Help kids feel confident and calm in various situations by teaching them emergency safety tips. Everyone will feel safer with preparation and planning.

Important Phone Numbers: Your home phone number and/or cell phone number, as well as an emergency number, are the most important numbers for your child to know. Personal numbers are necessary if your child gets lost or anytime she needs to get in contact with you.  Emergency numbers like your local fire or police department are always handy, but at a young age, 911 is a great place to start.

* Practice your cell and home phone number with your child by having him dial it on your phone. You can’t physically practice 911, but have him memorize it. You can also draw your phone number keys on a piece of paper and have him practice that way, especially if he needs to hit a talk button to activate the call.

Fire Safety Tips: If the unfortunate event of a fire does happen, there are ways that the whole family can be prepared.

* A working smoke alarm can greatly reduce deaths from fires by detecting a fire as early as possible. It’s the parents’ job to make sure smoke alarms are working and are placed in the proper areas. Carbon monoxide detectors can save lives as well.

* Have a plan! Sit down with the family and plan what to do if there is a fire. Knowing how to get out of the house and where to meet up outside can save lives and help children feel prepared. Teach your children various places to exit the house if certain doors are blocked and/or too hot. Crawling and staying low to the ground, and even having parents assigned to take care of young children who need additional help, are great tips to make everyone stay safer.

* If hair or clothes catch on fire, remember to: stop, drop and roll! This is a fun drill to practice with kids and see who can do it the fastest!

* Help prevent fires by being careful around the house. Make sure children don’t play with matches or lighters. Don’t leave the stove or oven on unattended.

Getting Lost Safety Tips: Practice a safety plan if you and your child ever get separated in public.

* When you arrive at your destination, choose a meeting place. This will be your designated area to go to if you are separated from one another. Make sure you are both clear on where it is. Remind her that you will find her if she’s lost to help her relax.

* When your child first realizes she’s lost, tell her to calmly look around to make sure you’re not in eyesight. If she cannot see you, then have her start yelling out your full name, not just mom or dad (as there can be lots of moms or dads in the area). Remind her that no matter where you are it’s okay to yell. Then she can walk to the meeting place.

* If he still can’t find you, have him calmly ask someone who works there for help. A cashier, security guard or ticket seller can make an announcement over a speaker. Tell your child to stay with the worker in a public area. If there is nobody around who works there, tell your child to look for another mom who has children with her, and then ask that mom for help.

* Place your cell phone number somewhere with your child. You can place it in a pocket or make a bracelet or necklace with number beads.

For Street Safety tips, go to the next page. 

Street Safety: Teach your child simple steps to keep her safe from cars and even bikes.

* Always hold hands with younger children when crossing streets. Even if it’s not busy, it’s best to practice.

* If you’re letting your child walk alone, talk to him about how to cross the street by himself. First, tell him to always look both ways before crossing. Even if cars seem to slow down, tell your child to have eye contact with the driver to make sure the driver sees him.

* Teach her to stay on crosswalks while crossing, pay attention to traffic lights and to stay undistracted.  Keep an eye out for bikes as well.

* If approaching a driveway on foot or on a bike, tell your child to stop and look to make sure a car is not backing up.

These emergency and safety tips for kids will help them be prepared in the event that something happens.

For even more age appropriate safety tips, check out Tips for Child Personal Safety here.

For Home Safety tips, click here.

Jennifer Hanrahan is an intern with Boston Parents Paper.