How to teach your kid their address, your phone number and who safe helpers are

A crowded fair, a big store, a busy beach. Most parents have felt that jolt of panic when they look around and can't see their child. Usually the child turns up a minute later. But if they don't, three things help most: knowing who to ask for help, knowing their own name and address, and knowing how to reach you.

These are the first skills on the Out and About branch, and kids 6 to 8 can learn all of them.

Why now

The CDC notes that children 6 to 8 are showing more independence from parents and family, and that school brings them into regular contact with the larger world. Its parenting tips for this age include talking with your child about how to ask for help when they need it.

Skill 1: Your name, address and a parent's phone number

The goal is for your child to say all three from memory, without a card or a phone to look at.

1. Full name, first and last.
2. Address: number, street, and town. Learn it one part at a time.
3. A grown-up's phone number. Start with one number and make sure it's one that's usually answered.
4. Practice a little every day until it's automatic.

Ways to make it stick:

• Sing it. Put the phone number to a tune your child knows. Phone numbers break naturally into chunks of 3, 3 and 4, which fit many songs.
• Practice on a keypad. Let them "dial" your number on a phone that's turned off or a toy phone.
• Write it. For kids learning to write, copying the address is good handwriting practice, too.

Why the address matters so much: when someone calls 911, the National 911 Program says one of the first things the call-taker may ask for is the location of the emergency, including the street address. A child who can say their address is a child who can get help sent to the right place. (More in emergency skills.)

A privacy rule: practice these out loud, in person, with a grown-up you trust. Your address and phone number aren't things to put in a recording, a message or online.

Skill 2: Know who safe helpers are

Kids are often taught "don't talk to strangers." But if a child is lost, a stranger may be exactly who they need. A better rule is knowing which strangers to ask.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's KidSmartz program says that if a child needs help, they should look for:

• A uniformed police officer
• A store worker with a name tag
• A parent with children

Turn it into a game on your next outing: "Can you spot a safe helper?" Point out the cashier with the name tag, the lifeguard, the mom pushing a stroller.

KidSmartz also offers two rules worth teaching alongside this:

• Check first. Children should always check with you or the grown-up in charge before going anywhere with anyone.
• Grown-ups ask grown-ups for help. An adult who needs help should ask another adult, not a child. If someone asks your child to help find a lost puppy, your child should say no and go tell a trusted grown-up.

If you get separated

Agree on a plan before your next outing, and practice it:

1. Stop and stay where you are. It's much easier to find someone who stays put.
2. Ask a safe helper. "I'm lost. Can you help me find my mom?"
3. Say your name and your grown-up's phone number.

The challenge: three days in a row

The mastery goal is to say your address and a parent's phone number with no help, three days in a row. Once they've got it, check back every few months, especially after a move or a new phone number.

Make it a quest

In Family Quests, this is the Safety Basics skill, the first step on the Out and About branch. Practice quests are say your full name, address and a parent's phone number and know who safe helpers are, and the mastery quest is recite your address and a parent's number without help, three days in a row. These quests tell kids to say their address and number in person, never in a voice note, so that information never ends up in the app. Start free.

Next: teach your kid to cross the street safely, or jump ahead to emergency skills.