THE TRAFFIC SNAKE GAME

@TheTrafficSnake

What is the Traffic Snake Game?

A fun and effective game

for primary schools

to promote walking and cycling or using public transport

to school.

Promoting walking and cycling for children?

• Important target group for changing travel modes.

• Travel behaviour of parents has a significant impact on children and their choice of travel modes.

• Most children and adolescents do not formally learn how to use alternative transport modes, or learn about the advantages of using sustainable transport from their parents or their school.

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Promoting walking and cycling for children?

• Mobility and traffic education is still too often only related to learning traffic rules or road safety training.

• Many children are driven by car to schools that are often within walking or cycling distances.

• Today’s children are tomorrow’s adult transport users and individual mobility behaviour is created at a very early age.

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away

• Traffic Snake Game aims to break the vicious circle.

• Started as a small campaign with only a handful of schools in Flanders, Belgium.

• These days, the campaign reaches yearly around 1,000 schools, 150,000 families and 200,000 children in the region of Flanders alone.

Good results, much appreciation

• Easy: a relatively hassle free campaign to implement at a school.

• Educational: fits curricula concerning Traffic Education, Health Education, Sustainable Development (ESD), …

• European: international , but embedded in a national, regional or local context.

• Appealing: also a low political threshold, the theme of sustainable mobility is easily picked up these days: the combination of safety, health and children can be a good opportunity for a more structured working basis.

The game in 6 steps

1. Measurement before and defining goals

2. Preparation

3. Collect sustainable travel dots

4. Reward progress

5. Play the deluxe version of the game

6. Collect data after the campaign

Campaign materials

• Traffic Snake banner

• Green stickers per class

• Dots per class

• Manual for teachers

• Information for parents

• Measurement forms

• Minikit (banner, dots, leaflet, gadgets)

STEP 1 - Measurement before and defining goals

• Set baseline – +/- three weeks before starting the game – By hands-up survey – Use the class measurement forms – Overall results will be calculated on a school form

• Define goal/SCHOOL , e.g. – Baseline sustainable trips = 50% – Target = 70%

• Calculate the number of dots per sticker/CLASS – ‘Our class’ of 27 pupils = 19 sustainable trips/day – Green sticker completed with 19 dots

• Set number of stickers to reach the goal

Hands-up survey before the campaign of how children normally travel to school

• Idem

Define goal/SCHOOL

Calculate the number of dots per sticker/CLASS

Day 1 – 14 ST’s = 12 +2 => 1st full sticker

Day 2 – 16 ST’s = 10 + 6 => 2nd full sticker

Day 3 – 18 ST’s = 6 + 12 => 3th & 4th full sticker

…

Set number of stickers needed to reach the goal

STEP 2 - Preparation

• Hang the banner in an easy to reach place

• Divide the dots/stickers over the different classes

• Decide on reward for the pupils

• Divide the class forms

• Organise deluxe activities (step 5)

STEP 3 - Collect sustainable travel dots

Children receive a dot when they

Walk Cycle (including kick bike, roller blade, skate board) Take the bus Travel by train (including tram, metro) Car share

Teachers still fill in the class forms during the campaign period!

Measurement during

• Class teacher keeps count of transport modes

• At the end of the two weeks class measurement forms are collected

• Overall results will be calculated on www.trafficsnakegame.eu (or on a school form)

Hands-up survey during the campaign period

Traffic Snake Game

• Each class adds dots on to green sticker

• Sticker is complete when the predefined target has been reached

Example: Day 1 – 14 sustainable trips

• +2 • 12

Example: Day 2 – 16 sustainable trips

• +6 • 2+10

Traffic Snake Game

• Stickers are stuck on the banner

• Reward when getting to a milestone (large circular drawings of stickers)

STEP 4 - Reward progress

• Reward pupils who travel to school sustainably.

• Reaching each drawing on the banner can lead to a small reward.

• Rewards can be individual, for a class or for the whole school.

• Look for the bigger reward (material or non-material) at the end of the game, when the goal has been achieved.

Reward examples

Extra playtime, apples, bicycle bells, balloons, pens, playing materials, games, books, having lunch with the teacher, watch television during lunch, organise a playground party, icecream after school, breakfast at school, pimp your bike/vest materials, etc.

STEP 5 - Play the Deluxe version of the game

• The TSG is a first step towards more embedded working in the field of sustainable mobility.

• Organise additional activities on sustainable mobility

• Organise a celebration event at the end of the week, especially when the target has been reached.

• Invite the press during the campaign weeks

Deluxe examples

• Practical cycling lessons • Puppet show or theatre about

mobility • Pimp your bike • Police teaching at school • Miss & Mister fluo • Exhibition of childrens drawings on

the theme • Bicycle bell concert • Bike wash & shoe polish sessions • Exhibitions, etc.

STEP 6 - Collect data after the campaign

• Three weeks after the campaign another Hands-up survey is carried out.

• All data from the class forms after the campaign are collected on www.traffisnakegame.eu (or in the school form)

• All before, during and after data are collected on www.trafficsnakegame.eu (or in the school form.

Hands-up survey after the campaign

Collect data after the campaign

Important!

Reward the pupils/classes still travelling sustainably once in a while to keep them going.

Communicate the results. Show the impact to parents/local stakeholders!

www.trafficsnakegame.eu

• Offers a core instrument of mobility management for primary schools.

• It is simple, but simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

Contact

National focal point <country>

Let’s play!

The sole responsibility for the content of this document lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither the EASME nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.