Ready, Set, Walk-This-Way.org



More than 50% of child-related pedestrian accidents happen while children walk to and from school. And you know what? It’s preventable!

Walk-This-Way.org aims to educate kids about pedestrian safety by making it fun and engaging through its game board, Walk This Way.

Walk This Way is an interactive teaching tool in the form of an educational game where elementary age children (ages 7 to 9) learn all about pedestrian safety in an engaging way. “The game-board is a pedestrian safety game for kids and it’s been designed around the Safe Routes to School principles. We use their philosophy with how we approached the development of this project, said Suzanne Madison, co-founder of Walk-This-Way.org explains.

Safe Routes to School is a national and international movement to create safe, convenient and fun opportunities for children to bike and walk to schools. By providing these types of opportunities contributes to our society’s broader efforts to provide more physical activity and enhance traffic safety. Historically Safe Routes members would come in to the school and talk to the kids about pedestrian safety and its importance,” says Madison, Walk This Way was created to teach children in an innovative and engaging approach, and ultimately we would like to ensure that our 3rd and 4th graders are retaining information learned and applying these skills while walking to and from school, or pretty much while walking anywhere.

Walk-This-Way.org is all about saving lives, building better communities, and generating healthier children, says Madison, and “studies show that children who walk to and from school receive good exercise (cardio-like) and typically test higher than some children who do not receive exercise at all.” Studies also show that childhood obesity rates are on the rise and our kids are testing lower.” The importance of getting our kids up and moving is one of Walk This Way priorities.

Also, many children in minority communities walk to and from school, and some of these kids are “are not really prepared for the many obstacles or challenges that they might encounter while walking to and from school. We are responsible for all kids and our job is to make sure that they know to cross the street at safe intersections, wait for the crossing guards to assist, look both ways always before crossing the street and understanding the crossing signals.

Children don’t really realize “that they’re small and they’re hard to be seen,” says Madison. Children are also very excited around their friends and sometimes dart-out quickly in front moving traffic and it can be a very devastating moment. The other issue that we have to deal with and fix is the number of distracted drivers on the road. And what is alarming are that some of these drivers are parents who are driving other kids to and from school. A distracted driver is someone who is driving and not completely focused on the road; this person could be texting, using their GPS, or even using drinking hot coffee. Sadly, but true distracted driving plays a big factor in these kids being hit by cars. My message to you is this…Is that text or cell call that important where it can’t wait? If not, then pull over to the side of the road, say’s Madison.” The loss of life due to a distracted driver is avoidable and there is really no excuse, but selfishness.

Walk This Way game board kit was developed so that every child can play the game at school and learn pedestrian safety skills that will last them a life time. The game board comes with iconic signage, colorful graphics, street lights, hand signals, crossing guards, and safety tip cards, caution cards and danger zone cards – all developed to teach and reinforce pedestrian safety in an engaging way. All children are encouraged and motivated to become Walk This Way Superstars!

IN THE CLASSROOM AND REINFORCED AT HOME!

We love our educators and need our parents – The game is designed as a two-part lesson. The first lesson is a curriculum to teach Pedestrian Safety language, terms and transportation visuals in accordance with Safe Routes to Schools and then followed by the interactive teaching tool, Walk This Way Board Game. The entire session can be taught in approximately 30 minutes. 15 minutes for lesson 1 presented to the entire classroom and 15 minutes for the board game played in small groups of four. The game is designed around true or false pedestrian safety questions that allow players to advance forward to become a Walk This Way Superstar. Every student is given a game board and game kit complete with a red drawstring back pack to hold the various game parts so they can take the game home and play with their family. That’s right, this teaching tool is designed so that “ALL” children can take their game kit home and play with their family and friends. Say’s Madison.

In a world where traffic is all unavoidable, Walk-This-Way.org and its game is on the right track to making the world a safer place for kids who walk.

To find out more about Walk-This-Way.org and its board game, visit http://www.walk-this-way.org where you can also register and check out the lesson plan and other teaching tools.

You can also call (888) 636-5553 or email info@walk-this-way.org for more details.

 

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