LESSON PLAN 1Unit: CHILDREN’S ENVIRONMENT

Suggested Themes: My Neighborhood, My Family: Where Do You Live?

Theme: Where Do You Live?

Age-Appropriate: Preschoolers

Objectives: Helping children become familiar with the physical environment of their homes and neighborhoods

Materials: Books about different lifestyles: living in the country, the city, and the suburbs; dramatic play materials to play house or farm; bulletin board with pictures depicting different lifestyles; magazines for children to cut out pictures

Lesson: Talk about different lifestyles and read the book, A Crack in the Wall. Discuss how the boy who lived in the city brought happiness to his environ-ment by changing how he viewed the crack in the wall. Talk about what life is or might be like to live in a city. Ask how living in the country would be different.

Follow-Up: Provide dress-up materials for playing house in the city or the country. Have children cut out pictures of houses, apartments, and so forth, in cities and in the country. Have them circle those places that represent their own lifestyles. Put a note on the bulletin board about what was discussed today. Read Come Home with Us later in the day. Talk about how people in different places in the city live. Discuss different ways families do things. Compare differences and similarities.

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LESSON PLAN 2Unit: SAFETY

Suggested Themes: Injury Prevention, Practicing Safe Behaviors, Hazards in My Environment

Theme: Practicing Safe Behaviors

Age-Appropriate: Preschoolers

Objectives: Children should be able to identify and categorize safe and unsafe items in the environment.

Materials: Books; pictures from magazines; paper in the shape of a badge and crayons; police offi cer badges and hats; stop sign, stop light; box of items to sort for safety

Lesson: Talk about safe behaviors to practice on a daily basis, like crossing the street, staying away from medicines or poisons, using seat belts, staying away from strangers, not playing with matches or guns, and so forth. Talk about people who help keep us safe, like police offi cers, fi refi ghters, and so on. Have a box of items to show one at a time to children, and have them sort those items that promote safety, such as a stop sign, from those that may cause problems, such as an unlit candle. Sort them into two boxes. Talk about things that may keep young children safe in the early childhood education environment. Take a safety walk around the indoor and outdoor environ-ment. Point out the things that help keep the children safe.

Follow-Up: Have safety books available in the library. Read Dinosaurs Beware: A Safety Guide. Observe dramatic area for play with props such as police badges, uniforms. Offer badge-shaped paper to color on. Hand out par-ent information sheet about safe practices.

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LESSON PLAN 3Unit: SAFETY

Suggested Themes: Fire Safety/“Stop, Drop, Roll, Cool, and Call”; Poison Safety; Indoor Water Safety; Toy Safety; Electrical Safety

Theme: Fire Safety

Age-Appropriate: Preschoolers and kindergartners

Objectives: Children will demonstrate “Stop, Drop, Roll, Cool, and Call” and participate in a fi re drill.

Materials: Fire hats, uniforms, and other props for dramatic play area; books; cut shapes of a smoke alarm to color; bulletin board featuring STOP! DROP! ROLL! COOL! and CALL!

Lesson: Visit a fi restation or fi rehouse. A fi refi ghter will show a uniform, including full gear. Talk about how important it is to listen to fi refi ghters if they are trying to rescue us. Have a fi refi ghter show the fi re engine and other equipment and how it works. If the children are not allowed in the fi re sta-tion, have the fi refi ghter come to you (this varies from area to area).

Have a fi refi ghter demonstrate “Stop, Drop, Roll, Cool, and Call.” If pos-sible, have children practice now. Otherwise, practice when children have returned to care.

Follow-Up: A great number of books are available in the library. Read Fire Diary. Observe dramatic play area for fi refi ghter/fi re station play. Talk about safe behaviors that help support fi refi ghters. Talk about smoke alarms and how they work. Listen to one. Put out smoke alarm cutouts for coloring.

