Teach your kids how to read warning labels

1. Kids can learn important words with flashcards. Learning to read this way isn't usually as good as the more-involved learning we have across this site. Teach your kids how to identify these words, and tell them what they mean and why they're important.
2. Make a game with these flashcards: Danger; Poison; Do not enter; Keep Out; Fire Alarm; Stop; Exit; Hot Surface; Help; Information. Ask them to say when you might need each one.
3. Read our story The Boy Who Cried Wolf and talk about it together so that they know how important it is not to make up stories about real emergencies.
4. In a new place, like a mall, railway station or movie theater, look for words like Exit and Help or Information, so that kids can find help if they get lost. If there are symbols (like an i or a ? for Information), point these out.
5. In traffic, look for Stop signs and practice crossing the road when the Walk sign says it's OK.
6. Read our stories The Hopping Hen and Pandora's Box. Talk about them so that your kids know how important it is to learn that signs around us help us learn what's safe or what's not.
7. Look for signs and labels, especially ones in your neighborhood, to show that reading for meaning (not just for fun) is important. Talk about the "environmental print" (the words around you) whenever you travel with your kids.
8. Teach your kid how to dial 911, and how to speak their name and address clearly. If you have a portable phone or cell phone, show them how it works. There are usually more buttons to press, and these phones can be very tricky for little kids.
9. Have kids practice typing their name and town as part of our fun game Cub Reporter.
10. Get kids used to reading signs around them. One game to play is to look for store signs with "king" or "queen," or stores with people's first names in the title. Make up silly or rhyming last names for them.