Kids Alive do the Five dance raising awareness of water safety with Geraldton children from All Things Dance

Supervise, watch a mate and learn how to resuscitate will be stuck in your mind as a Geraldton dance studio joins forces with water safety program, Kids Alive Do the Five, to produce an educational dance that could help save lives. On Wednesday, the Ready Set Dance Water Safety Show launched in dance studios across Australia, including All Things Dance in Geraldton. The program is aimed at raising awareness of water safety by offering a free performance to organisations caring for children under five through a preschool dance education platform. Geraldton children at daycares, kindergartens and other agencies can take advantage of the fun dance collaboration. In 2021-22, the Royal Life Saving drowning report found 17 children aged 0-4 and 15 children 5-14 drowned in Australia. All Things Dance co-director Karen Davis said her dance school’s performance involved 10 tiny dancers in the community and was aimed at delivering important safety messages in a fun and informative way. “Using the popular Kids Alive songs, based around water safety at the beach, pool and farm, we have created our own water safety dance show with the aim of getting under-5s and their parents thinking about water safety,” she said. Ms Davis said Ready Set Dance teachers received online training through Kids Alive and the content of the water safety shows aligned with the Early Years Learning Framework and National Quality Standards. “The initiative also aligns with the Australian Water Safety Strategy, with the AWSS identifying the under-fives as one of the most vulnerable groups to drowning and recognising the need for further education to this group,” she said. “We’re thrilled to be a part of this water safety education program in our local community.”