Geraldton play date a fun way to get kids familiar with emergency service personnel

Some of Geraldton’s smallest community members will get an introduction on what to do in an emergency situation at a play date with a difference on Monday.

Hosted by Geraldton Toy Library, the event is aimed at familiarising children under the age of six with emergency service personnel and how to keep safe in a disaster.

Kids will enjoy dress-up games, playing with new fire trucks and other emergency-themed toys, learning how to call triple-0 and other activities at the event.

Parents and guardians will also receive information on how to make their homes as fire-safe as possible and what they should include in their emergency evacuation plans and kits.

We thought, ‘what does it look like to build resilience against natural disasters when you are dealing with very young children?’

While this was not the toy library’s primary purpose, Mrs Hurley said the program got the team thinking about how they could make a difference in their sphere of influence.

“We thought, ‘what does it look like to build resilience against natural disasters when you are dealing with very young children?’” she said.

“We thought first and foremost it is just developing that familiarity with emergency service workers... teaching kids they are there to help them and are their friends.

“The other way to prepare young children for natural disasters is to educate the parents.”

Mrs Hurley encouraged other local groups and organisations to “be creative” and consider how they could also support natural disaster preparation, prevention and recovery in their community.

Grants of up to $10,000 are available in the next round of the NAB Foundation community grants, with applications closing on July 30.