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October Topic | Accidents & Preventing Injuries | What Can Children Do?

Our October topic is Accidents & Preventing Injuries.

Our 100 Health Messages for Children to Learn and Share are simple, reliable health education messages aimed at children aged 8-14, this includes young adolescents aged 10-14. We feel that it is especially useful and important to make sure that young adolescents are informed as this age group often cares for young children in their families. Also, it’s important to recognise and praise the work they are doing to help their families in this way.

The messages are arranged as 10 messages in 10 key health topics: Malaria, Diarrhoea, Nutrition, Coughs, Colds & Pneumonia, Intestinal Worms, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene, Immunisation, HIV & Aids, Accidents & Preventing Injuries and Caring for Babies & Young Children. The simple health messages are for parents and health educators to use with children at home and in schools, clubs and clinics.

Our messages on Accidents & Preventing Injuries:

  1. Cooking areas are dangerous for young children. Keep them away from fires and from sharp or heavy objects.
  2. Children need to avoid breathing smoke from fires. It causes illness and coughing.
  3. Anything poisonous must be kept out of the reach of children. Don’t put poisons in empty soft drink bottles.
  4. If a child is burned, put cold water on the burn immediately until the pain lessens (10 minutes or more).
  5. Vehicles and bicycles kill and injure children every day. Be aware of all vehicles and show others how to be safe too.
  6. Look out for dangers for young children like knives, glass, electric plugs, wire, nails, pins etc.
  7. Stop young children eating dirt or putting small things into or near their mouths (e.g. coins, buttons) as these can block breathing.
  8. Stop young children playing near to water where they may fall in (rivers, lakes, ponds, wells).
  9. Create a first-aid kit for home or school (soap, scissors, disinfectant and antiseptic cream, cotton wool, thermometer, bandages/plasters and ORS).
  10. When you go somewhere new with a young child, be aware! Look and ask about the dangers for young children

These health messages have been reviewed by expert health educators and medical experts and are available on the Health ORB website too.

An illustration of a baby crawling towards a pot on a lit stove. There's a knife next to the pot.
An illustration of a person holding a mobile as they gesture towards a cooking pot on a lit stove as a baby crawls towards it.

What can children Make, Do & Ask to better understand this topic?

Here are some ideas for activities children can do to understand more about our October topic and share the messages with others.

  • MAKE our own PREVENTING ACCIDENTS AND INJURIES messages using our own words in our own language!
  • MEMORISE the messages so we never forget them!
  • SHARE these messages with other children and our families!
  • MAKE posters about keeping poisons safely: how to store them, label them and keep them away from children.
  • MAKE a First Aid Kit that we can use if gets injured.
  • MAKE toys that are safe for young children to play with.
  • MAKE a rope and float for the river or lake that can be used in an emergency.
  • MAKE a First Aid Station for our school.
  • CREATE a safety campaign to raise everyone’s awareness of children’s safety.
  • MAKE a survey to find out where in our community there is water that may put children at risk of drowning and what can be done to keep children safe
  • PLAY the But Why Game about accidents at home.
  • THINK of ways to make our homes safer and share ideas with posters, songs and plays.
  • FIND OUT from a health worker what we need in a First Aid Kit for home and school.
  • CREATE and PLAY Spot the Dangers in a poster or sketch and see if we can find all the risks of accidents.
  • START a campaign to raise awareness of children’s safety on roads.
  • ROLE PLAY being safety aware when we are looking after a child.
  • LEARN basic First Aid so we can help in an emergency, role-play to develop and practice our first aid skills and share these with our family and friends.
  • MAP OUT and FIND any dangers for young children in our homes.
  • SHARE what we know about risks of injury to small children with adults.
  • LEARN what to do when a baby is choking and show our parents, grandparents and brothers and sisters.
  • LEARN to spot common hazards where there is a risk of burns, falls, drowning or busy roads with traffic.
  • ASK What are the risks of burns at home? What should we do if someone is burnt? How can keep children safe from hot things and hot liquids in the kitchen? Do people keep babies and young children away from hazards in our community? – How? Why are babies and young children at higher risk from choking than older children or adults? How do we help someone who is in trouble in the water without putting ourselves at risk?

For more specific information on creating first aid stations at school, But Why? and Spot the Dangers games,
making a first aid kits or to learn more about our October topic, see Accidents & Preventing Injuries!
For anything else, e-mail clare@childrenforhealth.org