The following is an excerpt from Safety First: Preventing & Managing Childhood Injuries.

A Day in A Life – The Adult’s Perspective: [A Learning Activity]

Purpose
For This Activity You Will Need
Trainer Preparation Note
Points to Consider
Key to Activity: Injury Hazards - For Trainer Only

Purpose: This activity helps participants clarify adults' roles in preventing childhood injury. (This activity is a continuation of …A Day in A Life - The Child's Perspective: [A Learning Activity].)

For this activity you will need:

• Key to Activity: Injury Hazards - For Trainer Only
• Writing materials. . . .
• Handout : An Infant's Day-Suzie [PDF, 14.9KB]
• Handout: A Toddler's Day-Henry [PDF, 10.1KB]
• Handout: A Preschooler's Day-Rickie [PDF, 14.5KB]
• Handout: Injury Hazards [PDF, 9.25KB] (three copies completed by each participant in …A Day in A Life-The Child's Perspective: [A Learning Activity]

Coach Preparation Note:
Attach each of the Handouts …: An Infant's Day-Suzie, A Toddler's Day-Henry, and A Preschooler's Day-Rickie to the corresponding copy of three copies completed by each participant in …A Day in A Life-The Child's Perspective: [A Learning Activity]

Step 1: Explain to participants that this activity will explore adults' roles in preventing childhood injuries. To prevent children's injuries, adults must:

• understand children's development and the hazards they face; and
• follow safety practices as protector, role model, and teacher.

Step 2: Ask participants: What are some examples of ways in which adults prevent children's injuries by being...

• protectors of children?
• role models for children?
• teachers of children?

Step 3: Distribute to participants Handouts: An Infant's Day-Suzie, A Toddler's Day-Henry, and A Preschooler's Day-Rickie, with the corresponding Handout: Injury Hazards attached that were completed by participants in A Day in A Life-A Child's Perspective: [A Learning Activity.]

Step 4: Beginning with the first copy of Handout: Injury Hazards attached to Handout: An Infant's Day-Suzie, for each of the “Causes of Injury” and “Type of Injury” identified, write in the “Prevention Measures” column strategies to prevent injury to the child. For example:

Location/Activity: Kitchen/Eating Area

Cause of Injury

• High Chair

Type of Injury

• fall

Prevention Measures

• use high chair with secure base
• use safety strap
• sit down to eat with baby
• don't let baby stand

In developing prevention strategies, consider adults' roles as protectors, role models, and teachers. Allow 10-15 minutes for each story.

Repeat with the second copy of Handout for Henry the Toddler and the third copy of Handout for Rickie the Preschooler. Refer to the Key to Activity: Injury Hazards as a guide.

Step 5: Return to Handout: An Infant's Day-Suzie. Have a participant begin to read the story from the child's perspective. Stop reading at every point in the story that the child approaches an injury hazard, and have another participant use Handout: Injury Hazards as a guide to interject the adult's perspective-what adults need to do to prevent Suzie's injury.

For example:

• “I'm Suzie...I've been sleeping in the crib...” (One participant to read from the child's perspective)
• “...That's a newer crib that meets safety recommendations of narrower slats that I can't stick my head through.” (Another participant to interject from the adult's perspective)

Repeat for the stories of Henry and Rickie (Handouts: A Toddler's Day and A Preschooler's Day).

Step 6: Ask participants:

• How did it feel to be the adults (parents, grandparents, older siblings, Head Start teachers) in each child's life?
• What are some injury prevention-measures that are specific to a particular developmental stage?
• What are some similar injury-prevention measures across all of the developmental stages?
• What are some ways to help adults in their roles in preventing children's injuries?

