Water safety
Where can I find facts and information about staying safe around water?
(Years 1-4)
Image: Girl with swimming board by Tommy Wong on Wikimedia Commons.
Entry last updated: 12/03/25
Introduction
Lots of us love swimming and being in the water. Water safety is about knowing and following rules that will keep us safe when we are in and around water. Water safety rules make sure we can have fun without getting hurt.
General websites
Here are some websites that will help you understand more about water safety.
This website from the National Library of New Zealand has lots of information on many different topics. The resources have been selected from reliable national and international sources.
Look down the page to the topic on Safety, then look at Stories.
Look at the story on Water Safety.
This story has tips for being safe when swimming, boating, and fishing.
You will also learn about people who help keep us safe, like lifeguards.
Tips: We like sites like this because they’re reliable. You can tell because of their web address – they have either .govt or .ac, meaning they are from government or educational organisations. They’re also New Zealand sites, so relevant for us.
This website has tips and games to help children learn about pool safety, road safety, stranger danger, bullying, and internet safety.
Go to Safety Zone and select Pool Safety.
Select the next button to see all the pool safety tips.
Tips: Some websites have .au, .nz, .uk or other codes in their url. This can tell you which country this website comes from eg .au is from Australia or .nz is from New Zealand.
KidsHealth is a great website with lots of information about topics like how the body works, growing up, and emotions and feelings. There are three sections on the site – one for kids, one for teens and another for parents. Each article includes the name of the person who wrote it and when it was written, which helps us know it’s reliable.
Go to For Kids, then Staying Safe.
There will be links to Outdoor Water Safety and Pool Safety that have lots of information on how to be safe in and around the water.
Books
You will find lots of books on water safety in your school library or public library. Here are some titles to help begin your search:
Kapai's keepsafe children's waterwise: be a stay alive kiwi by Uncle Anzac
Safety around water by MaryLee Knowlton
Water safety by Emma Bassier
Water safety by Susan Kesselring.
SCIS no: 5474965
Topics covered
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