Have the kids color the Safe and Not Safe signs and glue them on popsicle sticks back to back. These signs will be used to reinforce the concepts taught. A scenario will be given and the students will have to hold up their signs on the correct side for each safety situation.
Today, we are going to talk about the important Safety Rules we must follow when we are outside the home. Let’s begin with a story about a boy just like you and what happened when he went to the store with his mother. (use teaching card of a boy in store). Daniel is a boy your age who loves going to school. He loves to hear the stories the Morah/teacher tells, enjoys playing with his friends, and especially loves the weekly Shabbos party. (If your class does not celebrate weekly Shabbos parties you can change the story to a birthday party in school) Every week he waits patiently as his Morah calls out the lucky boy who will be the Shabbos Abba. Every week Morah calls out another boy’s name, but not Daniels. How do you think Daniel is feeling? (Allow kids to answer. Use the Feeling Card as a cue, allowing children to point to the different feelings Daniel may have.)
He may even be feeling worried that his teacher hasn’t called on him because she doesn’t like him. Oh no, what should Daniel do? (Elicit answers)
Daniel knew that whenever he was feeling sad or upset, he could tell the Star Adults on his Safety Star Chart, and Daniel’s father was one of those adults. (Use Safety Star Chart Card as needed for reinforcement) That day when Daniel came home from school he cried to his father that he still wasn’t picked to be the Shabbos Abba, and he was afraid that Morah may have forgotten about him and will never pick him. Daniel’s father gave him a big hug and told him how proud he was of how grown up Daniel was because instead of just being sad and upset he came to share his feelings. Daniel’s father told him Morah definitely did not forget about him, but had many girls and boys in the class and had to make sure everyone got a turn. Daniel’s father was sure that soon Morah would call on Daniel and it would be his turn to be the Shabbos Abba. Daniel felt so much better and was glad he went to tell his feelings to the Star Adult on his Safety Star Chart. Well, what do you think happened that week when it was time for Morah to pick the Shabbos Abba? Daniel’s name was called! How do you think Daniel felt? (Elicit answers)
Daniel was so happy and excited! The minute Daniel walked through the door from school he told his mother the good news and asked if they could go to the grocery store to pick out the special treat he would give out to the class. As soon as they entered the store, Daniel was so excited that he ran to the candy aisle to pick out his favorite snack, pink marshmallows. Suddenly, as he turned around to show his mother he realized that his mother was not with him! You can imagine how Daniel was feeling. (Have students share the feelings they would have in the same situation. Use the Feelings Card as necessary. Many children may have experienced similar situations and will want to share their stories)
Daniel was so scared he ran back to the front of the store where he last saw his mother, but she wasn’t there anymore. Daniel then decided to run around to other areas of the store to try and find his mother. But suddenly Daniel stopped. Daniel remembered an important Safety Rule he was taught:
(explain the concept of a public place as a place where lots of people are around)
While staying in a public place and not running around, you need to take a deep breath in order to stay calm (Demonstrate this). Once you take a deep breath and are calm you can then look around on your tippy toes, to see if you can spot the adult you came with. You can also call out the adult’s name and listen to hear whether the adult is calling you back. But remember; never leave the place you are in, go outside, or run around.
Let’s all practice the 3 steps we use if we are ever lost:
Take a deep breath to stay calm. Let’s all do it together. Breathe in for a count of 3 and breathe out for a count of 3 (Have children practice with you so they fully understand how to do it properly. Ex. “Smell the flowers, blow out the candles”.)
Stand in one place, on your tippy toes, and look all around, as far out into the aisle as you can see. (Practice turning around in one place with your hand above the eyes like someone searching, and looking out all over the store without leaving the area.)
Call out the name of the adult you came with and then stay quiet so you can listen if they are calling you back. (Practice calling out “mommy” really loud with hands cupping the mouth, and then staying quiet while listening, placing a hand around the outside of the ear. Using motions to demonstrate how this is done will help imprint the information in the child’s mind for later recall.)