Talk about how to get out of fi res. Talk about fi re drills. Hand out infor-mation sheets for parents. Include a request to have them diagram their home and create a fi re drill for evacuation, then practice it. Several days later, have a fi re drill.

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LESSON PLAN 4Unit: SAFETY

Theme: Using Traffi c Signs and Signals to be Safe

Age-Appropriate: This may be presented to mixed age or preschoolers only. Toddlers may not grasp idea by themselves, but may model behaviors of older children.

Objectives: Children will be able to identify traffi c signs and signals that help them to be safe.

Materials: A standing pretend stoplight; a fl annelboard and fl annel cut-outs; a hand-held stop sign; a whistle; a bulletin board about traffi c safety; block area set up for street, street signs, and cars

Lesson: Tell a fl annelboard story about Bobby and the traffi c signs to chil-dren during group time. Ask children when they see these signs in their environment.

Practice what red lights, green lights, and yellow lights mean, using the standing stoplight. Repeat several times. Show the stop sign and ask children what it means. Demonstrate the whistle, and talk about traffi c guards and how they help children. Ask the children what signs are around when they cross the street. Talk about crossing safety.

• Always cross the street in a crosswalk.• Stay on the curb and look both ways.• When there is no traffi c or the traffi c is stopped, it is safe to cross.• Look both ways again and then cross.Discuss how this would be different in the case of a stoplight. Practice

traffi c light crossing safety by playing “Red Light, Green Light” for several minutes to reinforce the idea.

Follow-Up: Have traffi c lines drawn outside on playground surface. Take out the traffi c signal and traffi c sign. Children can get on trikes and wagons and practice traffi c safety. Whistles are available for guiding traffi c. Give par-ents a handout requesting they practice the traffi c safety procedures that are included.

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LESSON PLAN 5Unit: SAFETY

Suggested Themes: Poisonous Plants, Car Travel Safety, Bicycle or Riding Toy Safety, Water Safety, Playground Safety, Neighborhood Safety. Choose only those that are appropriate to care site.

Theme: Car Travel Safety/Buckle Up

Age-Appropriate: Preschoolers and kindergartners

Objectives: Children display safety measures to use when in a car, truck, or bus.

Materials: Chairs set up in dramatic play area to simulate a four- or six-passenger car with a steering wheel for the driver; books; bulletin board on travel safety; toy cars to paint on paper; toy cars, buses, and trucks; outside, a gas station set up for trikes and wagons; magazines for pictures of vehicles

Lesson: During group time, read When I Ride in a Car. Talk about safety in the car: always buckle up, no hands out the windows, speak with indoor voices, and so forth. Talk about how safety might be different in a bus or in a truck. Compare behaviors.

Follow-Up: Go on a fi eld trip in a car or bus. Practice what children learned. Observe children in dramatic play area playing car or bus. Put books about vehicles in library. Encourage children to play gas station in outdoor area and have them practice safe behaviors while on their “vehicles.”

Have children use toy cars for painting. Have children cut pictures of vehicles out of magazines. Discuss safety while they are doing the task. Give parents an information sheet on travel safety. Include a few tips on how to survive travel with children.

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LESSON PLAN 6Unit: SAFETY

Suggested Themes: First Aid, Disaster Preparedness, Fire Drills, Earthquake, Tornado, Hurricane

Theme: Fire Drills

Age-Appropriate: Toddlers, preschoolers, and school-aged children are all capable of understanding this information at some level. Toddlers may model the behavior without understanding it, but that modeling could save their lives.

Objectives: Children will display safety measures for fi re drills and be able to explain how to keep safe from fi res.

Materials: A fi re drill bell or buzzer; clearly marked exits; sign or poster that shows stop, drop, roll, cool, and call concept; a bulletin board with fi re safety, fi re drill information; a safe place outdoors to meet during the fi re drill

Lesson: Invite a fi refi ghter to talk about fi res and how they destroy things and hurt people. Talk about how things can be replaced, but people cannot. Discuss the importance of getting out of a fi re. Have students practice a fi re drill. Have fi reman demonstrate “Stop, Drop, Roll, Cool, and Call.” Children will practice “Stop, Drop, Roll, Cool, and Call.” At one point during the day, have a random fi re drill so children can practice while the ideas are fresh in their minds.

