Mascot helping to keep them safe

A colourful safety mascot is helping North Shore kinder kids prepare journals about preventing injuries at home.
Rosewall Kindergarten hosted SeeMore last week as part of KIDS Foundation’s safety program of the same name.
City Hall and Geelong charity support agency Give Where You Live have been helping the foundation roll out SeeMore’s program with the aim of enhancing safety awareness “at preschool, home and other relevant environments”.
“Enhancing children’s learning about safety is the highest priority at Rosewall Kindergarten and council’s involvement in the SeeMore Safety program has provided fantastic opportunities for many families to discuss injury prevention at home,” said City Hall’s community life general manager, Linda Quinn.
“The teachers came up with an innovative and inclusive extension to the safety program, the SeeMore Safety Journal, where children take SeeMore the mascot into their homes and include him in daily activities.
“Children take photos with the help of their parents and write about their adventures in the SeeMore journal. SeeMore’s adventures are then shared with friends back at kinder.”
Ms Quinn said involving children’s parents and siblings in the program reinforced and spread the safety messages developed at kinder.
The journal provided “an authentic context to create a common language and share safety values within the whole community,” she said.
KIDS Foundation founder Susie O’Neill visited Rosewall to watch the kids sharing journal entries.
“We encourage participation in the SeeMore Safety program to be both educational and fun. “The activities, books and materials empower children and the rest of the community to ‘Think Safe, Play Safe’.”