Fire Safety for Kids – 30+ Activities for Fire Prevention Month
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This is a post sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association and Sparky.org.
Every year we focus on fire safety for kids. One of my kids favorite memories was when we last visited our local firehouse (always call first!) was being able to climb up inside of the fire engines! They got an up close look at the big fire engines, the loud sirens and the heavy gear that fire fighters use when responding to a call.
The fire safety activities for kids below are great resources for both teachers and parents to use throughout the month of October which is Fire Prevention Month.
Below are tons of free resources for you to get started teaching kids about fire safety.
When is Fire Safety Month?
Fire Prevention Month is in October and Fire Prevention Week is October 6 – 12. You can learn about fire safety any day of the year thanks to the free resources from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Just visit Sparky.org (fun for kids!) and SparkySchoolHouse.org (great for teachers and parents!) to find loads of games, printables, checklists and more!
Why is fire safety important?
This might seem like a silly question but understanding the answer can literally mean life or death! The way you, or a child, responds in an extreme situation can be very unpredictable and scary. Walking through scenarios and learning about how to respond with appropriate safety measures can help you recall what to do in a life threatening situation.
- Fire Safety at Home Anchor Chart (featured above) – GREAT for interactive projects!
- Fire Birthday Party Printables
- Create a “Home Fire Escape Plan” (awesome homework assignment!)
- Make a Fire Escape Checklist
- Fire Safety Punch Card Bookmarks
- Call 911 Fire Engine Bookmarks
- TONS more Under “Activities” on Sparky.org
All About the Great Chicago Fire
October 8, 1871 was a day many Chicagoans will remember even today. After all the Great Chicago Fire destroyed over 2000 acres of the city leaving over 100,000 residents homeless – that’s about 1/3 of the city at the time. The fire continued for several days and there are several structures from that area that are still standing today including the Chicago Water Tower, an iconic spot downtown.
Have your kids watch this video below to learn more about the Chicago Fire of 1871 and how it has shaped firefighters today.
Fire Safety Games for Kids
- Dalmatian Fire Exit Scavenger Hunt (featured above)
- Sparky’s Fun House App
- fun Sparky’s Brain Busters App (review)
- the Sparky’s Firehouse App
- a Sparky’s Birthday Surprise App
- The Case of the Missing Smoke Alarms Sparky’s Match Game App (review)
- STOP DROP and ROLL Relay Races! Have a classroom relay race where kids have to “stop drop and roll” when they get to a certain spot!
- Cardboard Tunnel Crawl. Save up those cardboard boxes and design a tunnel for kids to crawl through simulating the need to avoid smoke in a house fire. Combines great with the relay races!
Fire Safety Lesson Plans & Experiments
- Learn Not to Burn: Pre-k to 2nd (tab at top of Sparky Schoolhouse page)
- White Board and Flip Chart lessons (under “Sparky’s Birthday Surprise”)
- Observe a Flame with/without air. Discuss the results. (featured above)
- Make S’mores! Observe the heat, the burning and the melting of the marshmallow. Compare this to items in your house that can burn.
- Pick up a pack of Mystical Fire in the camping area and let the kids watch the various colored flames. Discuss the different colors and the heat that chemicals can create in a fire.
- Light smoke bombs outside for a visual effect of how thick smoke can get. Have the students try to read a sign on the other side of the smoke.
*FREE e-book: Rescue Dogs, Firefighting Heroes, and Science Facts (under Read & Play tab at top)
Fire Safety Song
This is such a cool song about firefighters for classrooms to dance to! You can also make up all sorts of lyrics for simple nursery rhymes!
Fire Safety Activities for Kids:
- No Mess “F” Fire Sensory Bag
- No Mess Fire Flames Sensory Bag
- Sparky the Fire Dog paper bag craft (featured above)
- Stick Craft Foam Flames on your bathtub walls. Squirt water to put the “flames” out!
- Sparky the Fire Dog puppet on a stick (featured below) – act out what to do in case of a fire!
- Red and orange tissue paper are the staple for all crafts fire related! Have kids glue them onto the word “FIRE”. Create flames. Design sun catchers.
Fire Safety Videos:
STORYTIME: The Story of Sparky the Dog: (see video below)
As you can see there are a ton of ways you can engage with your students in learning about fire safety! The above resources are just a few of the ones that the National Fire Protection Association has to offer! In fact there are so many resources you can center your entire October lesson plans around fire safety!
I REALLY love this month because:
- Themed learning is one of my favorite to plan for!
- It’s SO incredibly important and can save lives.
- FREE resources everywhere! There is no shortage of resources available to us when it comes to Fire Prevention Week!
You can find these free resources and a TON more at Sparky.org (geared for kids!) and SparkySchoolhouse.org (geared for parents & teachers!).
