F is for Fire Safety

 New Preschool Friends!

Fire can be good and bad . . . but either way it's important to know how to be safe with fire! We brainstormed good and bad fire . . .

 Good Fire:

• Birthday Candles
• Camping Fire
• Cook hot dogs and marshmellows
• Fireplace fire gets us warm with hot chocolate!

Bad Fire: 

• house on fire
• burns trees and chipmunks (animals)
• hurts people

 What if you get fire on your clothes?!? STOP DROP AND ROLL! We had LOTS of fun practicing that! :)

We also talked about 9-1-1 . . . only call in an emergency! Then we had fun taking turns and practicing . . . 

Oh no! Look, the house is on fire! Call 911!

 Here comes fireman Brigham, ready to put it out!

This would be a great discussion to continue at home! Some things I've learned from our local fire fighters about discussing fire safety with children. . . 

• If your child finds matches, a lighter (show them what these look like) or a burning candle . . . don't touch them and go tell a grown up!
• Stop, Drop and Roll (don't run!) if you have fire on you.
• Let your child hear the fire alarm--and talk about what it means and what to do if they hear it (get out!)
• Practice multiple ways to get out of your house from all the different rooms.
• Have a meeting place outside away from the house that everyone goes immediately to.  Our family meets at the mailbox across the street. Practice getting out and going straight there. This allows parents, the firefighters, etc to know who is out and who is still in and helps avoid a lot of chaos and confusion.
• If you see fire, GET OUT before you call 9-1-1 (or do anything else--get a toy, pet, etc).  You can always borrow someone elses phone to call, but you can only save yourself once! 
• Show them a picture (or take the to the fire station) of a firefighter in ALL of their gear . . . this is someone NOT to hide from (even though the mask can look and sound scary--very darth vader like) They are there to help you! If you see one if your house--he's there to help you and get you safe!
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• These things should be practiced and talked about regularly so they won't forget when the time comes!