Fire Safety Week is observed from Sunday to Saturday of the week in which October 9th falls. After the devastating blazes of The Great Chicago Fire and the Peshtigo Forest Fire on October 8th and 9th in 1871, firefighters and public officials created a movement to inform the public about the importance of fire safety and prevention. Most states mandate that lessons about the safety and prevention of fires be taught to students during the course of the school year.
Fire Safety Week Activities for Kids
Incorporating this topic as a classroom theme will help to familiarize preschoolers with the concept of fire safety and fire prevention. Get started by decorating the bulletin board with red fire trucks, firehouses, smoke detectors, ladders, and firefighter uniforms. Embellish the classroom with photographs, books, and more all about fire prevention to assist children in recognizing what fire is.
Introduce fire safety by reading some books about the topic. There are several good reads that explore fire drills, fire trucks, and firefighters. A few stories include: Stop, Drop, and Roll by Margery Coyler; Fire Engine by Anne Rockwell; and Firefighter Frank by Monica Wellington. Use story time to transition into activities for the children to get involved in.
Follow up with some role-playing or dramatic play. Provide children with big boots, oversized coats, and hard hats to dress up as firefighters. Construct cardboard box fire stations to be explored. Toddlers can receive fire calls there and then get ready to go to the location of the fire using their fire truck ride-ons.
Being able to discover and learn as they pretend addressing alarms, putting out fires, and saving lives teaches important lessons about fire safety and prevention through hands-on experiences.
Setting up toddlers with crafts concerning fire safety will keep them interested while learning. Exploring fire through paint is a fun and easy craft for children. To start, put a few drops of red, yellow, and black paint into a plastic baggie. Close and seal with clear packaging tape. Preschoolers will enjoy discovering the colors of fire as they make lines in the paint with their fingers or the wheels of their fire truck toys. Squeezing the plastic bags also provides for added sensory play. Another fun craft idea is to make tissue paper fires. Gather pieces of yellow, red, and orange tissue paper. Take the pieces and help children crumple them up and glue them onto card stock. Use these artistic fires to teach children not to hide, but to go outside if they see a fire.
In addition, incorporate instructions and lessons on how to stop, drop and roll, do the smoke crawl, and call 911. Practice fire drill run-throughs by showing toddlers how to form a single file line and make their way calmly to the fire exits to get out of a burning building. Familiarize preschoolers with smoke detectors: what they look like, what they sound like, and what they mean can help save a life. Invite a local firefighter to come and talk about fire prevention and allow the children to tour a real life fire truck and ask questions.