Teaching preschoolers about fire safety can be both fun and effective with the right mix of games, songs, and play. Fire Safety Week offers the perfect opportunity to introduce engaging fire safety activities. These fire safety activities capture young learners’ interest while helping them understand how to respond to emergencies and recognize the dangers of fire in an age-appropriate way.
Introducing young learners to community helpers, like firefighters, can help them get comfortable with the equipment and understand the serious topic of fire in a safe and approachable way. Keep reading for fun and engaging fire safety activities you can add to your classroom to help students learn how to stay safe.
Fire Safety Preschool Unit
Fire Safety Preschool Unit
$6.00This FIRE SAFETY thematic unit has engaging activities to help you teach your preschool students about fire prevention and safety. This mini-unit includes 5 days of complete lesson plans as well as additional literacy and math centers. Fun activities you can use to teach “Fire Safety” are done for you!
Creating a Fire Drill Routine
Practicing fire drills can be an exciting way to help preschoolers learn how to exit the building safely during an emergency. Practicing drills every month is a great way to help the students become familiar with the process. Here are some great ways to make it fun:
- Start with a story: Read an engaging book like No Dragons for Tea by Jean Pendziwol to spark (no pun intended) interest in a non-scary way.
- Use Visuals: Show pictures of fire trucks, firefighters, and exit signs to familiarize students with emergency symbols and helpers. The Fire Safety Preschool Unit has some great real pictures.
- Practice Walking in a Line: Teach children what to do when they hear the fire alarm go off. Show them how to walk in a line to the nearest exit while listening to the teacher. Use the “Fire Drill” action poem from day 1 in the Fire Safety Preschool Unit to practice the motions.
- Use a Bell or Alarm: Copy the sound of a fire alarm so students can understand what to expect. Alarm sounds can be found online, or a small bell can be used.
The Original of all Fire Safety Activities – Stop, Drop, and Roll
Teaching the “Stop, Drop, and Roll” method is a great way to keep a child safe if their clothes ever catch on fire. To make it more memorable, turn it into a game. Play a version of Freeze Dance with actions like rolling, crawling, and spraying water from a hose while the music plays. Expand on the fun with the action spinner game on day 3 of the Fire Safety Preschool Unit, where many more games and poems can be found.
Artful Self Expression
Children love to paint, so why not integrate fire safety into classroom art activities with a simple, firey process art painting project? Gather these supplies:
- white paper
- red and yellow paint
- squirt bottles for the paint
- paint brushes, or do something a little different by using rubber spatulas or basting brushes
Fill the squirt bottles with red and yellow paint. Students can exercise their fine motor skills by squeezing the paint onto the paper and then painting with paint brushes, rubber spatulas, or basting brushes. When finished, leave the art overnight to dry, then cut into flame shapes the next day.
Act It Out
Role-playing is a great way to get preschoolers more comfortable with firefighters and scary topics like fire. Preschoolers love to play pretend, and role-playing is a great way to practice what to do in case of fire. Here’s a great way to get the play started:
Read an engaging story to get students started with their pretend play. Set up a fire station backdrop to set the mood, then read Betsy Visits the Fire Station found in the Fire Station Dramatic Play. Follow along as Betsy the Bird tours her local fire station.
Set out plastic firefighter hats, bulky jackets, and a toy hose. A cropped piece of pool noodle makes a great hose. Let children take turns pretending to be firefighters and putting out pretend fires. Cover a large box with fadeless brick paper. Cut out windows and place orange, red, and yellow tissue paper in the cut square windows. The little firefighters can pretend to put the fires out.
Transform the versatile Create-it-Station into a classroom fire truck. Painted cardboard and added lights change it up for an interactive firetruck driving experience. Affix a keypad and steering wheel to some plywood and red twirling lights for an amazing fire truck dashboard.
Fire Safety Sensory Station
Let children create stories about fire-related ideas, then watch as they come to the rescue in this small-world play environment. The in-depth set-up for this engaging sensory table is laid out in this Fire Safety Sensory Play blog. Gather up these toys sized items to assemble the sensory bin:
- fall-colored shredded paper or other red, orange, and yellow filler
- hydrants
- fire trucks
- fire stations
- dalmatian dogs
- other miniature fire safety-related toys
Read All About It
With any new topic for preschoolers, starting with a great story to pique their interest is always nice. Books like Fire Fighters by Norma Simon and A Day in the Life of a Firefighter by Linda Hayward are great ways to show how firefighters do their jobs. Add in a little laughter with Hamsters Don’t Fight Fires to keep it light. For more books, check out the books in this Firefighter Books for Preschool blog.
Bulletin Board
Assemble this Community Helpers Bulletin Board interactive matching game on a bulletin board in the classroom to create a vertical learning space. Preschoolers will find many community helpers as well as firefighters with their gear, extinguishers, and fire trucks.
Invite the Pros!
When possible, go to the Fire Safety Activities professionals! Invite the local firefighters to the school or arrange a visit to the local fire station where students can meet real firefighters and see the trucks and equipment. If neither of those options is available, consider a virtual tour. Either way, it lets the students meet real live firefighters and ask any questions they may have.
Fire safety is a valuable lesson that can be taught in simple fun ways. Through role-playing, hands-on activities, and regular practice, preschoolers can learn important safety skills while also having fun. Remember to keep it positive so as not to frighten the children. Incorporating these activities into the classroom will help empower the children to keep themselves safe in case of fire.
