Water Safety Fun

Overview

Year Level: Years 1–2
Subject: Health and Physical Education
Strand: Personal, Social and Community Health
Curriculum Code: VCHPEP074
Duration: 60 minutes
Class Size: 10 students

Curriculum Focus

This lesson aligns with the Victorian Curriculum for Health and Physical Education, specifically:

VCHPEP074: Recognise situations and opportunities to promote their own health, safety and wellbeing.

This lesson develops student understanding of how to identify safe behaviours around water environments such as pools, bathtubs, beaches, dams and rivers. Children will engage with the "Wise Owl at Home" book from the Kids Alive – Do the Five team to learn key safety messages in a way that is interactive, visual and memorable.

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Learning Intentions

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Identify safe and unsafe behaviour around water.
• Recall the five water safety rules from the "Kids Alive – Do the Five" program.
• Demonstrate how to make safe choices in water-based situations around the home.
• Begin developing a personal understanding of their role in keeping themselves and others safe around water.

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Success Criteria

Students will:

• Participate actively in discussions and role-plays.
• Correctly recall the five water safety messages.
• Identify at least three safe practices to stay safe around water at home.
• Create a visual to promote water safety in their home environment.

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Resources

• Mentor Text: Wise Owl at Home (Kids Alive – Do the Five) – printed copy or digital projection
• “Do the Five” poster or chart
• Large sheets of paper for drawing
• Craft materials (textas, crayons, glue, scissors)
• Printed scenario cards (safe/unsafe water situations)
• Blue fabric or tarpaulin to simulate pool/water environment for role-play
• Owl puppet or Wise Owl mask for teacher/peer use

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Lesson Breakdown

Warm-Up (10 minutes) – How well do you know water?

1. Class Circle Time Discussion
   Sit in a circle and ask the students:

   • "Where do you see water at home?"
   • "When do you play with or use water?"
   • "What places near your home have water that might not be safe?"

2. Introduce the term "water safety" and briefly explain that we are learning to keep ourselves safe around water.

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Explicit Teaching (15 minutes) – Meet Wise Owl

1. Read Aloud: Wise Owl at Home
   Read the story out loud to the class. Use animated voices and pause to ask:

   • "What did Wise Owl tell the kids to do here?"
   • "Was that a safe or unsafe choice?"

2. Unpack the 'Do the Five' message: Use the poster or make a classroom chart to list each of the five water safety messages:

   1. Fence the pool.
   2. Shut the gate.
   3. Learn to swim.
   4. Supervise.
   5. Learn to resuscitate.

   Ask students to repeat the five steps with actions for each. Create a little chant with claps or stomps.

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Activity 1: Safe or Unsafe? (10 minutes) – Water Sorting Game

• Hand out scenario cards with pictures or sentences describing various water scenarios (e.g. child swimming alone, adult supervising bath time, open gate to pool).
• Students work in pairs to sort the cards into Safe or Unsafe piles.
• Bring the class back to the circle and review the sorted items as a group.
• Use the blue fabric to mark the “water zone” and encourage volunteers to act out the safe/unsafe choices with Wise Owl (puppet or mask).

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Activity 2: Poster Creations (15 minutes) – Be a Water Safety Hero!

• Each student creates a “Water Safety at My House” poster.
• On their paper, they draw a picture of a place at home with water (e.g. bath, backyard pool, fishpond).
• They include at least two safety rules they learned from Wise Owl in writing or drawing.
• Optional prompt: “At my house, we stay safe by…”

Encourage creativity and provide support with writing or spelling.

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Reflection & Sharing (10 minutes) – Water Safety Circle

1. Gather students in a circle again.
2. Invite each to share one thing they learned today about being safe around water.
3. Ask:
   • “Who keeps you safe when you’re near water at home?”
   • “What can YOU do to help make sure water play is safe?”

Display posters in the classroom or send them home with a water safety information sheet.

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Differentiation

• Visual Learners: Picture prompts, illustrations, puppet play
• Auditory Learners: Story read-aloud, rhyming chant of the five rules
• Kinesthetic Learners: Role-playing safe/unsafe situations
• Support Students: Paired or small-group tasks, sentence starters or templates for posters
• Extension: Students write a water safety rulebook or create a dramatic skit for the class

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Assessment

Formative Assessment through:

• Observing student participation in discussions and activities
• Accuracy and creativity in matching safe/unsafe scenarios
• Completion and clarity of student-created safety posters
• Ability to recall and reflect upon water safety messages

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Teacher’s Quick Recap

Activity	Time	Focus
Welcome Discussion	10m	Activate prior knowledge
Read Aloud & 'Do the Five'	15m	Core concepts and vocabulary
Scenario Sorting + Role Play	10m	Application and understanding
Poster Creation	15m	Demonstration of understanding
Reflection Circle	10m	Consolidation and student voice

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Supporting the Home-School Connection

Send home a simple water safety guide summarising the "Do the Five" message and display the posters students created in the school hallway or community bulletin board. Parents can be encouraged to talk about water safety regularly and set up a mini safety checklist at home with their child.

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Final Notes

This lesson nurtures student agency and confidence in managing their own safety. Through engaging storytelling, role play, and creative expression, students learn vital skills that can make a real-world difference. Water is part of life in Australia, so embedding these messages early empowers children to be safety ambassadors at home and in their community.