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Stay safe and have fun this summer with these Kidpower safety plans and skills!
I can’t believe that we are already nearing the end of May. For many families, this is a time of transition with year-end school activities, vacations, and summer programs. While last summer might seem like “almost yesterday” for many adults, it can seem like “forever ago” to our kids. Pausing in our busy lives to review and update safety plans and rehearse Kidpower skills can help everyone to prevent problems and have more fun.
Here are some resources providing simple steps parents can take and safety skills they can teach their kids before year-end events, summer camps, and recreational activities start, in ways that are fun and age-appropriate rather than scary.
1. “Summer Safety: Kidpower Tips For Families,” offers 14 tips for making safety plans and practicing safety skills for new situations and routines at home, in the community, at summer programs, and on trips.
2. Our parent-education video, “Kidpower Advice To Prevent Sexual Abuse At Summer Camp & Recreation Programs,” provides more information about what parents need to know about sexual abuse and how they can help kids learn to set effective boundaries and get help from the adults in charge. The video covers:
• Questions parents can ask and how to assess the answers from a summer camp or recreational program;
• How to teach and role play boundary setting skills with kids to help them stop unwanted touch, teasing or affection and how to be persistent in getting help from other adults; and
• What parents can do if they become aware of or suspect that abuse may be happening.
3. “Choosing a Summer Camp or Recreation Program,” by our Kidpower North Carolina Center Co-Director and my Doing Right by Our Kids partner, Amy Tiemann Ph.D., provides important information about the kinds of safety answers we need before leaving our kids anywhere.
We hope you find these resources helpful for making safety plans and teaching safety skills to help everyone have a fun summer. As always, please do contact us if you have questions about advocating for a child’s safety.
4. Our Summer Safety “Turning Problems into Practices” Coaching Call has a recap, recording, and additional resources addressing the following issues:
- safety at summer day and sleep-over camps; how to prepare kids to get help from adults in charge.
- how children can navigate potentially difficult interactions with camp counselors and other new campers
- preparing a family member who is less experienced and gets flustered easily to take care of two young children during the day over the summer
- what do I do when the parent of my child’s brand new friend invites the kids to go exploring or on a playdate right after we’ve met – and I don’t want to seem over-protective?
- how to help a shy child make new friends at camp and school; and how do I help them get into a habit of telling me about problems instead of keeping them bottled up?
- how to be prepare kids to be safe with setting up a lemonade stand in the neighborhood
- safety issues for a young teen who is getting ready to go on the bus independently, and also on a family cruise vacation this summer
In addition, many parents have told us that they also found these articles to be really helpful when their kids are going new places and doing new things.
How to Tell When a Child is Ready for More Freedom or New Privileges
Preparing Children for More Independence – A 5 Step Plan from Kidpower
The ‘Uh-Oh!’ Feeling: How to Teach Kids To Use Their Intuition
Going Out Alone: How to Prepare Kids to Be Safe
Travel Safety Tips: Stay Safe, Have Fun, Stay in Touch
We at Kidpower all hope you and your loved ones will enjoy the busy and exciting weeks ahead!
Published: May 25, 2016 | Last Updated: May 25, 2016
Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director
Kidpower Founder and Executive Irene van der Zande is a master at teaching safety through stories and practices and at inspiring others to do the same. Her child protection and personal safety expertise has been featured by USA Today, CNN, Today Moms, the LA Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Publications include: cartoon-illustrated Kidpower Safety Comics and Kidpower Teaching Books curriculum; Bullying: What Adults Need to Know and Do to Keep Kids Safe; the Relationship Safety Skills Handbook for Teens and Adults; Earliest Teachable Moment: Personal Safety for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers; The Kidpower Book for Caring Adults: Personal Safety, Self-Protection, Confidence, and Advocacy for Young People, and the Amazon Best Seller Doing Right by Our Kids: Protecting Child Safety at All Levels.
