My last post was about the fire fighters coming to the school to teach about fire safety, but we also had them come because playing fire fighter has been so prominent at the school.
In revisiting the experience of the fire fighters and the fire trucks coming to school, I had conversations with both the younger children and older children on two separate days. We also looked at the fire trucks we have in the school and they did their own drawings of fire trucks.
Day one of our conversation about the fire fighters and trucks coming to school:
The ages of these children range from 2.5-3.5 years old with 1-4.11 year old
Danielle: What is something you liked or remember from
when the firefighters came to school?
AC: “Uh, it
was outside on the road, I saw a crushed up truck, it had fire trucks at it.”
Danielle: “Is
this something you saw after the fire fighters came to school?”
AC: “yeah.”
A very excited
OS: “Fire Safety!” “The fire man only uses a hacksaw and ax to chop doors.”
Danielle’s
thoughts-(The ax was a very exciting tool the fire fighters brought to school,
which elicited a whole new element of play.
The children now run to fires with hoses, hats, and axes.)
NF: “I
learned, um, I like Pump trucks.”
OR: “and I
like the Ladder Truck.”
JS: “I like
green.”
SP: “I like
watching fire trucks at the jail.”
Danielle: “Was
the jail on fire?”
SP: “No, the
fire truck went by really fast.”
EHP: “I’m not
scared.”
OS: “I liked
the fire fighter and sirens, but they were a little bit loud.”
GG: “I
covered my ears.”
Danielle: “Did
anyone one want to share any more thoughts about the fire fighters coming to
school?”
OS: “um,
sitting in them, a fireman stops the fire with their hoses.”
EHP (4.11): “Stop,
Drop and Roll!”
GG: “Hoses
are in the front, and the fireman shoots the water till the fire is all
out. When the fire is out they put them
on the trucks.”
Danielle: “Was
there anything else you liked?”
EHP (4.11): “Sitting
in the fire truck. Seeing the ladder all
the way up.”
EHP: “I ride in
fire truck, I learned fire truck.”
RM: “I was a
little scared of the fire trucks. I was
scared because they are really big.”
GG: “I was
a little bit scared.”
OS: “I was
scared too.”
Danielle: “What
scared you?”
OS: “The
firefighters, they make the sirens.”
CJ: "I wasn't scared, I liked them.”
LN: “I liked
sitting in the fire trucks.”
GG: “I
liked the fire hoses.”
Below are some of the drawing of fire trucks created by the children followed by the conversation the older children had about the visit from the fire fighters.
This is a drawing of fire, I love it!
Conversation with 3-5 year olds:
Danielle: “Last week
was exciting when the fire fighter’s came wasn't it?”
Group: “Yes!!!”
JB: “Yeah, but I only thought about playing with blocks.”
EHP: “I liked going in them. I liked the noise.”
EPB: “Not the honk, it was like HONK!”
Danielle: “Did you like the firefighters?”
EPB: “I wanted to stay with them, cause I wanted to play
with them.”
Danielle: “The trucks or the fire fighters?”
EPB: “The fire fighters, I want to play with their fire
dogs, um, dalmantis.”
Danielle: “Close, they are called Dalmatians.”
DCF: “I liked the sirens going off and going in the
trucks, I wanted to live with them.”
EM:“ I wanted to play with them too.”
MI: “Don’t go under the bed.”
Danielle: “MI, are you talking about if there is a fire, you
should never hide under the bed?”
MI: “Yes!”
KS: “If your clothes are on fire, you should stop, drop
and roll. I wanted to play with them too, I wanted to play fire cat to the
rescue.”
EPB: “I want to play fire kitty too.”
EM: “I want to play too!”
EHP: “Me too.”
DCF: "I want to play fire dog.”
Here is where our conversation dissolved into meows and barks. There are two major play dynamics happening
in the school right now, fire fighters and kitty cats. It was interesting to see how the interest of
one dissolved into the interest of the.
