Three Fire Drill Activities To Do With Your Children

Learning the importance of fire drills and fire safety doesn’t have to be a tedious or boring topic for your children. The process of learning fire drills doesn’t need to be filled with anxiety and fear.

One way to approach teaching your kids about fire drills is by using unique and novel activities to teach them while having fun. In this article, we will take a quick look at three fire drill activities to do with your children.

Visit a Fire Station

Although visiting a fire station isn’t a drill, it can set a solid foundation for the drills you will run with your children. Many fire stations across the country offer guided tours for children.

These tours are scheduled in advance. Also, many fire stations welcome drop-ins with a call beforehand.

Young children will have a blast visiting a fire station, seeing the pole (if there is one), the firetruck, etc. The fire department will typically have a presentation for young children they give at schools and demonstrations.

Firefighters love having people from the community visit. It’s almost guaranteed your kids will have a blast!

By interacting with firefighters, your children will be able to see them as friendly and trustworthy individuals.

By realizing firefighters are friendly, your children should be more willing to go towards a firefighter during an emergency.

Get Everyone Involved in Making a Plan

When children learn by doing, they are more likely to remember what they were taught. Have a basic layout of your home drawn out and placed in each room – bedrooms, kitchen/dining area, living room, etc.

Then, have your children draw on the layout an arrow going from that room to the best exit choice. This way, your children will know where they should go if a fire alarm were to go off while in that particular room.

Laminate or frame each layout you draw on and keep them in their assigned locations. This will help make the following activity a lot easier.

Play the Exit Game

It’s important for your children to know how to get out of the house in the case of a fire. Sit down with them and let them brainstorm about all of the possible exits in your home – such as the front door, backdoor, garage and bedroom windows.

Then, run a drill. Set off the fire alarm on purpose and have everyone get out of the house as quickly as possible.

It’s best to run the drill when nobody is expecting it and when everyone is going about their normal routines. Choose a place outside that is away from the house and close to the street, such as a mailbox, where everyone is to meet up during the drill and if a real fire were to occur.

Give a prize to the child who reaches the chosen destination first. This game is also a good way for parents to see where certain exiting obstacles are.

Are your windows too hard for children to open? If so, consider replacing them with casement windows.

If your children’s rooms are on a second or third floor, consider fire escape ladders that can be attached to windows. Such ladders remain rolled up when not in use but can easily be extended down to the ground when needed.

Teaching children how to respond to a fire is very important. Although “Stop, Drop, and Roll” is a basic must-learn as well, the above activities are just as essential when it comes to helping your child to be more prepared for a fire and better their chances of removing themselves from the danger.

About the author

Hannah Whittenly is a freelance writer and full-time mother from Sacramento, CA. Her two boys keep her very busy. They are her inspiration for much of her writing. Her favorite subjects to write about are family and business.