So I was in charge of preschool yesterday and I think it went well. My topic was fire safety. First I had a candle burning and I showed them (from a safe distance) what fire looks like. Then I blew it out and showed them what smoke looked and smelled like. Then I talked about how they should neve touch it because it is hot and can hurt/burn skin, clothing, hair, rugs, etc.
Then I showed them pictures of matches and lighters and I taught them this song:
"I found Matches!" (Sung to "Skip to my Lou")
I found [matches] what do I do?
I found [matches] what do I do?
I found [matches] what do I do?
Tell me what to do!
* replace matches with lighter for 2nd verse
At the end of the song I would say: Dont touch it and tell a grown-up
Then I had four pictures (a matchbox, matchbook, and two kinds of lighters). I placed them around the room and then the kids got up one at a time to see if they could find matches or a lighter and then they were supposed to show me what to do. When they found the picture we would sing the song replacing "I" with their name. They enjoyed it and it was really hard for them to not pick up the picture to bring it to me.
My sister found a cute idea for teaching stop drop and roll. I made felt flames and one at a time I stuck them on their clothing and we sang:
Stop, Drop, and Roll (Sung to "Farmer in the Dell")
Stop, Drop, and Roll
Stop, Drop, and Roll
If your clothes should catch on fire
Stop, Drop, and Roll
The kids practiced stopping, dropping and rolling and thought it was pretty fun.
Then I talked to them about smoke detectors and pushed the test button to make it make noise so they could hear what it sounds like. (At least I tried to.)
My sister is a fire fighter and she said that one of the most important things for kids to know is what a fire fighter looks like in all his gear and that he is a friend and they should never hide from them. Apparently kids tend to get frightened and hide, which makes it difficult for fire fighters to get them out in time. She found a video online that I showed my class (start video at 7min 29sec). They thought it was pretty cool.
Other than that we colored pictures for stop drop and roll, and a thank you for firemen, then did the nursery rhyme "Jack Be Nimble".
Homework was for the kids to take a hand out home and then talk with their family about the five steps to fire safety.
