Road safety is an important issue, and one that we as parents can't afford to be lax on. It is very important that children learn from day one the habit of practicing street and sidewalk safety. By applying the use of your child's dominant sense you can make the lesson easier for them to assimilate and learn.

As tactile children relate to the world from a physical stance, explaining to them the physical consequences will make the importance of road safety more real. "If you run across the road without an adult, you may get hit by a car and won't be able to play soccer or wrestle with your brother." This will explain what they could miss out on if they decide to be spontaneous and remind them of consequences to something that the child physically likes to do. Using your tactile child's love of rules is also a good way to instill road safety. "The rule is that you wait for Mommy to hold your hand before you cross the road." You will need to remind them but do so with basic and directive words such as "Hold my hand," and "Wait at the lights," as tactile children work best with a "less is more" philosophy when it comes to verbal directions.

Rhymes and songs are great ways to teach auditory children road safety basics. They also will love to ask lots of questions, so it is important to explain why the rules are there and what the consequences are in a straight forward way. Use stories and anecdotes to emphasize and bring to life the importance of being careful around roads. As auditory children can lose focus when talking and listening, having a "no chatting" rule as you cross the road will help to cement the need for focus when crossing. Be careful of the tone you use when teaching and delivering the rules and try to make sure that it matches the message your words give.

Have your visual child sit in your car and see that it is impossible for a driver of a vehicle to see someone small in front of the car. This will give a strong message as to why they need to cross the road with an adult. Look stern when talking about the consequences of not following the rules about crossing the street, as your facial features will help to implant the message in a visual way. Always lead by example by following the same rules yourself, even if you're running late and don't want to walk to the crosswalk when the car is just across the street. Letting them always see you following road safety will ensure the uncompromising nature of the subject is enforced. Use star/reward charts when they do things well, and be sure to gush to friends and family when they begin to follow the rules

Taste and smell children usually are pretty timid with traffic and prefer to hold mom's hand at any time; however, they can run out if following a friend, or when seeing a friend across the road. Fortunately, they are easily influenced by a parent's disapproval. Let your child see how upset you would be, even at the thought of them crossing the road unaccompanied - it will make a strong impression, and she will tend to follow course. If particularly resistant, ask your child to hold your hand, and help you cross the road, rather than the other way round. They will feel that this is something they are doing to help you, not something only little kids do.

Road safety is an important issue and one that should be taught as early as possible and reinforced as they get older and more mobile. Teach them to look both ways - even left-right-left - before crossing. Have them wait for an adult and hold hands when crossing a road, even at marked crossings and ensure they always cross at the appropriate place, wait at lights, crossings, corners.

Priscilla Dunstan, creator of the Dunstan Baby Language, is a child and parenting behavior expert and consultant and the author of "Child Sense." Learn more about Dunstan and her parenting discoveries at www.childsense.com

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� 2013, Priscilla Dunstan

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