kids

The Aussie app every single parent should have on their phones this summer.

Summer is well and truly here and for parents of young children that means it’s time to be vigilant around the water.

Australia’s favourite water safety expert Laurie Lawrence has teamed up with the government to launch The Kids Alive App to help parents educate their kids about water safety.

It includes music, cartoons and e-books with a focus on home, pool, beach and farm water safety.

The 2016 Drowning Report published by the Royal Life Saving Society Australia identified 21 drowning deaths of children under five years old. This is a 30 per cent decrease compared to the 10 year average, but even one death is still one too many.

Speaking to Mamamia’s parenting podcast This Glorious Mess, Lawrence reinforced just how important it is for parents to teach their young children the Five Alive program.

“If they follow those five simple steps, not just one or two, that message will save lives,” he said.

LISTEN: You can hear the full interview with Lawrence on This Glorious Mess below (post continues after audio…)

“Kids that have [swimming] lessons as infants, it builds their social, emotional, physical, intellectual capital, they are smarter, better coordinated [too].”

Children under five years old are also identified by the Royal Life Saving Society Australia to be the most at risk age group for drowning, with private swimming pools accounting for over half of drowning deaths. A statistic which is backed up by Laurie Lawrence.

Created in consultation with early childhood educators, water safety experts and parents, Kids Alive – Do the Five pushes the five things to teach kids about water saftey; fence the pool, shut the gate, teach your kids to swim – it’s great, supervise – watch your mate and learn how to resuscitate.

The app is free in the Apple and Google Play stores.

This post was published in partnership with The Delivery. You can read more from The Delivery on their website.

LISTEN: For your latest instalment of imperfect parenting advice, listen to This Glorious Mess below…