Discover how a hands-on learning experience can enhance your alcohol awareness program.

Drunk driving, underage drinking, and binge drinking continue to be serious problems in many communities. If you serve as an instructor for an alcohol education program, you may be interested in discovering the most effective ways of teaching and engaging your participants. Hands-on learning activities and tools can help enhance your alcohol awareness program and provide an enriching and memorable experience for years to come. In this post, we’ll cover the reasons hands-on activities are so effective in an alcohol education program, including:

1. Engaged learning
2. Interactive experience
3. Safe way to learn
4. Flexible curriculum
5. Memorable experience

Learn more about each of these benefits of including hands-on activities in your alcohol education program below.

Engaged learning

Participants are often more engaged in learning when they take an active role in it. Sometimes, the only way to truly understand the material is to apply it. While classroom lectures and instructional videos have their place in an alcohol education program, they can’t truly relay the severity and experience of binge drinking or drunk driving.

Hands-on alcohol awareness activities like driving simulators, activity mats, and impairment goggles allow participants to apply concepts to relatable real-life situations, making it more engaging for all involved.

Interactive experience

Hands-on also means that participants can interact with the learning material. For example, you could use the Fatal Vision® Alcohol Impairment Goggles in conjunction with an alcohol education kit to give students the experience of what it would be like to complete daily tasks. They can interact with a drunk driving simulator to learn what driving under the influence feels like (without putting the participant in any real danger). 

Find more reasons why drunk driving simulators are a perfect addition to an alcohol awareness program on our blog.

Safe way to learn

When you use an alcohol awareness tool like a drunk driving simulator, interactive game, or activity mat, participants will have a realistic hands-on experience without any of the actual dangers of the real situation. Understanding how to properly use your chosen activities or tools beforehand can provide added peace of mind. Many of our alcohol education products come with training guides that include safety instructions and guidelines for proper use. They also include advice on how to use them to teach participants about the dangers that alcohol can pose. 

Flexible curriculum

One of the biggest benefits of hands-on learning activities is that they provide a great deal of flexibility for your curriculum. While many of our tools come with guides that offer tips and ideas for implementation, there are many ways to combine and utilize our Fatal Vision Alcohol Goggles and other products to maximize the learning experience. This flexibility will allow you to vary your demonstrations and lessons in accordance with your goals, audience interests, and resources available.

Memorable experience

Teaching participants about the dangers and potential consequences of underage drinking, binge drinking, and driving under the influence are what alcohol education programs are all about. The best of these programs will instill these lessons in an engaging way that will leave a lasting impression on participants. When they face a real-life situation related to alcohol usage, they can look back on their learning experiences and make an informed decision. Incorporating hands-on activities and tools can help make lessons so memorable that participants will think twice about engaging in risky behavior.

These are just a few of the reasons that hands-on activities can enhance an alcohol education program. Now that we’ve covered these benefits, let’s look at some of the best hands-on tools available.

Hands-On Alcohol Awareness Activities

• Fatal Vision Alcohol Impairment Goggles

Our drunk goggles give participants the sensation of being under the influence of alcohol. This safe tool comes in five levels of impairment intended to simulate the impairment associated with different blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels.

• Drunk Driving Simulators

We offer two unique drunk driving simulators, SIDNE and the Roadster Pedal Kart. Both simulators illustrate the dangers of operating a vehicle while impaired and can offer unique benefits to your program. 

• Interactive Games

We offer several interactive games that teach lessons about safe alcohol use. SUM-IT-CUP is an interactive game that teaches participants about standard drinking units (SDUs). The Smash Match Impairment Challenge is paired with the Fatal Vision Alcohol Goggles to show how simple tasks are difficult when the senses are impaired from alcohol use. Turn ‘N Learn is a team game focused on questions, role play, and activities with the Fatal Vision Alcohol Goggles.

• Danger in Every Step (DIES) Activity Mats

DIES Alcohol Impairment Activity Mats place participants in obstacles and situations that commonly become hazards under the influence of alcohol. Can you imagine the dangers of a winding sidewalk? A balcony? A flight of stairs? The DIES mat comes in three different designs to illustrate each of these situations.

Are you interested in incorporating hands-on learning experiences into your alcohol education program? Browse through our selection of alcohol awareness activities or contact us online for ordering information today.

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