The important role early educators play in spreading water safety messages

Emma Lawrence > Managing Director at Kids Alive

At Kids Alive, we have been partnering with early educators for over two decades to provide resources and programs they can use to teach under-fives about water safety. The Kids Alive – Do the Five water safety program incorporates a range of activities designed to get underfives thinking about water safety all year round and reinforce what they are learning at formal swimming lessons.

Last year 17 children aged 0-4 lost their lives to drowning and for every toddler drowning death, it is estimated that 8 children are admitted to hospital as a result of a nonfatal drowning.

Kids Alive resources for early educators

For early educators keen to make water safety messaging a part of their curriculum, the Kids Alive website has a wealth of resources, located in the dedicated Teachers Hub. These include posters that can be downloaded and displayed year-round, animations, songs, music videos, puppet shows, concerts and safety tips. You can also request Kids Alive Water Safety Packs and books via our website that we will send you free of charge.

and 3-5 years. The training showcases actual lesson plans delivered by the teaching staff at Queensland based services. These lesson plans were designed to showcase activity ideas and teaching strategies utilised by the educators. These lessons can be linked to the Early Years Learning Framework and National Quality Standards.

New Initiatives

We are constantly looking at innovative ways to spread water safety messages to under-fives and we have some exciting new programs we have developed recently in conjunction with sector experts.

Water Safety Sensory Sessions

Through our partnership with Messy Bubs, we have created the Kids Alive Water Safety Sensory Sessions, developed to promote water safety while children enjoy the benefits of sensory play. In the Kids Alive Teachers Hub you will find a short training module that includes ‘how to’ video demonstrations along with lesson plans to guide a variety of activities for the Pool, Home, Beach and Farm environments.

Water Safety Shows

Over on our Kids YouTube Channel and also on our website, you can find our Yoga Water Safety Sessions, offering three different levels of yoga classes for children aged 0-2, 2-4 and 4-6 years old. The sessions aim to provide information about water safety to children through yogabased movements and activities.

To assist with the delivery of water safety messages, we have created an online professional development opportunity for Early Childhood Educators. This opportunity includes two training modules for 0-3 years

In conjunction with Ready Set Dance, we have created a Water Safety Show designed to bring important water safety messages to under-fives through a fun and informative short dance show. These shows are being rolled out by Ready Set Dance schools throughout Australia and you can get in contact with us to see if there is a dance school in your area who could bring this show to life in your education setting.

Ultimately, early educators are in a unique position to impart on children water safety information that could ultimately save their lives. We look forward to seeing more early educators take up the training in 2023 and be leaders in this space.