Roadstars
Help us keep the roads safe!
For nursery and primary school levels:
- ELC
- P1
Name that crossing
There are four common road crossings in use on our roads.
Learn the names with Roadstars’ interactive mission below.
Educator extension
Notes for Educators
You can make this activity a discussion (teachers, use your smartboard) and ask:
- What is different about each crossing?
- Which ones do you have close to your home or school?
- How might you use each crossing?
- Zebra crossing: Stop behind the kerb, and if you have an adult with you, hold their hand. Wait until traffic from both directions has stopped, or the road is clear, before crossing. Keep looking both ways, and listening for traffic, in case another driver or cyclist hasn’t seen you and attempts to overtake a vehicle that has stopped. Walk across in a straight line until you reach the other side.
- Toucan crossing: These allow cyclists and pedestrians to share the crossing space and cross at the same time. Stop behind the kerb, and if you have an adult with you, hold their hand. Push the button and wait until the green signal shows. Keep looking both ways, and listening for traffic in case a driver or cyclist hasn’t seen you. Check that all the vehicles are stopping. Walk or cycle across in a straight line until you reach the other side.
- School crossing patrol: Stop behind the kerb, and if you have an adult with you, hold their hand. Wait for the school crossing patrol person to walk out into the road to stop the traffic and let you know that it’s safe to start walking. Keep looking both ways, and listening for traffic, and walk in front of the crossing patrol person (not behind them), in a straight line, until you reach the other side.
- Pelican crossing: Stop behind the kerb, and if you have an adult with you, hold their hand. Push the button to activate the traffic signals. When the red walking man shows, do not cross. When a steady green walking man shows, check the traffic has stopped then cross with care. Keep looking both ways, and listening for traffic, in case a driver or cyclist hasn’t seen you. Check that all the vehicles are stopping. When the green figure begins to flash you should not start to cross. If you have already started you should have time to finish crossing safely. Walk across in a straight line until you reach the other side.
- Can you work out why each crossing has its name? (e.g. ‘zebra’ stripes, toucan means ‘two can’; Pelican comes from PELICON, which is a portmanteau of Pedestrian Light Controlled; why is a school crossing patrol sometimes called a ‘lollipop’ person?)
- Play a charades-type game where your children act out which crossing they are using, for others to guess which one.
Homework: encourage your children to play an ‘I Spy’ game when walking outside of school with their parents/carers/you. They have to shout out the names of the different types of crossings as they see them.
Curriculum for Excellence associated Experiences and Outcomes
I know and can demonstrate how to keep myself and others safe and how to respond in a range of emergency situations. HWB 0-17a
I know and can demonstrate how to travel safely. HWB 0-18a
I listen or watch for useful or interesting information and I use this to make choices or learn new things. LIT 0-04a
I explore and discover the interesting features of my local environment to develop an awareness of the world around me. SOC 0-07a