Crossing the Road Safely: the Steps

Four picture cards sit on this kindergarten page in two rows of two, each with a dashed box underneath for a number. Every card shows the same child seen from behind, wearing a backpack, at the edge of a striped crosswalk. What changes is the child's action: standing still at the curb, looking left with an arrow, looking right with an arrow, and walking forward across the stripes. There are no cars on any card, so the road is clear when the child walks. The cards are mixed up, and the child writes 1 to 4 in the boxes to put the crossing in order.

The routine on this page is stop at the curb, look left, look right, then walk when the road is clear, and children have to hold the whole routine in their heads rather than recognize one part of it. Showing the child from behind matters, because then left on the page is the child's own left, and the arrows point the way the head turns. The standing card is the one to talk about first: stopping is a step of its own, not just the moment before looking, and it is the step young children most often skip. Ask children to explain their order before marking it.

One sheet, four cards, four numbers. Act the sequence out in the classroom or on the playground before or after the page; saying the steps aloud while turning the head is how the routine sticks. Many families also teach a second look left just before stepping off, which is worth adding aloud. This is the most practical face in the road safety family and the one to send home before a walking trip. The base page covers traffic and walking signals, which is the step that comes before this one at a light.