Fire Safety for Kids: Make a Fire Safety Plan

Making a home escape plan in case of fire — it was one of those things I kept meaning to do, along with make an emergency disaster kit (still need to do that one!)  Luckily, thanks to Fire Prevention Week, we finally got it done!

I have to say, it was so much easier and less time-consuming than I thought it would be, and the boys loved it!  Little Monkey, of course, just had fun running around the house and pointing at things, but Monkey really understood what we were doing and was totally focused on the task.

This wasn’t the first time we’ve talked about fire safety, of course.  Like most little kids, the Monkeys love fire trucks and firefighters, and we’ve been to a number of open houses and demonstrations at our local fire stations. You can also find great fire safety worksheets for kids.  But this was the first time we really took a good look at exactly what we should do if there were to be a fire in our home.

My favorite resource if the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).  They have wonderful materials for fire safety and fire prevention for kids, plus a guide to escape planning for families.  Monkey loved their interactive online book about making a fire safety plan.

Apparently Monkey built a robot factory in our front room (!)

As we did our fire safety plan, we followed the NFPA guidelines, plus we used – believe it or not – a copy of last year’s Fire Prevention Week LEGO magazine!  As a way to reach more kids, NFPA last year partnered with LEGO magazine to create an issue all about fire safety, including a section about making a fire safety plan.  You can download full instructions and a grid similar to the one we used from NFPA’s website.

First we picked our outdoor meeting spot – in our case, across the street.  Next I drew a map of our house.  Next we walked through each room together, drawing the windows, doors, and smoke detectors.  We also made sure each room has two ways out.  I also went over with Monkey where the latches were for all the windows.

He also practiced the proper way to feel a door to see if it was hot, using the back of his hand.  We also practiced crawling on the floor to avoid the heat and smoke.  (This, of course, disintegrated into chaos for a bit as they did up their role playing to the hilt!  There were a lot of dramatic falls and crashes before we re-focused for a snack).

We’re not done, of course – we still need to review our plan periodically and practice, as well as other tasks like checking smoke detectors regularly.  But I feel like we took a big first step, and now we’re much more prepared should a fire occur.

How are you preparing your family for an emergency?

I am so excited to team up with some bloggy friends to gather ideas for fire safety for kids!  As Fire Safety Week is coming up next week, we wanted to put together some ideas to teach our little ones about fire safety, and see yours as well!  Be sure to visit the other participating blogs, and link up your own fire safety for kids post at the end.

Look! We’re Learning! – Fire Safety Printable Pack (Free this week!)

Creative World of Varya – Fire Safety Theme Park

Inspiring 2 NH Kids