Today, as part of our Black History Month celebrations, we continued learning about inspiring Black people from history who have made a difference to the world around us.

Our focus today was on Garrett Morgan, an African American inventor, entrepreneur and community leader. The children were fascinated to discover that Garrett Morgan was responsible for an important development in the history of traffic signals!

We learned that in 1923, Garrett Morgan patented a three-position traffic signal which included a warning stage between “go” and “stop”. This gave drivers time to slow down and prepare to stop, helping to make roads safer. We talked about how traffic lights are still an important part of keeping drivers, cyclists and pedestrians safe today.

After our discussion, the children were excited to become little inventors themselves!

Using paper and craft materials, the children carefully cut, stuck and designed their very own traffic lights. As they created, we talked about what the different colours mean:

Red – Stop

Amber – Get ready / wait

Green – Go

The activity gave us lots of opportunities to talk about road safety, including why we need to stop, look and listen when crossing the road. We are going to take them out with us tomorrow on our forest trip!

It was wonderful to hear the children sharing what they had learned and asking questions about Garrett Morgan. We also talked about how people from different cultures, backgrounds and communities have contributed amazing ideas and inventions throughout history.

Alongside learning about an important figure from history, the children were developing their communication and language, fine-motor skills, creativity, problem-solving and understanding of the world.

The children absolutely loved this activity, and it was fantastic to see their imaginations come to life as they proudly created their own traffic lights!