Fire Safety Week

This is always a busy, but fun week for the kids.  I think it is very important for kids to know basic fire safety skills and so we practice, practice, practice.! We acted out what we would do if the room were filled with smoke and used a blanket to represent the smoke.  We used the technique get low & go to teach the kids that smoke rises and it is safer and easier to get out of a smokey room if we are down low.  We also practiced the Stop, drop  & roll routine in the case someone were ever to catch fire. We used felt flames to pretend they had fire on them and each child got a chance to try.  We talked about our class meeting place and practiced two escape routes to get there, we located the smoke detectors in the classroom and talked about the importance of leaving our belongings behind and getting out if we hear the alarm sound, and we talked about how firefighters are our friends and can help us get out of a fire if needed. We also learned a song called 911 that helps kids learn what constitutes an emergency as well as helps teach them the number to dial.  We also took turns practicing/roll playing what we would say on the phone if we ever needed to call 911, we played some different learning games from some fire fighter learning packs I have, I added fire fighting props to our dramatic play center,  we did firefighter art, and as a grand finale we got to take a field trip to the fire station and see real firefighters and trucks in action.  This year they really were in action!  Part way through our tour the fire alarm sounded and we just happened to be in the area where several firefighters came flying down the fire pole and shot off in the truck.  The kids (and parents) thought this was pretty interesting to see!  It made my heart start racing! I had previously thought the whole fire pole ordeal was a thing of the past so I learned something new.