Car seat presentation at my Daughters school

Kipani4jc

CPS Technician
I talked to My daughter's pre-k teacher and Im doing a presentation next thursday, and then a car seat check afterwards. We are inviting the parents to come and a police officer/CSPT will be talking to the parents while I talk to the kids. What are some things I should ask them? Ive never done a presentation like this before. Im SO nervous for some reason. I know about 75% of the class is NOT restrained properly and by the time they leave I want them to be. There is one little girl that comes in the front seat of a van. No booster or anything. Another VERY small 4 yr old sits in the middle van seat with no booster. I need to occupy them for about 10-15 min! HELP! Im having trouble putting things in terms a 4 yr old can grasp.
 
ADS

tam_shops

New member
That's great! Congratulations!

I teach High School so they're a lot below me. The one thing I can tell you for sure is, it is hard to hold their attention by talking for 10-15min. Frankly, it's hard to hold the attention of an 8th grader for that long! LOL

As a back-up I'd bring:

-A picture to colour w/ a child in a 5pt harness or booster seat. W/ a message like, "it's cool to be safe (or in a booster)".
-An actual booster seat w/ *fake* belt, so you can show them where the seat belt should sit on them.
-My USB pen w/ any video clips you'd deem appropriate for this age group, even the episode of Sid The Science kid where they do that car seat/booster seat talk/discussion.

Don't be nervous they won't know any different if you make a mistake, flub or even say the wrong thing.

I'd certainly discuss the *Law* in their area and consequences of not following the law. Sometimes that gets to kids...

I remember when I was a child, in elementary school, they did a seat belt demonstration w/ a machine that had a *doll* in a seat that flew forward when the *car* stopped. There was discussion after that, but all I remember was the doll flying forward and being asked if we thought it'd hurt...It didn't take a dummy to figure that out! LOL No car seats back then! LOL

Best of luck!

tam
 

Kipani4jc

CPS Technician
That's great! Congratulations!

I teach High School so they're a lot below me. The one thing I can tell you for sure is, it is hard to hold their attention by talking for 10-15min. Frankly, it's hard to hold the attention of an 8th grader for that long! LOL

As a back-up I'd bring:

-A picture to colour w/ a child in a 5pt harness or booster seat. W/ a message like, "it's cool to be safe (or in a booster)".
-An actual booster seat w/ *fake* belt, so you can show them where the seat belt should sit on them.
-My USB pen w/ any video clips you'd deem appropriate for this age group, even the episode of Sid The Science kid where they do that car seat/booster seat talk/discussion.

Don't be nervous they won't know any different if you make a mistake, flub or even say the wrong thing.

I'd certainly discuss the *Law* in their area and consequences of not following the law. Sometimes that gets to kids...

I remember when I was a child, in elementary school, they did a seat belt demonstration w/ a machine that had a *doll* in a seat that flew forward when the *car* stopped. There was discussion after that, but all I remember was the doll flying forward and being asked if we thought it'd hurt...It didn't take a dummy to figure that out! LOL No car seats back then! LOL

Best of luck!

tam

I can definitely do the coloring page. There will be too many for them to see a lap top screen though. Its going to be 2 Pre-k classes.
My daughter has a joovy doll car seat I was going to bring with a doll and show them different things with that. Where the chest clip goes, how tight the straps should be, coat trick for winter time. I know of only 2 though that are in 5pt harnesses in her class.

What could I use for a belt? Most of the CPST training stuff is in the bottom of the state, so I dont have access to it on short notice.

I was going to do some q and a about car safety to see what they know also.
 

staryla

New member
My mom teaches pre-k and every year does a demo using eggs and a truck. She has a toy truck that can fit two eggs in the front. All the kiddos get an egg (I think they are hard-boiled...otherwise it seems this would be WAY too messy.:rolleyes:) So each kid gets an egg and they get to color the egg or draw a face on it or whatever. They make it *their* egg in whatever way they want to.

Then my mom gets two of the kiddos to go first and she puts their eggs in the truck. She asks them if they want to buckle their eggs in or not. If they choose to buckle the eggs in then she uses some regular old scotch tape to secure the eggs. At this point she'll usually ask the kids some questions about what they think will happen, but for you it might be better to get right into the action. Then she (or maybe she lets one of the kids) propels the truck into a barricade a few feet away. The eggs that aren't secured will often fly out and break. The kids catch on pretty fast, and if no one ever wants to not buckle their egg in my mom will pull out an egg she previously colored to make sure the point of the demo isn't lost.

Last year my mom was working on some certification that required submitting videos of her teaching and so I helped her transfer a video to dvd of her class doing this demo. Even I thought it was interesting and the kids seem pretty engrossed. (I still remember my mom saying "Oh no! Look what happened to Maria's egg" and all the kids gasping!) It does take a bit of preparation and might take too much time for your particular event. Plus its not really a proper carseat demo, though it is very age-appropriate for 4-year olds.
 

Kipani4jc

CPS Technician
My mom teaches pre-k and every year does a demo using eggs and a truck. She has a toy truck that can fit two eggs in the front. All the kiddos get an egg (I think they are hard-boiled...otherwise it seems this would be WAY too messy.:rolleyes:) So each kid gets an egg and they get to color the egg or draw a face on it or whatever. They make it *their* egg in whatever way they want to.

Then my mom gets two of the kiddos to go first and she puts their eggs in the truck. She asks them if they want to buckle their eggs in or not. If they choose to buckle the eggs in then she uses some regular old scotch tape to secure the eggs. At this point she'll usually ask the kids some questions about what they think will happen, but for you it might be better to get right into the action. Then she (or maybe she lets one of the kids) propels the truck into a barricade a few feet away. The eggs that aren't secured will often fly out and break. The kids catch on pretty fast, and if no one ever wants to not buckle their egg in my mom will pull out an egg she previously colored to make sure the point of the demo isn't lost.

Last year my mom was working on some certification that required submitting videos of her teaching and so I helped her transfer a video to dvd of her class doing this demo. Even I thought it was interesting and the kids seem pretty engrossed. (I still remember my mom saying "Oh no! Look what happened to Maria's egg" and all the kids gasping!) It does take a bit of preparation and might take too much time for your particular event. Plus its not really a proper carseat demo, though it is very age-appropriate for 4-year olds.

VERY COOL! I love it! Ill have to get with the teacher and see if she has a truck we could do this with. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!
I knew I would get great ideas here! :D
 

tam_shops

New member
LOVE the egg thing! I could use that for HS and child Development.

Indeed the kids won't fit around a laptop. Technology has advanced so much the last few years you'll be amazed! All schools here have projectors that hook up to the class computer and show on a large screen on the wall. Many schools have one in each room, the less affluent schools have to share one between two rooms. NOW, most schools have something called a Smart Board, the affluent schools have many, it's an interactive computer that lets you write on it, but it's hooked up to the screen/computer.

But, I'd go w/ that egg thing!!!!

As for which belt. The Doll car seat would do the trick, demonstrating on the doll where the chest clip should go. But, I was thinking more like a booster seat w/ a belt (perhaps from the doll's car seat), just to show them the lap belt goes *here* the shoulder belt goes *there*. If that makes sense. Children have a real sense of right and wrong. If they are not in a booster (and should be), they very well may remember that the belt does not go *there* and request on, or just remain in it b/c they see the belt is going in the *right* spot. KWIM?

tam
 

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