Los Altos Elementary students attended a Water Safety assembly on Thursday, February 20, at their school to learn about precautions they should take while enjoying water activities through an interactive puppet show.
The Water Safety assembly is put together by AquaSmart Live. They are an organization who’s mission is to teach kids how to be safe in and around California waterways. They teach safety precautions like learning to swim, wearing a life jacket, looking before you leap, and other life saving lessons through a puppet show as well as student participation.
During the puppet show students learned all about why it is important to learn how to swim and the puppets showed students a variety of scenarios that support its importance. They also learned the importance of having a life jacket that fits properly and were able to learn how to check to see if a life jacket is the proper size for them.
A student volunteer was able to go up and assist in showing students how to check if their life jacket fits. They had the student put on a like jacket and secured it properly then pulled the jacket up. If the life jacket can go up past the bottom of their ears even when tightly secured, it’s too big for them.
The show also shared with students the importance of looking before they leap into water. For example to always look for things like rocks or trees or shallow water before they jump into water. Lastly, the puppets talked to the students about boat safety and how alcohol and boating never mix.
The puppet show is a free presentation that is sponsored by the California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways.