There’s lots of ways you try to make your home safe for your kids. When you have kids, you begin to outfit your home with different child locks to ensure your kids don’t get into something they’re not supposed to. Children should learn about home safety as soon as possible, and they should continue to grow their safety knowledge as they get older.
Your kids should understand how any safety feature installed into your home works. Keeping your kids safe means also making sure they’re informed on how to keep your home safe from harm. In fact, most break and enters happen when someone is already home!
Similarly to how installing
safety features in your home can save you money on homeowners insurance, your home’s insurance can increase for a number of claims. These claims can often include:
- Fires
- Floods
- Break and enters
- And more
Kids are often the ones who can accidentally end up causing a lot of accidents in the home. Teaching your kids good home safety practices not only ensures that they stay safe, you also save money on insurance claims from kids being careless.
Tell Kids To Keep Doors Closed
Reminding your children to get into the habit of closing doors is probably the easiest safety lesson you can teach them. Closing doors behind you inside the home can prevent fires from spreading and getting out of control. It also stops smaller children from getting into riskier areas like laundry rooms.
When teaching children to close doors behind them, remind them to always double check the door is fully closed and that it’s locked! This ensures unwanted guests like burglars stay out, and smaller children that tend to wander off stay inside.
Kids Should Know All Contact Information
You may not remember when you were told to call 9-1-1 in case of an emergency, but you’ve likely always had it ingrained in your head. Teach your children what 9-1-1 should be used for. Make sure they rememeber the full names of any main caregivers and what their phone numbers and addresses are. Teach your kids to always call an adult whenever there’s an emergency.
Now that your kids know who to call and how to call them, they should also know not to share personal information. Make sure they understand that sharing this information can be dangerous for everyone- especially if it’s shared online. Make sure you discuss sharing information online with older kids. It’s more common now for older kids to make friends with other kids online. However, your children should know the risks associated with sharing this information and who to share it with.
Teach Kids How To Handle Strangers And Guests
Teach your kids to always ask for permission before they go over to someone’s house or before they invite someone over. Even if it’s just another child in the neighborhood, it helps both you and the other parents know where their kids are.
If your kids are home alone, tell them who they can answer the door for. Otherwise, they should act as though no one else is home. Have a secret code word for any adult that does need to come over while you’re not home, or if your child needs to be picked up by someone who isn’t you. This not only prevents kidnapping, but it also stops burglars from entering your home. Most home invasions happen when someone is home, and children can become particularly vulnerable to this.
Teach Your Kids How To Respect Animals
Your kids should know how to handle animals, even if you don’t have any pets in your home. This will prevent unnecessary bites and show kids how to give space to territorial animals. Make sure that your kids know not to pull, bite, or wrestle with animals. Be sure to also show them how to:
- Ask an owner permission before petting an animal
- Not to be over abrasive with any animals
- Know the signs of animal aggression and anxiety
- To leave any strange and wandering animals alone until they see the owner
Teach your kids of the different wildlife they may come across in your neighborhood. Most wildlife will generally run away if they come across a human, but some can get aggressive or attack like a coyote or raccoon. Kids should know what to do if they come across any wildlife that may wander into your backyard.
Tell Kids Which Products Are Dangerous
Did you know that if you mix bleach and vinegar, you create a highly explosive concoction? A creative child might take these two mundane household items and mix them either to try and clean something up or because they wanted to have fun. Teach your kids which items in your home are highly dangerous and toxic.
These items should be safely locked away, but accidents can happen. Let your children know who they should call if there is an accident and how to handle someone ingesting something harmful.
Show Kids How Electricity Works
Your outlets should be covered and none should be faulty. Teach your kids that outlets and other electronics can be highly dangerous. They should know that the outlets and other electronics in your home should never get wet, and that any fingers or metal objects should stay out of anything with an electric current.
Give Kids a Lesson in Fire Preparedness
Show your kids which exits they need to take if there is a fire. Be sure they also understand where any fire extinguishers are, so they can let an adult know in case of a fire. If your kids are a little older, you can show them how to safely use the fire extinguisher. Be sure your kids also know how to:
- Handle grease fires
- Safely exit doors
- Stop, drop, and roll if they catch on fire
- How to treat burns
- Where to go if they need to escape the house
Teach Kids Basic First Aid
Even if your kids are only old enough to learn how to wash a cut and put a bandage on, it could prevent infections and other diseases if they understand what to do. Show your kids where you store the first-aid kit in your home. Make sure they understand how to disinfect a cut properly, and when a cut is severe enough to call for help if they’re home alone.
Show Kids How All The Alarms Work
Your kids should know how all smoke alarms, security systems, and CO2 detectors work. Help them understand what it’s used for and why it protects them. They should also know what to do if it goes off. This is especially important if there’s an accident that won’t put anyone in immediate danger, like burnt toast setting off the smoke alarm. They should know how to turn the alarms on and off as well.
Discuss Emergency Escape Plans
This should be a conversation with the whole family, not just the kids. Inform your kids on what to do in the event of a fire, earthquake, gas leak, and even a break in. This plans should include:
- Where the emergency kit is
- Which exits to take
- Where to meet or which neighbor’s house to go to
- Who they need to call
- What happens if they’re separated from the rest of the family
- What to do if the emergency happens when no one is home
Everyone in your family should be on the same page about escape plans. This will decrease the chances of injury or harm to any person in your family.
