Before last week, I was feeling good about my family’s fire safety preparedness. Every year, both in preschool and elementary school, firefighters have come to my kids’ schools and discussed fire safety. They know 
“Stop, drop and roll,” we have an escape plan, they know to call 911, and we have an emergency meeting place.
My confidence in my children’s ability to act appropriately if they ever encountered a fire came crashing down when my four-year-old daughter told us proudly that if she saw a fire, she’d “just put it out with some water.” After she singlehandedly extinguished the blaze, she’d then tell a grown-up.
Uh, what’s that now?
I was shocked, and while I hoped her bravado would go up in flames the second she smelled smoke, I couldn’t take that chance. Honestly, before her declaration, my biggest concerns were that the kids may have trouble unlocking my phone to call 911, or that they might be trapped upstairs in their bedrooms if the house caught on fire. I was not at all concerned that my preschooler would be trying to fight fires on her own.
It was clear we needed to revisit the basics. We have a friend who is a firefighter, so I considered dropping my girl and her six-year-old brother off at his house, that is, until I was introduced to these fire safety music videos from FEMA and NFPA. Instead of shipping off my kids to learn fire safety, we jammed to some sweet tunes, and learned a valuable lesson at the same time.
It’s such a great idea, to put the lessons of fire safety to music! We watched both of these videos, and the kids asked for an encore.
This one, called Little Rosalie, is best for grades pre-k to first grade.
And What’s That Sound? is a jam for second and third graders.
My kids bobbed their heads to both, and while I love the Frozen soundtrack that they’ve been singing for a month, having my children humming these fire safety songs is a nice change of pace, and could have a hand in helping keep them safe.
Check out Sparky’s Schoolhouse for fun activities, more videos, and lesson plans for teachers and homeschoolers. The tagline is “Where Fire Safety Connects with Learning,” and this website really is a great resource. Sparky and the gang have two new fans in my kids, and I’m hopeful my girl’s plan of fighting fires is put on hold until she’s old enough to enter the academy.
This post was sponsored by WeAreTeachers, the National Fire Protection Association, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but the opinions are my own.
The boy loved “Little Rosalie.” I think it’ll be stuck in my head all day.
Totally. I catch myself humming it, too.
Now these are a great resource. I am going to pass them on to several in my family today~
Thank you for sharing it, Shelly. The littles in your family will love the tunes!
wow- this is so good to know. Thank you for sharing these resources, I will share as well. I am sure it can and should be used with all kids! Brilliant idea to put the fire safety information in a music video!
Isn’t it, Chris? When I was sharing this post on Facebook this morning, my 6yo looked over my shoulder and asked to watch it again. They still love it, which means the info will stick! 😉 Thank you for spreading the word!
When we lived in Oregon, our city put on the best summer program ever called, “Safety Town.” It had police, firefighters, etc and covered all sorts of emergencies and general safety. My daughter got to benefit from it, but we moved away before my son did. We’ve tried to cover the same info, but I’m always happy to have more videos and such to help. It also reminds me that we need to show my daughter how to use the drop-ladder if she needs to escape from her window. Thanks!
Safety Town sounds awesome! I love that our kids have so many great learning tools, and that large organizations like FEMA and NFPA are looking at unique ways to teach safety.
PS I lived in Portland for 9 years. I love Oregon!
We lived in and around Portland for almost 13 years. I love Oregon soooo much and will likely move back there someday.
How terrible of a mom am I: I’m afraid to have the fire safety conversation with my 2 and 4-year-olds because they’re suuuuuuper sensitive. I’m actually afraid I’ll give them nightmares. So I’m using these songs to jazz it up a bit. That’ll work, right? RIGHT?!
We have those hats!! We LOVE those hats! Here’s to cute kids, and keeping them smart in safe in a fire situation.