It is natural to worry when a child hesitates at the kerb or steps into the road without looking. How can you teach them to look, signal, and judge gaps so those behaviours become reliable?
This post breaks the task into three practical drills to practise together: scan for hazards, signal and make eye contact, and judge gaps before crossing. Each drill is short, focused, and repeatable, so you and your child can build confident, safe habits step by step.
1. Scan ahead to spot traffic hazards
Start with a simple, repeatable scanning routine: look left, right, left, check over the shoulder for cyclists, and only step forward once your child can describe what they see. Practise the routine aloud at the kerb until it becomes automatic, then turn it into an observational game by asking your child to spot hazards such as reversing vehicles, pedestrians stepping out, cyclists hidden by parked cars, and uneven surfaces. Praise specific, accurate observations to encourage careful looking and help the habit stick. Use simple props to demonstrate occlusion—hide a toy or cone behind a parked car or van, and ask whether anything could emerge; this helps your child learn to pause and reassess blind spots.
Help your child build predictive thinking by asking what might happen when a vehicle turns, an indicator flashes, or people stand near the road. Ask them to suggest responses, for example, wait, step back, or make eye contact with the driver. Practise scanning in different conditions, such as rain, low sun, and around large vehicles, so they learn to adjust when visibility drops. Encourage your child to verbalise what they can and cannot see; saying observations aloud strengthens situational awareness and helps them make safer crossing decisions.
2. Signal your intention and make eye contact
Show children clear gestures to indicate intent: raise a hand, palm facing traffic, to attract attention; point towards the side they will cross to remove ambiguity; and hold the signal until a driver has acknowledged by slowing, stopping, or making eye contact. Practise each gesture frequently, and turn the whole routine into a short game so it remains reliable under distraction. Use a simple sequence: look left, look right, look left again, signal, then seek eye contact, and rehearse the sequence so the steps flow naturally.
Practise making eye contact with drivers or cyclists before stepping off the kerb. Role-play in a safe, quiet spot: have an adult sit in a parked car and ask the child to line their sight with the driver’s face so they learn what eye contact looks like. If the child cannot meet the other road user’s eyes, treat that as a cue to wait, or ask the adult driver or cyclist to stop and give a clear signal before moving. Plan for poor visibility and obstructions by stepping back until both parties can see each other, using a marked crossing where possible, and wearing high-visibility or reflective clothing in low light or bad weather. Motorists and cyclists often respond more quickly when a pedestrian signals and makes eye contact; they may hesitate if they cannot see a pedestrian’s face. Teach children to seek that acknowledgement rather than assuming they are visible to others.
3. Assess gaps carefully and cross only when it is safe
Try these short, repeatable exercises to help a child develop a practical sense of timing and speed. Kerb-crossing rhyme - At a quiet kerb, pick a fixed landmark across the road. Use a simple paced rhyme while the child walks and asks them to judge whether they can reach the opposite kerb before a small toy car reaches the landmark. Vary start distances and routes, and repeat the test. After each run, ask what they predicted and compare it with the outcome, then talk through any differences. This helps them adjust their instinctive timing using direct evidence. Toy vehicle race - Line up toy vehicles of different sizes and move them at the same speed toward a marker. Ask the child which will reach the marker first, then run the test. Use the result to show that apparent size or engine noise can mislead, while relative motion matters more. Encourage the child to explain what they observed. Keep sessions brief, repeat them regularly, and praise careful observation. Over time, these hands-on experiments build an evidence-based sense of timing and speed.
Practise a peek-and-commit routine for obstructed sightlines. Step to the kerb, turn your head to look through gaps between parked vehicles, and pause to assess whether you could cross at a normal walking pace. Use cones to recreate occlusions so your child experiences how much more of the road becomes visible after a small forward step. Stage multi-lane crossings with cones and simulated traffic. Teach your child to require a clear gap in every lane, and to obtain a clear acknowledgement from any visible driver before moving, for example a slowed approach, a signal, or a wave. Agree simple success criteria together, for example only starting to cross when they can maintain a normal walking pace. Teach a recovery rule: if they find themselves hurrying, return to the kerb and wait. After each run, ask the child to explain why a gap was safe or unsafe. Getting them to verbalise the checking steps helps build transferable judgement skills.
Try short, repeatable drills that focus on scanning, signalling, and gap judgement. They help children build observable habits and sharpen the specific skills needed to cross safely. Practise aloud, use props to recreate blind spots, and rehearse eye contact and timing; these approaches provide concrete, measurable feedback you can refine.
Start with three simple steps: scan for hazards, signal and make eye contact with road users, then assess gaps in traffic. Keep each drill short, frequent, and predictable so you can track progress. With regular practice, attention and timing become reliable safety habits your child can use without prompting.
