Fire Prevention Week is October 8-14, which gives you plenty of time to have a little fun with this crucial week. This week is all about learning how to prevent fires, while also protecting yourself if there is a fire. This is a particularly crucial week for children who don’t yet know all of the rules regarding fires. However, it can also be a great week for adults to brush up on their knowledge and to support those who work to put out fires. Luckily, this isn’t an activity you will have to spend a lot of money on, as fire prevention is free and easy to understand. So, give these ten activities a try in order to get the most out of
Fire Prevention Week.
1. Check smoke alarms
One of the most important things you can do during this week is to go through your home and check your smoke alarms and other critical alarms in your home. You can easily check these devices by pushing a button and seeing if an alarm sounds. However, if you want to be extra careful then create smoke near the device and see if it goes off. If the device seems slow or doesn’t sound then you may want to replace it. Of course, you might also want to replace these devices every few years anyway to ensure absolute safety. During Fire Prevention Week you should make a point to swap out the batteries in all the smoke detectors in your home, as well as carbon monoxide alarms. You should also make sure your home has enough smoke detectors to ensure everyone’s safety.
2. Visit Fire Department
Nothing will inspire children to practice fire safety quite like a visit to the local fire department. Make sure you call ahead to see if it is okay to stop by though. By doing this, you will be able to meet real firemen who risk their lives daily to save lives and prevent fires from destroying buildings and habitats. Your local firemen might even show your children around the station, which can be even more exciting. Sometimes, during fire prevention week, the fire department will put on presentations to help children in the community understand the value of Stop, Drop and Roll as well as other common fire rules. Thus, you might want to check in to see if any of these presentations will suit your schedule. If you would like to say thank you, then whip up some baked goods or have the children create cards with special messages.
3. Fire Drill
Fire drills can be crucial in every home. If you don’t already have a plan then you might want to use Fire Prevention Week to come up with one. This is the perfect time to test out your fire drill too. Have the children run through the initial scenario first, so you will know that they understand the game plan. Then, mix things up a bit. One day, you can use yarn to create a wall of smoke that children will have to register into their escape plan. You can also move furniture to block certain escape routes. Another option is to make flames out of cardboard and construction paper. These will help your children come up with alternative routes and will give them a basic understanding that things don’t always go according to plan when there is a fire. You should also give them pointers about breathing and what to do if their clothing catches on fire. You might even make this into a game by timing their progress and having them work to beat their previous records.
4. Teach About Fire
One thing that really comes in handy when working through Fire Prevention Week is learning about various types of fires. This is important because you can’t put all fires out the same way. For instance, if a grease fire occurs in the kitchen then you won’t want your children trying to put it out with water. This will only feed the fire, which can lead to a huge problem. Showing children the different methods to deal with a fire is crucial. So, make flash cards, draw up a chart or simply quiz them until they have it memorized, because this information could one day save their lives. You can also come up with activities to do this. Of course, you should also talk about fire. For starters, how they begin, the colors of the fire, temperature and more. With knowledge comes power, especially when it comes to knowledge that can save a life.
5. Teach Safety Songs
It is hard to sit down with younger children and teach them the ins and outs of fire and how they should behave around it. One of the best ways to teach them is actually through song. You might hammer the message home if you can add in some dance moves too. A lot of songs already exist to teach about Stop, Drop and Roll and other fire safety procedures, so looking them up will be a breeze. You might even find videos online of the songs performed, which will help your children connect with the songs. If you are feeling creative then make up your songs and have a little fun with them. You might even ask the kids to pitch in. Having fun while learning will help the information stick in their minds.
6. Read About Safety
Reading is one of the best ways to help information stay in the mind. There are a wide variety of books that you can check out to help children learn about fire safety. Perhaps, you can even share a book a day during the week, so children will be exposed to a wide selection of books. There are books written for older children too, so the whole family can enjoy reading about the subject matter. If you’re curious about fire, then check out some of the books firemen must read before beginning their career. You might also want to look at tutorials for camp fires and other activities that use fire.
7. Watch Programs
Many TV stations do a good job of incorporating information into their daily programs. During Fire Prevention Week, you may be able to find documentaries on fires and advertisements encouraging people to be as safe as possible. More importantly, there will be specialized programs for children. PBS, to name just one channel, celebrates Fire Prevention Week with customized shows to teach children about fire. So, your child will be able to learn from their favorite characters. You can even download activities to go along with the specialized shows to help children further understand the importance of fire safety and how to help those who have been affected by fire.
8. Build a Campfire
You might not think that building a fire is the best way to celebrate Fire Prevention Week, but you might be surprised as to how much this can actually help. Building a fire will teacher children that it is okay to enjoy fires in a safe setting. Spending time near a fire will also show children the pain that a fire can cause. The heat radiating off of a fire is tolerable, but children will see how uncomfortable they feel after merely standing next to a fire. This will discourage them from playing with fire. Building a camp fire will also show children the proper way to put out a fire. This is crucial, especially in areas that can easily be caught on fire. Make sure there is not a burn ban in your area before you build your campfire though. Don’t forget to have some fun with it too, with campfire treats that will make everyone happy.
9. Put Away Fire Starters
Although your children might be right on track when it comes to fire safety, you should never leave out a fire starter in your home. This includes, matches, lighters, camping flints and more. Even if you trust your children, you never know what might be happen when you’re not directly supervising them. So, the best thing you can do is keep any fire starter in a safe place. A lock box can be one of the best places if you have children that like to climb and are naturally curious about things hidden away. However, if your child tends not to go looking for things, placing them in a hard to reach place is perfectly fine. Make sure you don’t leave them out by the grill as well. Some children might even feel courageous enough to light the fire themselves, so removing temptation is your best weapon against fires and potential injuries.
10. Trim the Yard
With autumn here, there are a lot of fire hazards to be found in your own yard. So, in order to celebrate Fire Prevention Week, you might want to head outside and take care of a few things. For instance, you will want to cut the grass down before the snow begins to fall. This will prevent brush fires that might occur on accident. You should also pick up the falling leaves as often as possible. Another major problem is dead trees or limbs that are too long. While you’re working, you might check the gutters too as dried debris can help fires spread. This is the perfect week to get started on your yards cleanup too, as the autumn weather isn’t at its peak yet.
Fire Prevention Week can be a lot of fun and incredibly informative for all ages. This week, you might want to check out these ten tips to see if you can spread some knowledge to your family members, while ensuring everyone in your household knows the fire safety rules. After the week is over, these tips should leave you feeling more secure.
