Teach kids about fire safety with Sparky

This is post is sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association and Sparky.org

A couple of months ago there was a really bad fire close to where I live. It was so bad that parents had to throw their kids out the window, their option was that or die in a fire.  Families lost all they owned, many apartment homes completely burned and there were even some fatalities.

As a mother I kept thinking about this horrific situation and how those families’ lives were forever changed. I live in an apartment building too and this just hit too close to home. I kept thinking about my own family and what I would have done. This fire happened in the middle of the night and there was probably not much anyone could have done. But fires happen so frequently and many times they can be prevented. And in those cases that the fire can’t be prevented, lives could be saved if we all learn about what to do in a fire.

In situations like these you don’t have time to think. You have to do. Teaching your children what to do in a fire should be a priority and something I am doing with my own kids. This is why I partnered with the National Fire Protection Association and Sparky.org for this post so I can show you how we are teaching our kids about fire prevention and how you (or your child’s teacher) can too!

What you should know about teaching your kids about fire prevention:

• It is never too early to start – you can teach the basics even to your toddler.
• Make sure your child knows what to do if he hears a fire alarm.
• Teach your child how and when to call 911.
• Teach your kids about the items they should stay away from: lighters, a hot stove, candles, etc.

There are many ways to learn about fire safety and Sparky.org has all the resources you could possibly need to teach kids about fire safety, from the toddler years all the way up to school ages. They have really made it easy for you to teach your kids everything they need to know about fires and they have also compiled a lot of great resources for teachers.

If you’re a parent reading this, I encourage you to share this with your child’s teacher. They might not be aware of all the free resources Sparky has to offer.

Sparky.org:

This is the main portal and where you should go to find age appropriate activities for your kids, or if you’re a teacher, for your classroom. You can find apps, games, free printables, songs, activities, videos, cards as well as information for teachers and parents.

You can access all these activities directly from a computer without the need to install an app.

Sparky’s Schoolhouse:

This is a great resource great for teachers ( and parents) to teach kids about fire safety and prevention.  You can find plenty of information filtered by the grade level you teach along with lesson ideas; some are even in spanish.

My favorite part are the videos and songs. I’ve watched a few with my 3 year old to learn about fire safety, what things she should stay away from and what to do if she hears a fire alarm.

Sparky is pretty funny and educational!

We even downloaded several printables from this section.  My 3 year old loved the “Fire Prevention Week: Parent Letter” because we got to walk into every room in our home to check if our fire alarms were working properly.  She also loved the “Sort it out” printable, where we went over which things are hot which aren’t.

If your kids are older, they are even some worksheets that go along with the videos.

Sparky’s apps:

This is probably one of my favorite sections. You can do a lot of activities and games using a computer at Sparky.org; however, I find it a lot easier to do these using an iPad or tablet.

Sparky has created 4 apps for kids ages 3- 11 (you can download them here):

• Sparky’s Brain Busters (for ages 8-11)
• The Case of the Missing Smoke Alarms (for ages 6-10)
• Sparky’s Firehouse (ages 6-8)
• Sparky’s Birthday Surprise (for ages 3-7)
• Sparky’s Match Game (for ages 3-5)

We have used the last 3 apps because these were the ones my daughter (3.5 years old) could understand, play with and learn about fire safety. I’m going to share briefly what we loved about each one.  All these apps are free and there aren’t in app purchases.

Sparky’s Firehouse:

This is their new app and although it’s targeted for kids ages 6-8 year old, my 3 year old loved playing with it.  It was easy enough for her to understand what to do and using this app she learned what the fire alarm sound means.

You can see a little preview of the app here:

Sparky’s birthday surprise:

This app has several activities but what we loved the most was the interactive book.  The app reads the book to them and they can touch the screen to discovered different things on each page. A big plus for me is that it also comes in Spanish.

Sparky’s Match Game:

This is probably our favorite because my daughter is really into matching but this game has a fun twist to it: every time you hear the fire alarm you have to open the door so you can run outside and be safe. You are then greeted by Sparky who reinforces what the fire alarm is for and then you can continue playing the matching game.

Playing Sparky’s Firehouse

I have to be honest, besides teaching my kid about what things can burn her, I didn’t teach her much else when it came to fire prevention and these apps have really help me to teach her age appropriate information. She nows tell me all the time what we should do if we hear a fire alarm!

Fire Prevention Week is October 9-15, 2016 so please encourage your child’s teacher to visit Sparky.org or Sparky’s Schoolhouse and download some lessons and fun activities for your kids to learn about fire prevention. And if your kid doesn’t go to school yet, try some of these apps or print out the activities you think your child would love.

I truly hope our kid’s never have to use this knowledge, but the reality is that we don’t know when a fire will strike and it is better to be prepared for it.

Help me spread the word about this important information by sharing this post. Thank you!