Follow-Up: Read the book When There Is a Fire, Go Outside. Give par-ents information about home fi re drills and ask them to practice at home. Once a month conduct a random fi re drill in the early childhood education environment.

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LESSON PLAN 7Unit: SAFETY

Suggested Themes: Keeping safe on the playground, playground safety

Theme: Playground safety

Age-Appropriate: Kindergarten, fi rst-, and second-graders

Objectives: Helping children become familiar with the physical environment of their playground and having safe behaviors

Materials: Books about different parts of the playground and how to be safe on the different types of equipment.

Lesson: Talk about different playground equipment and the safe behaviors for that equipment. Read Please Play Safe! Penguin’s Guide to Playground Safety, Playground Safety (Be Safe!), and Staying Safe at School on three different days.

Follow-Up: Take the children out to different parts of the playground and have two or three children demonstrate unsafe behaviors, then the correct safe behaviors. Have children draw pictures of how to be safe on the equip-ment and how not to be safe. Have them circle those behaviors that are not safe. Have children work in small groups and write out some safety rules. Get all children back together and write out a set of playground safety rules to follow. Post the safety rules in the classroom.

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Families

Where I liveHouse

Condo Apartment

Country

City

Brothers &sisters

Parents

Animals

Other

Suburbs

Sports

Read

Clean

Play games Church Shop

Cook

Uncles CousinsAunts

Grandparents

“Almost”relatives

Neighbors

Friends

People inmy family

Activitieswe do

Trips

Rec Center

Out to eat

Beach Park

Movies

Places wego for fun

Relatives& friends

Topic Map for Interpersonal Safety

Fire andFire Safety

Fireman orwoman

Our friends?

Camp firering

Fireplace

Stove orrange

Other(list)

FurnaceBBQ

At home

Heater Fireplace

Fire truck HosesHat orhelmet

Suits

ShoesOther

Ladder

Where are firessafe to use?

Man made

Accident

Nature

Lightening

How dofires start?

Fireman’sequipment

What dothey do?

Dogs? Fire houseTopic Map for Fire and Fire Safety

NaturalDisasters

Tornadoes

Our friends?

Types ofdestruction

When?Where?

Lightening

Forests

RainTypes

Wind

Type ofdestruction

Ocean water

Snow WindTypes of

destruction

Intensity

Where?When?

How?

Wild fire

Types ofdestruction

When? Where?

Earth shakes

How?

Earthquakes

Where?

How?

When? Names

Hurricane

BlizzardsWhat dothey do?

Dogs? Fire houseTopic Map for Natural Disasters

Children’s Books on Safety and EnvironmentBajaj, V., & Bates, I. (2004). How many kisses do you want tonight? New York, NY:

Little, Brown. (A book about bedtime rituals)Bourgeois, P. (2001). Franklin rides a bike. Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press.Bourgeois, P. (2000). Franklin’s bicycle helmet. Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press.Bourgeois, P. (2002). Franklin’s neighborhood. Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press.Braun, S. (2004). I love my daddy. New York, NY: HarperCollins.Braun, S. (2004). I love my mommy. New York, NY: HarperCollins.Brown, M., & Krensky, S. (1984). Dinosaurs, Beware! A Safety Guide. New York, NY:

HarperCollins.Calmenson, S. (2007). May I pet your dog? The how-to guide for kids meeting dogs

(and dogs meeting kids). New York, NY: Clarion Books.Cavizel, G. (2005). Street safety hints. Hauppauge, NY: Barron’s Educational Series.Cuyler, M. (2006). Please play safe! Penguin’s guide to playground safety. New York,

