Community Helpers: Firefighters

Taking the time to introduce your preschoolers to helpful community figures is important! Because it takes all jobs to make a community, students should learn, first and foremost, that every community helper has value. Ms. Debbie, creator of the blog Once Upon A Day In Preschool, shares a great lesson for teaching students about the role of a firefighter as well as important fire safety instructions!

What Does A Firefighter Do?

Begin by introducing the day's community helper. Describe what a firefighter does and how they help people. You can find many great resources online that detail the duties of a firefighter, what they wear, how they get to a fire, etc.

Literature & Music

Help students cement what they just learned by reading stories and singing songs about firefighters. Ms. Debbie suggests suggests sharing Audrey and Bruce Wood's Alphabet Rescue, but there are many fun books to choose from!

• Firefighter Frank by Monica Wellington
• Clifford The Firehouse Dog by Norman Birdwell
• Fireman Small to the Rescue by Wong Herbert Yee

For fun (active!) singing, teach the children "Hurry, Hurry, Drive the Fire Truck", then tone it down with "Down by the Station" or another fun firefighter song. Firefighter Math

Create Dalmatian counting mats. Make a dog template from card stock, use this to trace and cut ten puppy shapes from white construction paper or card stock. Mount the puppy cutouts onto colorful paper and assign each puppy a number. Write the assigned number at the top of each page and place the counting mats in plastic document sleeves. Give your students dry erase crayons and invite them to color in the correct amount of spots on each Dalmatian (using the assigned number).

Fire Safety

Use this time to teach children how to:

• Stop, drop, and roll.
• Dial 9-1-1.
• Stay low and go.

If you can manage it, try taking your students on a field trip to the fire house or set up an evening "tour" for kids and their families to participate in.

For more great firefighter themed activities, crafts, and extensions, visit Ms. Debbie's full post at Once Upon A Day In Preschool.