Walking to the Park

[FCCLife]

I need suggestions on how to maintain order while walking to and from the park and bus stop. The kids tend to race which makes me nervous. Do you make them all hold hands or how do you maintain some order?

[Play Care]

The few times we did the bus stop I put kids who couldn't walk nicely in the stroller - regardless of age

But yes, when we are near roads, cars, etc I expect kids to walk nicely, stay with me, etc.

A few years ago in our area a child was run over during a walk when a person backing out of their driveway didn't see the child. Mom was several feet behind the child
It's always in the back of my mind when walking down the sidewalk with the kids.

[TXhomedaycare]

When we walk to the park I have all the kids hold a jump rope and walk in the "walking lane" the area between the curb and the street. If anyone does not follow directions they have to hold my hand. We did that for a few weeks and now everyone can walk without the jump rope for the most part

[Blackcat31]

I use a walkng rope.

Lots of examples and ideas in these threads.
(some even have pictures)

https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.php?tag=walking+ropes

[Ariana]

I use a walkng rope.

Lots of examples and ideas in these threads.
(some even have pictures)

https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.p...=walking+ropes

For sure this! We just used a rope with hair elastics attached. Each kid put their wrist in a hair elastic. Easy and cheap!

[rosieteddy]

I always attached a walking straps to stroller and 4 kids held on attached.Two youngest in stroller then 4 holding on.I put a sticker on spot they were supposed to hold on to.At the park everyone was able to run and play freely.

[daycare]

I have a walkodile.

http://www.walkodile.com/product/2/walkodile

I love it.

the only thing I don't like about it, is that it's hard to store and when it's not in use to put it up out of the way.

[Laurel]

The few times we did the bus stop I put kids who couldn't walk nicely in the stroller - regardless of age

But yes, when we are near roads, cars, etc I expect kids to walk nicely, stay with me, etc.

A few years ago in our area a child was run over during a walk when a person backing out of their driveway didn't see the child. Mom was several feet behind the child
It's always in the back of my mind when walking down the sidewalk with the kids.

Yep, the stroller.

Also, we practiced. We have very low traffic in our neighborhood where we walked but we still practiced. It included having any child I felt was ready to walk a bit ahead of us learn to stop at each driveway, look for cars that might be backing out (I asked them if it was moving even when it wasn't) and look to me for permission to cross it. Maybe a little anal but they did it and it worked. If they couldn't do it, they held the stroller handle and walked with me.

Practice at times when you aren't really going anywhere.