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Spring Time Safety Tips

     Warm weather is on the way...finally! I love when the groundhog does a good job. With spring comes outside playing, fun activities, end of the year prep (YES!!!), and stormy weather. I love to discuss how to stay safe while in the sunshine or bad weather. Here are my top 3 talking points when discussing spring time safety with my students.

1. Tornado Safety
"In like a lion" sometimes takes on a real meaning! Just last week my students had to be in our tornado safe place for 2 hours... When warmer weather starts to appear, I want to
1. Make sure my students are prepared for bad weather.
and
2. Help them understand what is happening, the science behind the tornados/stormy weather so it will help take some of the fear out of the storm.
I am one of those people who hear about a tornado and run right outside to see it!
My husband is just the opposite, so I have him take the dog to safety too. When discussing tornados, my favorite book to read is {Super Storms by Seymour Simon}. 
Then we dig into tornado vocabulary, then discuss how a tornado forms. 
Then we talk about how to stay safe during a tornado. Students then make their own tornado safety plan. I really like to make this a family project so familes kind of HAVE to talk about tornado safety. I can remember my mom telling me allll our safety plans and 12 year old me would just roll my eyes, totally annoyed. But I can still tell you where our meeting place is for a fire and what to do at my Mom's for a tornado! I think kids need to know where to go and what to do for multiple locations...school, Grandparents', the car, Wal-Mart...because let's be real, tornado's are scary and kids need to be prepared! 
You can find all this and a science experiement in my {Tornado Mini-Unit}

2. Playground/Park Safety
As the weather warms, kids love to go outside and play. In this day and age, many parents don't mind taking their kids to the park or a playground, but they also take their phones. I see so many people just scrolling through whatever while their kids are playing. If something were to happen, kids need to be aware. I always remind my students:

1. Don't talk to strangers- Pretty basic I know, but with all the creepy stuff happening with people watching and taking kids, a park would be easy. Kids need to know that if a stranger is approching them, they need to go to their adult, just to be on the safe side.

2. If you see something sharp on the ground, tell an adult you trust right away.-Some parks are not as clean as others. Better safe than sorry!

3. If you can't see your adult, they can't see you.- This is a good rule for more than just the park! My mom always told me to "Stay where I can see you." I tell my students this on field trips too!

4. If something is broke, it's probably best to stay away. -Park equiptment can be dangerous if it is broken. Metal rusts, and I've those shots are no fun!


3. Bus Safety
This is important through out the year! Toward the spring, field trips are happening and end of the year trips are scheduled. Kids get restless toward the end of a nice spring day and are ready to run! My friends at {Andy Mohr Kia} made a great infographic to remind parents, kids, and drivers how to stay safe when on the bus.

Warm weather is my favorite! I love getting my students outside to work, read, or just plain old play. 

                             
My students "earn" so many extra recesses when it's nice out. Sometimes you just need to get outside in the sunshine! It's always a great time as long as we stay safe! 

Happy Spring!


Aimee

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