Barney and Friends . Parents and Educators . Lesson Plans

lesson plans

Playground Safety

Suggested Grade Level: Preschool-K

Based on: Barney & Friends #714: "Play It Safe!"

Objectives:
Young children enjoy playing on swings, slides and other equipment at the playground. It is important they learn how to safely use the equipment at an early age to avoid accidents. Children can still have fun while playing correctly and safely.

The children will:

learn how to correctly (and safely) play on playground equipment
know how to have fun and be safe at the same time
Skills:

Following directions
Role-playing
Safety awareness
Materials:

School playground
Directions:
Talk with your students about playground safety while in the classroom. Ask them to name some safety rules they may know. Ask students if they know the importance of following playground safety rules.

Take a trip to your school playground. Walk children around to each piece of equipment and discuss safety rules. Some suggestions include:

slide: sit up, slide feet first, one child at a time.
swing: sit on swing, hold on with two hands, do not run behind a swing in use.
sandbox: keep sand in the box, do not throw sand.
keep "ground cover" on the ground.
Ask students to model appropriate behavior.

Extension:
After visiting the playground and discussing safety rules, go back inside and have children draw pictures of what they've learned. Ask them to take a piece of paper and fold it in half. On one side of the paper, ask them to draw a picture of themselves playing safely. On the other side of the paper, have them draw a picture of themselves playing in an unsafe manner. When everyone is finished, ask children to share their pictures. This will encourage more discussion.