The children in the preschool class showed great interest in fire trucks and firefighters in their daily play, often pretending to be a fire fighter. Based on this interest, educator Bailey did a lot of work to get in touch with the city’s fire department, and invited firefighters with their truck to our center to interact with the children up close. The children had been looking forward to this moment for a long time.
As they waited patiently, they noticed the fire truck pull up into the parking lot and began cheering, “It’s here, it’s here!” They quickly lined up at the door to go outside to meet our new friends. Destin and Faris wore their favorite firefighter helmets from our classroom for the encounter.
As they approached the fire truck, the children showed very surprised expressions. “Look, at the wheels, they are as big or bigger than you, “Educator Janeth expressed. There was a silent wonder in their faces as they observed the wheels. The children were very excited, surrounded the fire truck and began asking the firefighters questions and communicating with the firefighters. Lylah shared with the firefighters, "My father is also a firefighter." At the same time, she showed an expression of pride that she was the daughter of a firefighter. They asked her if he worked in Waterloo and she was able to answer their question.
A firefighter knelt on the ground and asked the children to knock on the helmet on his head with their hands. Cillian and some children patted, feeling the hardness of the firefighter's helmet. The firefighter told them that this was to protect themselves while firefighting, so the firefighter's helmet was very hard and safe, to protect them from fire or water, but also very heavy.
Several children pointed to a heavy saw-toothed tool and asked the firefighters what it was. The firefighters taught the children that sometimes when a there is a car crash or the doors and windows of a building were locked, they would use this very hard saw to open the doors and windows so that we could rescue the people inside. The children learned how hard their work was through communicating with the firefighters. Dania and several other children clapped their hands or gave high-fives to the firefighters to show their respect and admiration for them. When the firefighters and the fire truck began to leave, the children waved goodbye to them, meeting the children's last request, by turning on the sirens as they waved goodbye to the children.
After the interactions with firefighters and fire trucks, the preschool educators carried out many activities. Educator Shrishti drew a large picture of a fire truck for the children to color and add some details about what they knew or learned, Educator Mia and the children created 911 signs, while Educator Sue guided the children to create a fire truck with a cardboard box for them to engage in imaginative play. Faris and other children took turns wearing firefighter clothes and helmets to imitate what they knew and learned. Our Conestoga College student Simmy also found a lot of pictures about firefighters and fire trucks for the children to take a look at. Through this series of activities, the children gained a more detailed understanding of firefighters and fire trucks.
There are many benefits for preschool children to have close contact with community partners such as firefighters, which can promote children's safety awareness, and social skills.
- Understand fire knowledge: By interacting with firefighters, children can learn the dangers of fire, how to prevent fires, and what to do when a fire occurs. Such as calling 911.
- Understand the work of firefighters: Children can observe the equipment, tools and rescue process of firefighters up close, and feel the responsibility and mission of the firefighters. Through personal experience, children will respect the hard work of firefighters, and thus learn to be grateful.
- Enhance expression skills: In the process of interacting with firefighters, children had the opportunity to ask questions or express their ideas, which can improve their language skills and self-confidence.
- Through this activity, our preschool educators also deeply realized that mutual cooperation is a very important method that allows for co-learning with the children.
We wonder what the next event will be. Through the success of this event, all our educators will have the determination and confidence to organize another meaningful event for our learning.
