Colouring outside the road lines

A simple idea from our Tasman Surfacing team is helping turn roadworks into a learning experience for local tamariki.

Over the summer months, Cairo Anderson, Surfacing operative and Tony Brown, Diver and Operator from our Tasman Surfacing team can be found across the Tasman network, helping deliver the season’s chipsealing programme.

Working outside schools and early childhood centres is a regular part of the job. And while the team and machinery are busy on the road, Cairo and Tony noticed they often had an equally busy audience watching from behind the fence.

The kids were curious. What were the big trucks doing? What was being sprayed o n the road? And why were all those stones being put down?

Rather than simply getting on with the job, Cairo and Tony saw an opportunity to turn that curiosity into something positive.

Bringing the roadworks into the classroom

They came up with the idea of creating Downer surfacing-themed colouring sheets featuring some of the machinery children see during chipsealing, including the bitumen sprayer, chip spreader and roller.

The idea was then taken a step further with “Chip Sealing: Stronger Roads for Brighter Adventures!”, a colourful, kid-friendly infographic explaining the process in five simple stages, from cleaning and spraying the road through to adding stones, rolling the surface and creating a stronger road.

Together, the resources give children a fun way to connect what they see happening outside their school with how the roads they travel on every day are maintained.

A small idea with a bigger impact

The resources have been well received by schools and early childhood centres, but their value goes beyond colouring in.

They provide our teams with a simple way to start conversations with tamariki, teachers and whānau about what is happening outside their gate, why the work is needed and how chipsealing helps care for local roads.

They also give children an opportunity to ask questions about the machinery and people they see at work, helping turn what could otherwise be a disruptive roadwork site into a positive interaction with their community.

For Cairo and Tony, it started simply by noticing who was watching and thinking differently about how they could engage with them.

It’s a great reminder that meaningful community engagement doesn’t always have to be complicated. Sometimes, it’s the small ideas from our people on the ground that can make a real difference.

Ka pai Cairo and Tony for going the extra mile, sharing what we do with the next generation and putting a few smiles on faces along the way.