Helping small children think about People Who Help Us can be merely a pious activity or a genuine way of exploring how society does or doesn’t work. The latest pre-school learning programme from Fisher-Price is nearer the innovative than the conventional end of the topic. Using the toy characters Rescue Heroes and Little People, it looks at a variety of emergencies in children’s lives - fire at home, getting lost - and suggests ways in which parents and carers can use discussion, art, songs and role-play to confront fear and find solutions. The pack People Who Help Us is available free while stocks last to pre-schools, play-groups and childminders. To register, write to Sally McDuell, Starting Out With Fisher-Price, Mattel UK Ltd, Mattel House, Vanwall Business Park, Vanwall Road, Maidenhead, Berks SL6 4UB or register online at www.fisherprice.com