NY: Simon and Schuster’s Children’s Publishing.Cuyler, M., & Yoshikawa, S. (2002). Kindness is cooler, Mrs. Ruler. New York, NY:

Simon and Schuster’s Children’s Publishing.Cuyler, M., & Howard, A. (2001). Stop, drop, and roll. New York, NY: Simon and

Schuster. (A book about fi re safety)DeCock, N. (2003). The girl and the elephant. Berkeley, CA: Tricycle Press. (A book

about friendship)Gross, P. (1996). Stranger safety. Gulfport, FL: Roo Publications. (Adventure with a

kangaroo and stranger safety)Harker, L. (2003). I can be safe: A fi rst look at safety. Hauppauge, NY: Barron’s

Educational Series.Harris, R. (2003). Go! go! Maria: What it’s like to be 1. Macmillan, NY: Margaret

K. McElderry. (The tale of a one-year old’s life in her family)Hicks, E. (2007). Ready Freddie: Getting ready for fi res. Charleston, SC: Booksurge

Publishing. Hill, M. (2003). Signs on the road. Connecticut: Children’s Press. (Book about reading

street signs)Kotke, J. (2000). A day with fi refi ghters. Danbury, CT: Children’s Press. Kotke, J. (2000). A day with paramedics. Danbury, CT: Children’s Press. Kotke, J. (2000). A day with police offi cers. Danbury, CT: Children’s Press. Kurtz, J. (2005). Do kangaroos wear seatbelts? New York, NY: Dutton Juvenile.Leaney, C. & Wilks, P. (2003). Look out: A story about safety on bicycles. Vero Beach,

FL: Rourke Publishing.Mattern, J. (2007). Staying safe at school. Delran, NJ: Weekly Reader Early Learning

Library.Mattern: J. (2007). Staying safe on the school bus. Delran, NJ: Weekly Reader Early

Learning Library.Moran, L., Moran, C., & Findlay, L. (2005). Big Cindy’s school bus. New York, NY:

Random House.Newson, T. ( 2007). Student safety tips: 40 things that every 1st and 2nd grader

should know. Los Angeles: Carrington Books.Penton Overseas Press. (2005). It’s time to call 911. Carlsbad, CA: Penton Overseas

Book and Access Division.Pancella, P. (2005). Playground Safety (Be Safe!). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press.Pendziwol, J., & Gourbault, M. (2005). A treasure At sea for dragon and me: Water

safety for kids (and dragons). Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press.Pendziwol, J., & Gourbault, M. (2001). No dragons for tea: Fire safety for kids (and

dragons). Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press.Ross, M., & Long, S. (2004). Snug as a bug. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. (This

book follows different bugs and how they are made snug . . . like different families.)

Ryder, J., & Sweet, M. (2004). Won’t you be my kissaroo? New York, NY: Gulliver Books. (Journey of a sheep through town watching many families kissing their children)

Smart Kids Publishing. (2005). Safe at home: Indoor safety—What would you do? Gamebook. Carmel, NY: Candy Cane Press.

Smart Kids Publishing. (2005). Safe at play. Carmel, NY: Candy Cane Press.Smart Kids Publishing. (2005). Safe at home. Carmel, N.Y.: Candy Cane Press.Wallace, J., & Horse, H. (2004). Anything for you. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

(At bedtime the baby promises his mother that he would do anything for her because he loves her so much.)

White, A., & Morales, Y. (2004). Sand sister. Cambridge, MA: Barefoot Books. (About a lonely girl and her imaginary playmate)

Willems, M. (2003). Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus. New York, NY: Hyperion. (This book follows a pigeon going through his emotions, much like a preschooler’s emotions, and getting what he wants.)

Willems, M. (2004). Knuffl e bunny. New York, NY: Hyperion. (Follows a very young girl around her neighborhood looking for her stuffed bunny; when she fi nds him she says her fi rst word.)