Teaching children about the dangers of fire; teaching kids fire safety

Teaching Fire Safety to Children
Teaching children fire safety begins by helping them understand the dangers of fire. Follow these tips to help your kids develop a healthy respect for fire and the dangers it posses:

·	Make a habit of taking advantage of all the opportunities you have to talk with your children about fire. Whenever you hear on the news or read in a paper about something catching fire, use it to show them how easily fire can spread and how dangerous it can be if not used very carefully.

·	Explain to your children that fire is not a toy. It is a tool for adults to use very carefully, much like a power saw or a stove.

·	Model healthy fire handling yourself. Don’t play with fire or handle it irresponsibly in front of your children.

·	Explain to them that fire is an unstable substance, and that it can get bigger very quickly if people are not extremely careful.

Besides teaching children never to play with fire, tell them that if they ever see any matches or lighters laying around they should not touch them and tell an adult right away. Reward children for telling you if they ever find matches or lighters laying around anywhere. Give them praise for doing the right thing.

If you see a Fire...
Teach your children that if they ever see a fire, they should do the following:

·	Tell them to scream “fire!” at the top of their lungs.

·	Get out of the building immediately. Do not get things, do not look for people, just get out as fast as you can.

DO NOT HIDE! Too many children have died trying to hide from fires, especially children who accidentally started it themselves. Make sure that children understand: fire does not go away, it only gets bigger. They cannot hide from a fire, it will only get them. The only thing they can do to be safe is get out of the house.