Ability of preschool children in perception of traffic dangers: an intervational study

Objective (s): To investigate the effect of training in promoting children’s ability to select safe places to cross roads, and to examine which type of training is more effective that were story-telling or tabletop model. Sixty preschool and twenty 9 years old children participated in the study. Preschool children were divided into three groups, where 20 received training by means of story-telling, and 20 by tabletop model. The remaining children did not receive any training. The training was implemented in 4 sessions. Preschool children’s ability in identifying safe/dangerous crossing sites was assessed by 10 pictures in pre and post training. For 9 years old' ability was assessed once. In comparison to controls, significant improvement was observed in all children following training. The trained preschool children’s scores were not significantly different from 9 year-old children. Tabletop model was more effective method than story-telling. Training especially by tabletop model might be effective in promoting the perception of traffic dangers in young children. Training can speed up the development of young children's ability.