Preschool children are very observant and wondrous children at this age. They tend to ask questions about things, observe things, and test things out to see what type of reaction they will get from it. Five potentially hazardous situations or safety threats are choking, falls to surfaces, poisonous plants, fire, tornado, and bus drills, and cleaning supplies.
Choking is the one of safety threat in preschool children. They are growing, but at this age they still tend to put things in their mouth as well as chew on things that will choke them. Not only are the children to be aware of things that might choke them, but there foods that are choking hazards that the cooking staff as well as the teaching staff need to be aware of to help prevent the children from becoming exposed to these foods, which aren't limited to peanuts, chewing gum, popcorn, chips, hotdogs, carrot sticks, tough meat, candy, whole grapes, cherry tomato, and large raw fruits and vegetables (Department of Agriculture 2011). When teachers are putting out materials in the classroom it would be helpful to talk about the materials with the children and discuss the proper use of each material. With foods that are being served, they need to make sure that they are finely cut to help the child to be able to chew the foods. At home the parents can make sure that all small objects are kept out if the reach of the children.
Falls are the leading cause of accident reports in child care centers. Children from water spills, shoes untied, and high places. Teachers can discuss with the children the importance of not playing in the water when they wash their hands. Supervision is the key to may falls not happening. When on the playground monitoring and interacting with the children to ensure that they are playing on the equipment safely will help prevent some of the falls. At home the parents can help children learn to tie their shoes to help prevent tripping and falling on shoe laces.
Poisonous plants is another hazardous situation in the classroom. In many schools it is part of the curriculum to have live plants and animals in the class, but some are harmful to children. The staff needs to be aware of the plants that they are growing in the classroom to help protect the children. At home the parents can talk with the children about plants that help us and plants that harm us. They can show the children pictures of plants and the children will bring the information back into the classroom and this helps keep everyone safe.
Fire, tornado, and bus drills are very important in the classroom. These drills help the children to know what to when it happens, how to know the signs that it is happening, and where they should go when it happens. During fire drill everyone must evacuate the building and go to a designated area until it is safe to re-enter the building. During a tornado drill everyone needs to go into a place where there is no glass or windows, cover ball up in fetus style, and cover their head for protection. A bus drill helps the children know where to go if the bus happens to catch fire or in an accident. the children will know where al the exits on the bus are located. At home the parents need to have a fire and tornado drill and evacuation plan so that if something happens at the home the child knows where to go and what to do.
Cleaning supplies are so tempting for children. They see the nice paper and they think its things to drink or touch, as well as they love to be helpful and cleanup their own mess. These supplies should be kept out of the reach of children as it says on the label of every bottle. Cleaning supplies should be used for the purpose they say. Cleaning only. At home the parents can make sure that they kept all cleaning supplies away from the children in a locked cabinet that they can't get to.
United States Department of Agriculture. (2011). Choking Hazards. Washington, D.C. authur. Retrieved September 10, 2011 from http://www.choosemyplate.gov/preschoolers/FoodSafety/chokinghazards.html
"http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/" http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/
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