Helpful resources on fire safety and prevention
Did you know that October is Fire Prevention month? Teachers all around the country will be using this opportunity to introduce the concepts of fire prevention and fire safety to their students. Â As a teacher or parent of a preschool-age child, you may be wondering how to approach this subject in a developmentally appropriate manner, without scaring your child. Â Today, I’d like to share with you a few resources that may be helpful in planning your lessons on fire safety…
Learning through Literacy
A wonderful way to introduce fire safety is with books and literature. Â We often begin our real world discussions by sitting down with a good book during our circle time. There are plenty of developmentally appropriate books that explore fire drills, fire trucks, and overall fire safety. Â Here are a few of our favorites:
No Dragons for Tea by Jean E. Pendziwol is a fun, but informative book about a young girl who makes friends with a dragon. Â When she brings her dragon friend home for tea, the dragon accidentally sneezes and starts a fire. Â This book includes important fire safety messages about not hiding during a fire, calling 911, and how we have to leave behind our favorite toys to get out quickly…
As always, Gail Gibbons is both comprehensive and informative in her book Fire! Fire! Â This book explores firefighting from the start of a fire until it is extinguished. Â The illustrations depict emergency operators dispatching firefighters to the scene of the fire. Â Firefighters are shown loading onto their trucks, along with descriptions of the tools and gear that they will use to put out the fire…
In her book Miss Mingo and the Fire Drill, Jamie Harper uses adorable animals to illustrate the fears that many children may associate with fires. Â The fire chief comes to school and prepares them for a fire drill that would happen later in the week. Â Through all of the animals’ silliness, the real message of how to safely perform a fire drill shines through in this book…
Learning through Play
As the students in Miss Mango’s class demonstrated, fires can be a scary subject for young children. Â After introducing the concept of fire safety through books, we like to offer the children the opportunity to role play. Â Role play is an excellent way for children to work through their anxieties or fears. Â When children can pretend to be fire fighters, they are able to gain a better sense of control. Â Check out these super easy DIY cardboard box fire stations…
Our children also love these awesome tabletop fire stations…
Exploring Fire Safety through Art Experiences
When we explore a concept in preschool, it is fun to take home a reminder of what we learned.  These shapely fire trucks are a fun way to explore shapes while also building our own take home fire trucks…
And I just love these abstract fire trucks that we made out of colored tape…
Our Favorite way to Investigate
There are so many ways to explore fire safety with preschoolers, but none can possibly be more exciting than visiting a fire station! Â If you are unable to take a field trip, check with your local fire station to see if they can bring a truck to your school…
Other Interactive Experiences
If sitting in a real life fire truck just isn’t an option for you, JumpSeeWow offers two great videos for exploring the insides of both a fire truck and an ambulance. Â They also offer a fire station app…
Sparky the Fire Dog also offers an interactive website for children to explore on their own or with grown-ups.  There are games, printables, and videos all promoting fire safety for young children…
Now it’s Your Turn! Â What activities do you share with your children to promote fire safety? Share your fire safety inspiration in the comments below!