Fire Safety for Little Kids

Fire safety means teaching kids how to be safe in a fire. According to Teach Kids How!, every year over 2,900 kids are injured in fires and around 1,200 kids die from fires. There are several aspects of fire safety that little kids should be taught to keep them safe if a fire does occur.

Hot

Little kids should be taught that fire is hot and can hurt them. This can be taught by having the child draw a picture of a fire. An adult can hold up the picture and have the child try to touch it. Every time the child almost touches it, the adult can pull it away and say "Ouch, that's hot." After the child masters this, he can switch roles with the adult and be the one to pull the picture away and say "Ouch, that's hot" when the adult tries to touch it.

Stop, Drop, Roll

Stop, drop and roll means that if a body part is on fire, then you should immediately stop what you are doing, drop to the ground and roll until the fire is out. To enforce this concept in little kids, an adult should first demonstrate how this is done and then have the little kid stop, drop and roll several times as practice.

Safe Meeting Place

Little kids should be taught that if there is a fire, then they need to go to a safe meeting place. Safe meeting places should be somewhere outside the house that everyone in the family is familiar with and is easy for all members of the family to get to. Have a family meeting to decide what place is best to go to in case of a fire. Taking turns going to the safe meeting place should be practiced several times.

Practice Fire Drills

Have practice fire drills to teach little kids how to safely get out of the house if there is a fire. It is important to teach the child that he should place the back of his hand on a door before it is opened to see if it is too hot to touch the handle, to stay low and cover his mouth to prevent breathing in smoke, and how they can get out of the house if an exit is blocked. To practice, the adult can tell the child that when they hear a bell ringing it is time for a practice fire drill and she should pretend there is a fire and go to the safe place. Adults should ring the bell when the child is occupied and not expecting the practice fire drill.

911

Little kids should be taught that in some instances, they may need to call 911 if there is a fire. These instances include when an adult has instructed them to do so or when they see a fire and are in a safe place. Practice calling 911 using a pretend phone. Adults should show the child how to talk into the phone and where to locate the numbers 9-1-1 on the phone.

References

• Sparky
• The United States Department of Homeland Security
• Teach Kids How!