Virtual reality offers a powerful way to learn safety skills—especially those that are challenging or impractical to recreate in real life. A look at Floreo’s lesson library reveals how frequently safety is highlighted as the key learning objective. As 2026 begins, we spotlight several lessons that help Learners avoid unnecessary risks and practice safe decision-making, putting safety first.
Community Safety: Some of the very first Floreo lessons focused on street crossing: watching for cars that don't obey traffic laws, and paying attention to (but not following the example of) a jaywalker. Later, we followed up with a lesson to teach the ability to recognize when a driver is waving to you, offering the right of way to cross the street. More recently, we launched a lesson to help kids navigate to a suburban street corner and cross safely. There are currently 9 lessons that focus on street crossing, and other opportunities to practice in other lessons.
Another set of lessons addresses encountering police officers. The first set of lessons (Police Questions 1, 2, 3, and 4) offer a simple question and answer exchange between a police officer character and the Learner, while the more complex lesson offers opportunities for the Coach to customize the learning objectives. The Coach can determine whether the officers perceive the Learner to be either an adult or a minor. It also offers randomization for maximum replayability. Other encounters with security can occur at the airport, and some scenarios where the Learner might be pulled aside for extra questioning.
Finally, riding safely in a car is of utmost importance. On the Road provides opportunities for Learners to experience changes in routines, such as stopping at a gas station or pulling over for an emergency vehicle.
Safety at Home: Safer kitchen habits allow our Learners greater independence at home. That is why we launched two very important lessons in our "Life Skills Academy": Food Storage and Safety and Kitchen Item Safety & Storage. Practicing safe food storage helps individuals understand the purpose of keeping foods in particular locations, and storing food helps Learners to locate those foods at a later time. The kitchen item safety lesson increases Learners' awareness about items that are breakable, sharp or potentially hot.
Safety during Leisure Time: Swimming can provide an active and relaxing leisure activity; nevertheless, staying safe around large bodies of water is monumentally important. This awareness can be broadened through Floreo's poolside lessons: Pool Party Safety: The Basics and Pool Party Safety 2: The Challenge. Young Learners approach and read the safety signs at the pool and practice some of the rules, such as making sure there is an adult nearby who can monitor them while they swim.
Older Learners might find themselves in a leisurely text conversation with a new friend or acquaintance. In this case, it is critical that they recognize when a text conversation becomes unsafe and have strategies for managing those unsafe situations. These skills can be practiced in: Digital Boundaries: Staying Smart and Safe.
Effective communication functions as a safety skill in its own right. In Floreo, Learners can acquire the ability to gesture "Stop" in Stop & Go with the Giraffes. They can learn to listen, wait and follow directions in the the Listen & Find series of lessons. and they can learn to turn a slightly rude comment into a joke in Defuse Verbal Putdown. All of these skills, applied strategically, bring added safety to the Learners with whom we work.