Watt could go wrong?

Before you begin

• Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.  
• Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
• Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.

Planning and setting up this activity

• Print and cut out the cards for the game. If a printer is not available, you could write out the cards, or young people could create them as part of the activity. 
• Keep each card pack separate. There are Situation Cards (red), Preventive Cards (blue) and Protective Cards (yellow). 
• Make sure there’s enough space for everyone to sit around a table or play safely on the floor. 
• Provide a score sheet or notepad for each player or team. 
• You can find the recommended answers in the Card matrix on this page.
• For more information on keeping children safe around electricity, you can read the Electrical Safety First advice page. 

Running this activity

1. Gather everyone together and start by asking how useful they think electricity is. Can they name some things that use electricity? How important is it in their daily life? 
2. Explain that electricity is something we use every day – from lights and TVs to chargers and toasters – but it can be dangerous if not used safely. Faulty wiring, overloaded sockets, or water near electrical items can cause fires, electric shocks, or even injury. 
3. Tell everyone that today they’ll be playing a card game. The goal is simple: make it through three rounds without causing electrical hazards! 
4. Split the group into smaller teams of three to four players. 
5. Each team should have three packs of cards in the centre of their playing area – one red pack, one blue pack and one yellow pack.
6. Give each player or team a score sheet or notepad to record their points. 

How to play

1. Choose a player to start. Play then continues to the next player in the team. When every player has taken a turn, the round is complete.
2. On your turn, draw a red Situation Card from the top of the pack. Then, make your choice:
   • Look through the pack of blue Preventative Cards and pick one that matches the situation. You stopped the hazard before it happened, and you get 3 points.
   • If there is no relevant blue card, you can pick a yellow Protective Card which matches. You acted safely after a hazard occurred and you get 1 point.
   • If there are no relevant cards, or if you want to take a risk, you can roll a die. If you roll 1–3, you’re lucky, you're safe this time and you get 1 point. If you roll 4–6, a hazard occurs and you lose 3 points. 
3. Once a card has been used, place it in a discard pile.
4. When everyone has had a turn, shuffle the used cards back into their packs and start the next round.
5. To make the game more difficult, remove the discard pile from play at the end of each round instead of shuffling the cards back into the packs.
6. After round three, add up the points to see who wins.
7. Once everyone has finished, ask them what they have learnt from the game. Emphasise that electricity is very useful, but it can be dangerous if not used safely. Simple actions, like turning off devices, unplugging them, keeping water away, and using devices on safe surfaces, can prevent accidents and help keep everyone safe.