Safety Street-A FREE, Interactive Program

I feel so lucky to be just 30 minutes away from one of the top children's hospitals in the country!!!! St. Louis Children's Hospital!!!

I took my Gray there when we suspected that he might be having seizures...don't worry he was fine :)

And, they took great care of my Finny when he had RSV!!

Everything that St. Louis Children's Hospital does is pretty great and amazing!! And,

Safety Street is no exception!!!! If you are from the St. Louis area, you will want to check this out!!!!!! 

I know, for many schools, money is tight and for many of us, field trips have been cut! No worries here!! This program is TOTALLY FREEEEEEE and they bring it right to you!!!!!

All they need is a big area to set it up (usually a gym) and 4 hours to be able to do their set up!

Safety Street is an injury prevention program for K-5th grades. It features an interactive life-size cityscape to help children learn important safety lessons.
I was very impressed with the organization and set-up of this program! My students were totally engaged the entire time!! They took only 4-5 kids around in a group at a time through the "city". While the rest of the class waited, they watched a very entertaining, age-appropriate safety video. The instructors were very knowledgeable and their lessons were age appropriate.

Here, some of my students came to a stranger that actually speaks to them. He asks them if they want some candy and some other phrases that a stranger might use to lure a child over. The instructors were there the whole time explaining to the kids what to do. In the other picture, kids learned what NOT to do if they come to a vacant lot....see the piles of trash? There was even a fake rat! Yuck!! 

At this point during their walk around town, the kids came to a group of dogs. The dogs actually start barking at the kids!! The instructor explains what to do if  a scary dog approaches them and what to do if the dog starts to chase them. I didn't know you should get down on the ground and cover your neck! I learned something new too! :)

There were also working stoplights and railroad crossings! (Even the train moved across the tracks!!) Students learned and practiced what to do at these crossings.

As we walked through the town, there were some cars passing through as well :) The car at the top was backing out of the driveway. Students had to stop and they talked about how they could tell it was backing up and what to do. There were also cars being "driven" by volunteers through the roads!

I was just so impressed with this program that I had to share it with you!! AND it's for everyone!!!! They will bring it to any school in the St. Louis area (MO or IL) and again, it's FREEEEEE!!!!!!

Get more information about how to get Safety Street at your school HERE.

You can also watch this little Youtube video...