A Primer for Preschooler Safety

Your little ones can learn a lot about safety if you take some time to teach them. Keep your lessons simple and even very young children can learn how to stay clear of danger. Here's an ABC rule that you and your children can recite together.

'A': Always ride in a car safety seat

Teach your child to get into his or her safety seat. Always make sure your child sits in the back seat of the car, completely buckled into his or her car seat, even if you're only driving to the nearest convenience store.

'B': Beware of fire

Always keep matches and lighters out of reach of your child. Teach your child never to touch matches and lighters and to tell you or another responsible adult immediately if someone is playing with them.

Make sure children know that if their clothes catch on fire, they should "stop, drop and roll." Young children may take the safety slogans literally and roll only one revolution. So practice rolling with them to extinguish mock flames.

Devise a family escape route, and crawl with them on the floor to practice getting safely out of the house. Make sure they know what your home's smoke alarms sound like.

'C': Call for help with the telephone

Even very young children can learn to call for help by dialing 911 or your local emergency number. Practice dialing the number either on a pretend phone or a disconnected one and stress that the number is used only for emergencies. Tell them not to hang up as that is a key connection that helps emergency services find them. You want them to stay on the line because, if they hang up, the connection is gone.