Water safety - Up at Busy Bees

Aysha and Ayaan's story

Aysha’s son Ayaan is 3. Ayaan likes finding out about people who help us, he loves animals and days out with his family. Aysha accessed ‘Safety with Buzz’ on the UP and found some activities she and Ayaan could do at home.

Aysha said “I’ve always been very safety conscious at home, making sure that Ayaan knows what he is and isn’t allowed to touch and he is really good with hygiene. I really liked the ‘Water safety’ top tips that I found on UP. My husband and I started talking to Ayaan about being safe around water and now he is really good, he tells his friends now; “make sure you are careful near the water!” We found some really simple activities that we could do at home to help his understanding. Ayaan loved them and I feel so reassured knowing that he understands more about water safety.”

Take a look at one of the water safety experiences below.

Build a fence

This experience is suitable for children aged three to five and supports them in understanding how to stay safe near water.

What you will need:

• Tin foil
• Water
• Building bricks
• Small world animals

Safety first

Always supervise your child when carrying out experiences with water.

How to carry out this experience:

Encourage your child to bend and fold the foil to create a pond and then pour some of the water inside.

Ask your child to think about what they might need to do to make the pond safe so that the animals don’t fall in.

Show your child the bricks and encourage them to build a fence around the pond. Talk about why the fence is there and how it keeps you safe.

How does this help my child’s development?

As your child pieces the bricks together and manipulates the foil they develop their fine motor skills.

This experience increases your child’s understanding of water safety around ponds and lakes.

Your child will begin to understand why barriers are put up around ponds and why they should not pass the boundaries unless accompanied by an adult.