Children aged under 5 years are especially at risk of being injured in accidents that happen at home. However, most accidents that happen at home are preventable and supporting your child's understanding of risks and hazards in the home is a great way to support their awareness and help to keep them safe. Take a look below at some of our top tips for helping your child understand safety at home
Falls are by far the most common causes of accidents in the home; they account for 44 per cent of all children's accidents (ROSPA) Making sure floors and stairs are free from obstacles helps to prevents slips, trips and falls. Involving your child in tidying away their toys not only supports their developing independence skills, but is a great opportunity to talk to them about safety rules. Make tidy up time fun by introducing challenges, for example asking your child to tidy away all the red and blue toys while you tidy away the green and yellow ones. Why not introduce a timer to see how quickly your child can tidy up? Give your child the role of Tidy Up Ranger and explain that they can help everyone stay safe by picking up anything that has been left on the floor at home!
Every year more than 67,000 children experience an accident in the kitchen (ROSPA) It is important to talk to your child about what is dangerous in the kitchen. Developing this understanding will help to keep them safe. Cooking activities provide ideal opportunities to talk to your child about safety rules. They enable them to be involved in activities in the kitchen while developing their understanding, for example that the oven is hot and only grown ups are able to touch it. Even young children can become involved in cooking activities. Have a look at our 'Cooking with Buzz' activities on UP to find out more
Children can drown in less than 3cm of water and should be under constant supervision when in or near any water. You can support your child to understand the dangers of water. For example, make sure they know to shut the toilet lid when they have been to the toilet. At the end of bath time, watch the water draining out together and explain that all the water has gone so it is safe. When going out into the garden help your child to check for any water that might have collected in containers or buckets and encourage them to help you empty it.