Sometimes even after doing all these things we still can’t find the grown-up that we came with and we are still lost. Now we need to find a safe stranger to help us and we need to use our strong voice. The #1 safe stranger is a mommy with children.
Am I a Mother with children? (Allow children to give answers. Most will say that you are since young kids assume that adult women, especially ones with wigs or headscarves, are all mothers. The goal is to visually show the students that a woman by herself cannot be assumed to be a mother with children. She must have actual children and or baby carriage with her, in order to be considered the #1 Safe Stranger we are talking about.) Use mother with children teaching card for a visual aid.
Practice with students how to stand up tall and speak clearly, using a strong voice so they are heard and understood. Role-play using the lines “I can’t find my mommy. Can you help me?” Allow every child to have a turn, taking care to work more with the children who are shy, quiet, introverted, and have a harder time with this concept.
Depending on the children’s cognitive abilities you may be able to introduce other possible safe strangers such as a cashier, employee, police officer, or security guard. Always make sure to reiterate that we never go anywhere private with this safe stranger. We ask for help in our strong voice and then we stay in a public place.
Instruct the children to hold their Safety Signs and listen to what the boy did when he was lost. If they think it is safe they should hold up the thumbs up side. If they think it is not safe, they should hold up the hand stop side.
When Daniel didn’t see his mommy with him, he ran through the aisles and towards the front of the store to the last place that he remembered seeing his mother.
Great job, you are all holding up your Safety Stop Sign. “Stop, That’s Not Safe!” Because: we never run around the store.
Daniel remembered that his mother parked her car outside so he decided to peek out the front door of the store to see if his mother went back to the car.
NEVER leave the place you are in. Do you think your mommy would leave without you? Of course not!
A man came over to Daniel and said, “You seem lost and scared. I can help you find your mother. Come, I will take you to her…”
Daniel needs to find a Safe Stranger, a Mother with Children
Daniel saw a mommy who did not look Jewish. Yes, she had children with her, but she wasn’t wearing a head covering and her boys weren’t wearing yarmulkas.
It does not matter if the mother is Jewish or not, as long as she has children with her, she is a Mother with Children, the #1 Safe Stranger. (statistically, this is the correct answer even if it may be difficult for some of us to accept.)
Daniel found a Mother with Children and she told him that he could come with her to her house where he could call his mother.
You are NEVER allowed to go anywhere, outside the store, into a car, or to someone’s house, even if that person is a Safe Stranger. You must always stay in a public area. If this happens, you must use your strong voice to say NO! and look for another mother with children, another Safe Stranger, to help you.
Daniel sees Joe the grocery delivery boy who comes to his house every week. He thinks he knows Joe because he sees him often and his mother is always so nice to Joe when he comes to drop off the groceries. She even lets Joe come into their house to put the groceries in the kitchen and offers him a cold drink.
Even if Daniel thinks he knows Joe, when he is alone and his Grown- up In Charge is not with him, Joe is a stranger and Daniel needs to find a Safe Stranger, a Mother with Children, to ask for help.
Review with your student’s lesson 1, to always tell your feelings to your star adult. So when Daniel finds his mother, he should tell her how he was feeling when he was lost.
It’s important to rethink the concept of Stranger Danger and instead to teach Stranger Awareness – that strangers are just people that you don’t know well (even if they appear Jewish or look and act really “nice”). Most kids assume if an adult looks Jewish they are not a stranger. This can be dangerous to a child’s safety. Children need to learn that a stranger is anyone they don’t know well despite what they look or act like.
In addition, most kids will think that a Safe Stranger is only a JEWISH Mother with Children. This is not the case and should be told to the students. Statistically, a Mother with Children is the best option across the board and only looking for a Jewish mother may hinder a child’s safety.
When discussing looking for a Safe Stranger, reinforce staying in a public place where everyone can see them and not running around the store or leaving the area, i.e. going to the parking lot or where the car was parked, a back room, etc.
