Now that summer is finally here, a whole new array of activities follows closely behind. Festivals, swim parties, exhibits, farmer's markets, parties in the park, and free concerts outdoors are just a few of the events that bring fun to summer. Before you take your little ones to these type of larger events, you might want to consider how to be a step (or two) ahead of the game when it comes to safety.
This past weekend, we took our daughter to Jiggle Jam, while we toted our 9 month old around in the backpack carrier. He (our 9 month old) loved being in the backpack carrier, it freed up our arms by not holding him, and of course, we knew right where he was at all times. He was easy.
Our 3 year old is another story. She can run. She has interests (and wants to follow them immediately). And there were lots of fun activities at Jiggle Jam to partake in, and thousands of people all around. So how do you stay safe in a situation like this?
Talk to your child before you even arrive at the event about what it will be like, reiterating that they must stay with Mommy and Daddy. If you have a child that runs and you're worried about keeping tabs on him, there are several backpacks (monkeys, horses, etc) that they can wear that has a strap attached to it for you to hold on to. In a crowd with thousands, this is a great option.
When we walked into Jiggle Jam, we found out where a child should go should they get separated from their parents. Next, we pointed out to Ava all the volunteers for Jiggle Jam, which were wearing the same colored shirt. These people were "safe", and if she were to get separated from us, she could go up to these people and ask for help.
Another point to reinforce was that she needed to stay with us no matter what fun, colorful, musical thing she might have seen. For Ava, it was the bubbles. She wanted to go play with bubbles! I pointed them out to her and said, "If you want to go play with the bubbles, you need to tell Mommy or Daddy, and then we can go over there together. You may not just run off by yourself. Tell Mommy or Daddy, and we will walk over together." These kind of concrete examples can be helpful with young children because their minds can grasp it better than simply saying, "Stay with Mommy and Daddy."
Something that I did not do but could be very helpful for children when going into large crowds is putting some form of identification on them. This information could be their name along with phone numbers to call if they get separated. Older children can be taught this information, or could even have it on a card in their pocket. You can choose to put your address on it, though some people may feel this is too much information. Whatever your comfort level is fine.
So remember, before you head out to this summer's fun events, always think about how to keep the kids safe, and what you can say or do before you even walk into the event. Safety must always be the first priority over even the fun that awaits you.