There was an episode of SuperNanny I watched not long ago that had advice about getting your children to walk with you, instead of streaking around, and possibly getting hit by a car.
There were 3 out of control children who would run off and not listen or walk properly with their mother. They would take off down the sidewalk, run into the street, out into parking lots...you get the idea. The children were ages were 4, 8 and 10.
SupperNannys fix for this?
Make a game map of the route to be walked, turn it into a game and let them spot land marks along the way.When they would spot a landmark they would get a sticker.as a reward. This would engage them in walking with the parents instead of taking off and running wild. While this sounds great in theory, It is utter nonsense in reality.
The so called fix taught the kids nothing, nothing about safety, nothing about respecting their parents, nothing about the reality of traffic, and traffic dangers. When the stickers run out, or mom doesn't have time to make a map the trouble will start all over again. If the game even lasts that long, if this is a route you walk everyday, the kids will get bored with it soon enough, and your right back to running wild.
So here is how you actually get your child to understand that walking with you, instead of running off, is the appropriate thing to do. At the same time they are learning the dangers of traffic, car awareness, and responsible walking habits.
I will start with how to incorporate it while they are young, thus avoiding running wild altogether, and move on to fixing the running off in older children.
My son was 2 when I first took him for a walk out of stroller. The first thing I did was to buy a tether, some people call them a child harness. I am an advocate of these as temporary learning tools for children. The child feels as if they are walking separately, yet you remain in control in case they do decide to just streak off. A child harness will not make them feel bad about themselves, or make them feel less then human.They come in cute designs, or characters, some with pockets for snacks or a small toy. My son is now 3 and every once in awhile still wants to wear his. I never used the harness as a punishment, so it has no bad connotations about it. It was just expected, if he didn't wear it he didn't go, that simple.
Starting with the first time you ever go for a walk child entow, explain everything the whole time your walking.
Talk about cars, how fast they go, how they can't see very small people easily. Talk about their weight, and how they stop. Explain what would happen if they ran into the road and a car couldn't stop.
Yes it does sound scary for a kid, but it is for us too. There isn't a person out there I know who isn't afraid of being hit by a car. Being scared of being run over is what keeps it from happening. It's a natural survival sense, and not abnormal. You want kids to learn this, because st young ages they have no fear of cars, so they have no fear of running into streets.
With my son I used * squished like a pancake* to get the point across. It didn't make him terrified of walks, but it did make him careful and wary of cars.
Let them help by pushing the cross buttons if you have them. Talk about the cross and don't cross signs and the difference between the two.
Before crossing point out left and right on the street and how to look for cars.
I also took time to explain about not darting straight out when the walk light comes up because some people like to run their red lights. My son takes a second now to make sure each car has stopped before he steps off the curb.
If you go over all of the walking and road safety as your walking its engaging them in learning. Most little ones learn best while doing, because most children are visual, hands on learners.
Keep this up. Do the same talks about safety, cars, and traffic every single time you walk, and in no time you will have a child that has learned why not to run wild on walks. It took one month for my guy to catch on.
This is the same method I use for older kids who run wild and never learned traffic safety. The exact same method. I don't care if they are 5, they go on harness. They definitely don't like it, but it works, and I would rather have an angry on harness 5 year old, then one who just got run over. I have never had this method fail. Normally the learning curve is 2 weeks for older kids.
Nothing beats a child that knows what not to do, and it makes for wonderful family walks.
My son is 3, off harness, and sometimes reminds me what not to do while walking, its a beautiful thing.
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