Points to Consider:

• Caregivers of children help prevent injuries among children through their roles as protectors, role models and teachers.
• Prevention measures must be tailored to each child's developmental stage, capabilities, temperament, and interests.
• Across all ages and developmental stages, common measures for preventing childhood injury include:
  • setting up and maintaining a safe environment;
  • establishing and teaching children the safety rules;
  • supervising children closely;
  • enforcing the safety rules.
• Adults who supervise children must be constantly aware of the hazards children face and constantly taking measures to prevent them from being injured. This can be stressful. Some strategies to reduce the stress of preventing injuries include:
  • ensuring that the environment is developmentally-appropriate and as safe as possible;
  • enlisting the help of other adults in supervising the children; and
  • clarifying who is responsible during transitions between activities.

Key to Activity: Injury Hazards - For Trainer Only

Child: Suzie            Development Stage: Infant

Location/Activity	Cause of Injury	Type of Injury	Prevention Measures
Bedroom/Naproom	old crib with wide slats window shade cord paint chips hood with drawstring	strangulation strangulation lead poisoning strangulation	newer crib with narrow slats move crib away from window, tie up cords re-paint walls with lead-free paint remove drawstring
Bathroom/Diapering Area	diaper table baby powder latex gloves	fall choking choking	keep secure on table don't give baby powder don't give latex gloves
Kitchen/Eating Area	high chair hot milk feeding table cleaning fluids in cabinet under sink meat chunks	fall burn scratches poisoning choking	use safety strap, no standing warm bottle under tap or in pot, shake well supervise safety lock on cabinet cut meat in small pieces or puree
Transportation	pickup truck double parking	car crash car/pedestrian injury	use car seat and seat belts park at curb or parking lot
Play Activities at Head Start and at Home	painted blocks electric cord earrings, necklace infant walker candy	lead poisoning electrocution choking fall, crushed fingers choking	lead-free or plastic blocks supervise, get cord out of reach don't wear dangling jewelry supervise, no infant walker no candy

Key to Activity: Injury Hazards - For Trainer Only

Child: Henry            Development Stage: Toddler

Location/Activity	Cause of Injury	Type of Injury	Prevention Measures
Bedroom/Nap room	vitamins, cigarettes gun chair to dresser	poisoning shooting fall	vitamins, cigarettes out of reach gun and ammunition separate, locked up, and out of reach clothes at child's level
Bathroom/Diapering Area	potty "accident" pushing at sink	fall, child abuse fall	supervise, parent education or developmentally appropriate expectations and discipline supervise, "no pushing" rules
Kitchen/Eating Area	steam kettle, stove hot oatmeal jumping when eating carrots and dinner	burn burn fall, choking	supervise, pot on back burner cool down, test temperature eat sitting down
Transportation	running across street criminal activity	car/pedestrian crash shooting	use crosswalk find safer route, advocate for community safety
Play Activities at Head Start and at Home	pushing each other marble television violence throwing sand	fall choking violence eye injury	supervise, structured activities, "no pushing" rules supervise, age-appropriate toys no violent television, age-appropriate activities more shovels, "no throwing sand" rule

Key to Activity : Injury Hazards - For Trainer Only

Child: Rickie        Development Stage: Preschooler

Location/Activity	Cause of Injury	Type of Injury	Prevention Measures
Bedroom/Nap room	paint chips	lead poisoning	paint walls
Bathroom/Diapering Area
Kitchen/Eating Area	eating clay, sand, plants eating dinner without washing hands	poisoning, infectious disease poisoning, infectious disease	supervise, check for nutritional deficiency, nontoxic plants wash hands before meals
Transportation
Play Activities at Head Start and at Home	jumping off swings onto hard, dirt surface high climbing structure diving down slide carpentry care by 8-year-old barefoot outdoors farm equipment, tools, nails, chemicals irrigation ditch, drainage pipes	fall fall fall hand injury any type of injury puncture wound crushing, punctures, amputation, poisoning drowning, animal/snake bite	supervise, "no jumping" rules, proper absorbent surface under swings climbing structure lower than six feet supervise "no diving" rules supervise "proper hammering" rules adult supervision after school wear shoes outdoors lock shed safer play area

See also:
     A Day in a Life – A Child’s Perspective: [ Learning Activity]