Fire safety activities give young children a hands-on approach to learning fire safety basics. The goal of interactive lessons is to prepare kids in case they encounter a fire in real life. Fire Prevention Week rolls around each October, but engaging in fire safety activities throughout the year provides repeated exposure to the basics.
Dramatic Play
Dramatic play with a focus on fire safety allows young children to experience related situations. Kids can role-play by dressing in firefighter hats and uniforms, which will help teach them of the importance of firefighters. A telephone in the dramatic play area allows kids to practice dialing 9-1-1 to report a fire situation. A sheet draped over two rows of chairs creates a mock hallway filled with smoke to practice crawling when escaping a fire.
Model Escape Route
Prepare children for a fire situation at home by planning an escape route with at least two exits. Parents should work with their kids to establish an escape route from the bedroom. Drawing the bedroom with the exits marked is a simple activity. To further extend the activity, have the kids use shoe boxes to create models of their bedrooms or larger boxes to re-create the entire home. Dolls or action figures can stand in for the kids, allowing them to practice the escape route within the model.
Fire Truck Picture
Art projects add a creative aspect to fire safety awareness for young children. This activity also reinforces basic shapes to add an educational component. Cut out shapes from construction paper to create a fire truck picture. The Preschool Education site recommends a rectangle for the truck and circles for wheels, as well as an additional circle to cut into a spiral for the hose. Let the kids add more details to complete the fire truck pictures.
Bulletin Board
A bulletin board works well as a reminder of fire safety principles at school. Cut out firefighter helmets or flames from bright paper. Each child writes or draws a picture to represent something he learned about fire safety. Let each child share his fire safety tip before hanging it on the bulletin board display. Review the tips occasionally as a refresher.
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