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

[hdh747]

Have bags of patience. Since we need to teach them to cross the road for themselves eventually, let them look and listen and tell us when it is clear. And if they aren't sure keep waiting and helping until they are. Always set a good example - no shortcuts when you are crossing the road without them but they can see you. Make sure older children also set a good example.

[badgermum]

My boys were taught at an early age to always find a safe place to cross, away from parked cars, Stop at the kerb then listen and Look right, Look left Look right again and only then If the road is clear, cross quickly and sensibly and all the time keep looking and listening for traffic as you cross.

[goose1964]

Always cross the road correctly when you're with them, id they are old enough tell them when other people do something wrong & explain why

[glennamy]

We always use zebra crossing and only once the traffic has stopped... If crossing at traffic lights we always have to wait for the green man to show. We also keep looking both ways to ensure nothing is approaching illegally.

[andreaca]

I still use the STOP LOOK and LISTEN code, It`s what I was taught when I was little and Ive passed it on to my children.

[burstlikeabubble]

Always wait until traffic has stopped in both directions before crossing at a zebra crossing (or any other crossing) as I see a lot of people either don't see you or are rude and will not stop!

[clopper]

We've done the usual find a safe place and look both ways but I've concentrated a lot on listening as I think a lot of people don't use their ears as well as they could. I've seen lots of teenagers put themselves in a dangerous position by listening to music or connected to phones, so we always point this out. We practise at quiet times and walk up on the opposite side of the road so they can practise crossing back and forth when there is very little traffic to build confidence and judgement about how and where to stand. I think it's always important to emphasise walking a little bit further such as away from a corner to be extra safe. Living in a city I found the hardest thing to teach was judging the safe distance and speed of a car as you often have to cross on quite busy roads and there are not always crossings available.

[IonaAilidh11]

always use the green man, kids will copy what you do and say so show them the right way every time

[StDogolphin]

Lots of practice, they wont learn if they are in the car all the time.

[MAForster]

Constantly repeating from the age of about one a simple message about the danger of cars.

[DoItTooJulia]

My ds is desperate to walk to school on his own but the roads he has to cross to get there are difficult.

So we practice a lot. He needs reminding to keep looking once he's decided to cross. We talk about it a lot too.
I read once that a huge number of children didn't actually realise it would hurt if they got hit by a car. So I've made that clear too.

[akbn]

I tracked down and showed my kids the hedgehog campaign, that was a fantastic way of explaining road safety in a simple and entertaining way.

The kids love toy cars so, using their action figures and the remote control cars, I set up a mini safety 'racecourse' for them.

I've also explained to them the dangers of road safety, but having taught it once, I now allow them to direct things and ask them questions as to why we should 'wait for the green man'

[joroberts79]

Practice, practice and more practice. Trying to walk everywhere rather than drive so they get used to the roads and paths and the rules

[SerenityReynolds]

We're just going with constant repetition and inviolable rules about what we do at roads (wait for adult, hold hands, look/listen before and during). Always use crossings/wait for green Man etc to set a good example. I cringe when I see people with kids crossing dangerously.

[alsproject]

Always teach them to follow the Green Cross Code and to STOP, LOOK and LISTEN.

[Gazelda]

Stop, look and listen. Always use a crossing if there is one nearby. Show by example, and give them the opportunity to say when it is safe to cross.

I make a point of walking to school as often as possible, even though it is inconvenient and gives me a hellish drive to work. I think it's important that children are used to busy roads, peak times etc.

My DD once ran towards our parked car, and was just about to go into the road to get to the side where she knew her car seat was. I was distracted (chatting to MIL) but had a sixth sense about what she was doing. I yelled very loudly at her, scaring the life out of her (and me!). She immediately stopped and started crying her little eyes out. MIL tried to pacify her, saying that I had only shouted to stop her running the road. I was fuming with both her and me, and told MIL not to pacify her because it was a sharp wake up call for both DD and I. And it was - neither of us have forgotten it. She is far more conscious about road safety and I am far more alert to where she is at all times.

[littleme96]

We live in a village so take the opportunity when we go to town to talk about the different types of crossing and road safety at busy roads. At home, we talk to them about how you should cross safely and where is best to position yourself so that you can see round awkward junctions.

We are now getting them to make decisions on if it is safe to cross and to trust their own instincts. They are finding this tricky and hesitate so much that they sometimes lose the opportunity to cross safely! They'll get there as they get older though.

[alabaster002]

Don't cut corners when crossing the road - your children learn by example!

[claireblaney123]

When my daughter was little i used to tell her what to do & drill it into her & when she got a little bigger i used to ask her is it safe to cross yet & let her make to choice for us so i could tell if she was learning about road safety & then i new when she was finally safe to do it on her own

[Byrdie]

We do the stop look listen and my 5 year old leant at age three but added 'think' to the end so we stop, look, listen and then think. By which time we have to start again as a car has turned up. I'm also one that never ever crosses without the green man at traffic lights whenever i have the kids with me. I tell them to ignore whatever anyone else is doing as i'm their mummy not anyone elses.

[Kangakate]

Setting a good example from the beginning is key, our dog also helps to set an example by sitting and waiting at the curb until we tell her to cross, we get the kids to check that it's all safe before we let her cross, gives them a sense of responsibility

[cheryl100]

I try to act as a role model - we always cross at pelican crossings and wait for a large gap between cars on smaller roads.

[stefalfie11]

Definitely repitition to show them what is expected of them when crossing but also key rules such as firstly they should look left, then look right and then look left again before crossing and also that they shouldn't be listening to music or concentrating on their mobile phones/ipods.

[jt75]

At the pelican crossing check that the cars have stopped before you cross with the green man.

[cluckyhen]

My eldest is ASD and both children have lived both here and abroad so we had a nightmare with Road Safety. DS still has dramas as his impulsivity sometimes takes over but my DD was always taught to listen profusely and to look all around her (we had cycle lanes to contend with too). We found a watch or bracelet on the arm with traffic heading closest to you worked in teaching them to look R then L (here) or vice versa (abroad). It was easier abroad as they had to use designated crossings.