use a crossing, look both ways etc

[embabes7]

Always cross in safe places, hold hands with little ones, and make sure they know all aout safety x

[TLAF]

Always check road is clear and get off scooter

[pixelwife]

I have taught my son to use all his senses when crossing the road, not just his eyes. Use ears to hear for oncoming traffic you may not be able to see and use common sense, by not stepping out between parked cars or crossing on corners etc.

[Getzbaby]

Ever since my little girl was old enough to walk to nursery and school, we've reinforced the green cross code and look left, look right, look left again mantra. She is also part of the country wide and I think country wide traffic club, which sends her activity packs and stickers about road safety.

[caz123456]

I make sure I am a positive role model by following the green cross code myself. I also explain the dangers of what would happen if they were knocked over. Some kids genuinely think they are invinsible and that nothing bad will happen to them.

[MAT12]

Start from young, stopping at the curb and getting the children to look both ways and then decide together when its safe to cross. praising them every time.

[Stoodonlegoagain]

When dd was very young we played 'freeze' so if we were near a road we shouted freeze and she would stay where she was, she found it very amusing! Now we look both ways and say and discuss traffic light colours etc.

[GiraffesAndButterflies]

Waiting for the green man if there are any children at the crossing, even if mine aren't with me. We should all participate in collectively teaching road safety, rather than making it harder for parents by setting a bad example to their children.

[casspuss]

i find the school does a lot of good things to teach the kids about road safety x

[chunkychocky]

My money-orientated children both knew the rules and safest places to stop but were too lazy to put it into practice so they get a 'crossing the road fund' as part of their weekly pocket money whereby if we see them crossing the road perfectly at every road for the whole week they get the fund, but nothing for just one wrong mistake. They thought it unfair until we pointed out that one mistake is all it takes to be in an accident. It's almost second nature to cross the road properly now.

[janemphoto]

Follow the rules strictly yourself when out and about with your children

[windowmouse]

Make it fun or into a game and help them understand how important it is

[sarsar123]

Always cross the road in a safe place, narrating what you are doing Stop, look and listen. Play together at home with small world toys, pretend the little people need to cross the road. Loads of talking!!!!

[happysouls]

Teach them over and over and always remember that they are so easily distracted. Let them take charge of your safety so they can feel how important it is! Always make sure they realise the danger of being distracted. They can be so good most of the time, but it only takes one quick moment for it all to go wrong...football out on the road, or seeing a friend. They need to be aware of this and think about it.

[annmariec]

I teach from very young age when my son was in the pushchair, we would always make a game of it like waiting for the green man to come up or we would stand by the side of the road and would have to look left right and left again before we crossed

[bc1616]

Never cross the road wearing earphones