My Safety ID

Four facts and one pretend phone call. Your child practises saying who they are and where they live — and what to do if they ever need to call for help.

Pick the facts. Start with the child’s full name and one grown-up’s full name (not just “Mummy” or “Daddy” — dispatchers and helpers need a real name). Add your home address and a phone number as they’re ready.
Turn it into a song. Set the phone number or address to a tune you both know — Twinkle Twinkle, Frère Jacques, Happy Birthday. Break a long number into three little chunks and clap along.
Play “Important Questions.” At odd moments — in the car, at bath time — ask: “What’s your whole name? Where do you live? What’s Grandma’s real name?” Celebrate every answer.
Practise a pretend call. On a toy or switched-off phone, the child “calls for help”: they say nine-one-one (never “nine-eleven” — there is no 11 button), then what’s wrong, where you are (the address), and their name — and stay on the line until the helper says it is okay.
Talk about when. A real emergency is a fire, someone who will not wake up, or getting lost — not a lost toy, and never for fun. Calling as a joke can stop a real call getting through.

Variation: show (do not press) the Emergency / SOS button on a locked phone, and stick the address and number on the fridge so the child can point along while they recite.

Requirements

Space: Anywhere — the kitchen table, the car, the bath, a bedtime cuddle; just a few minutes
Surface: None needed
Materials: A toy phone, or an old or switched-off phone (never a live one); paper to write the number and address; an optional sticker chart
Participants: One adult leading one child; siblings can swap being the caller and the emergency operator
Supervision: Full and adult-led — the grown-up runs the pretend call and makes sure no real emergency number is ever dialled

Rationale & Objective

My Safety ID covers the heart of this subdomain — knowing your own full name, address, and a phone number — and pairs it with the one skill those facts exist for: getting help in an emergency. It maps directly onto Head Start ELOF Goal P-PMP 6 (child demonstrates knowledge of personal safety practices and routines), and the American Academy of Pediatrics lists says name and address as a four-to-five-year milestone. A long phone number is genuinely harder — it carries no meaning for a child — so songs, rhymes, and chunking do the heavy lifting, exactly the multisensory, play-embedded repetition the Montessori practical-life tradition uses to make personal facts stick. The pretend call rehearses the three things every dispatcher asks — what is wrong, where you are, who you are — plus the small details that trip children up under stress: saying nine-one-one, and staying on the line. The goal is not a child who handles emergencies alone, but one who, if ever lost or with a hurt grown-up, can say who they are and summon a helper.

Progress Indicators

Early: says their first name and knows 911 is “for emergencies”; sings the address or number song along with a grown-up
Developing: states their full name and full home address, and recites the phone number with a little help; knows to say “nine-one-one,” not “nine-eleven”
Proficient: gives full name, a grown-up’s full name, the whole address, and a phone number independently; in a pretend call reports what is wrong, where, and who, and stays on the line
Advanced: reliably tells a real emergency from a non-emergency, knows never to call as a joke, and can find the Emergency/SOS option on a locked phone

Safety Notes

Never dial a real emergency number to practise — use a toy, switched-off, or clearly pretend phone. Modern smartphones can auto-dial 911 from repeated side-button presses, so keep live phones out of the game and supervise closely.
Always teach both halves together — call for help in a real emergency, and never call for fun — because a prank or accidental call can delay help for someone in real danger.
Frame the 911 operator, police, and firefighters as helpers, so the child feels reassured rather than frightened.
Teach the privacy nuance — the address and number you give a 911 operator are not facts to hand to strangers who simply ask.

Hints

Playfulness: turn it into a game show — “For the grand prize… what is your address?” — and let the child quiz you, catching your deliberate mistakes
Sustain interest: rotate the tune, add one new fact each week, let the child “teach” the facts to a stuffed animal, and add a sticker for each clean recital
Common mistake: expecting the long phone number too soon — master name and address first (they are developmentally easier), then chunk the number into three small parts
No equipment: this needs nothing at all — do it in the car, at bath time, or on a walk; your hand makes a perfectly good pretend phone
Cross-domain: reciting builds memory and number sequencing (maths), clear speech builds language, and the pretend call builds conversation and narrative skills
Progression: first name → grown-up’s full name → full address → phone number → a pretend 911 call (what, where, who) → sort emergency from non-emergency → find the SOS button

Sources

Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework — Goal P-PMP 6: child demonstrates knowledge of personal safety practices and routines (Office of Head Start, 2015)
American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org — Developmental Milestones: 4 to 5 Year Olds (says name and address)
Nemours KidsHealth — Teaching Your Child How to Use 911 (say nine-one-one; report what is wrong, where, and who; do not hang up)
Cleveland Clinic — When and How To Teach Kids To Call 911, 2023 (real-emergency rule; full names; Emergency SOS on locked phones)
Nationwide Children’s Hospital — Teaching Kids About 911, 2024 (practise with an unplugged or pretend phone)
National 911 Program (911.gov) — Frequently Asked Questions About Calling 911 (the harm of prank calls)
Montessori practical-life tradition (hands-on, play-embedded learning of one’s own personal information)