Learning Life Skills with The Children’s Traffic Club

As soon as you become parent your number one objective is to keep your little one safe and away from harm, it goes without saying. For me personally one of my main concerns as the children have grown up is road safety. Statistically children under the age of 16 are involved in a higher number of pedestrian related road traffic accidents than any other age group. Children can be vulnerable and often lack the knowledge and education that can help keep them safe when out and about. I have always endeavoured to educate the children on the do’s and don’t when it comes to road safety from an early age, talking openly about the outcome if care isn’t taken.

Recently I received The Children’s Traffic Club (CTC) pack, an award-winning road safety and active travel programme designed to help equip children under 5 with the skills and attitude to help keep them safe when out and about. Although I hadn’t heard of CTC before they have in fact been helping educate children successfully for over 25 years. Monitoring and evaluations during this time in areas where CTC has been operational have shown a significant shift in statistics – 49% reduction in pedestrian casualties, 20% reduction in casualties involving children emerging from behind parked cars and 12% fewer overall road casualties then non-members.

Their membership packs are designed to assist education on all aspects of road safety and active travel in a fun, relatable way for kids. Developed in partnership with PACEY (Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years) it’s content is produced in line with Early Years and Foundation Stage learning.

The aims of The Children’s Traffic Club are to:

• Reduce casualty rates
• Influence children’s long-term behaviour
• Indirectly benefit the whole family
• Encourage active travel
• Reduce environmental impact relating to travel choices
• Inspire, involve and motivate young children.

The CTC has of course ensured over the years to consistently update their information and of course keep up to date with technological developments. They have recently relaunched after 2yrs of in-depth research and kindly offered to send Leo and I the most recent pack to road test. The pack consists of a large spiral bound ‘Let’s Go’ book with stickers and a set of 18 flashcards along with a sturdy folder to store them in. This latest update can also be used alongside the FREE specially designed CTC app which uses augmented reality to add to the fun! Although there’s no need to worry if you don’t have access to download the app as the pack can be used just as effectively without.

Firstly, I have to say how impressed I am with the quality of the pack we were sent. The book is spiral bound, and the pages are nice and thick, it’s obviously been designed to last. It contains clear, concise instructions for adults on how to use the book, flashcards and app inside the front of the book which made it quick and easy to get underway with Leo as like a lot of kids he sometimes isn’t the most patient!

Inside we were introduced to six characters each of whom play a part in educating about road safety as you make your way though. Each character has their own information flashcard which tells the children about their family, likes and dislikes. There are also several balloon characters designed to help children remember important details – for example Hara Helmet talks about the importance of wearing a helmet when riding or scooting.

There are six different sections, each containing two activity pages plus a ‘grown ups’ page. The activity pages have a combination of information, observational questions and discussion points. Pages can be enhanced using the AR facility on the app to bring them to life, seeing cars and crossings literally leap off the page. The flashcards can be utilised in conjunction with the corresponding pages and are AR friendly too.

The ‘grown up’ pages are extremely detailed and useful, giving topics to discuss as well as tips and advice to practice what you have taught. They also offer a host of activity ideas which are supported using the free downloadable sheets available on the CTC website. At the end of each section there is an area to use the stickers provided, matching them to help remember what was learnt – every parent knows stickers are a winner!

Leo and I loved sharing the information and activities together and the beauty of this pack is that it can be used on a regular basis to help reinforce learning without it becoming a chore. The app has games which can be used without the book and flashcards and Leo has enjoyed playing these – his favourite is snap!

From a parent’s perspective the pack provided me with the perfect opportunity to discuss and build on the road safety knowledge that Leo already had and I will definitely continue sharing it with him and try out some more of the suggested activities. I feel there is so much to be gained from early education and The Children’s Traffic Club have pitched their pack perfectly allowing children to learn about such an important topic whilst having fun.

The pack is available at a one-off cost of £9.50 inc P&P which I think is fantastic value considering the quality and content. For me personally you can’t put a value on safety . I have seen and heard Leo discussing what he has learnt from the pack after only a few times of using it, he has already learnt something and that’s priceless.

To find out more about and purchase one of their brand new packs visit The Children’s Traffic Club

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