28 Jan Preschool Learning Activities: Transport and Fire Safety!

A number of children had expressed an interest in various forms of transport, so we decided to look at the topic and also combine it with an interest in fire engines and firefighters!

We introduced the topic to the children and asked them to think about all the different sorts of transport that we can use to travel. They were very inventive including tractors, rockets, submarines and not forgetting a bat-mobile!! Our first messy activity was tyre-printing using a variety of toy vehicles to see what pattern the tyres would make and what different colour combinations we could use.

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Then Crew Chief Firefighter, Peter Bailey, arrived – it was the highlight of the week! He had agreed to bring in some of his firefighting equipment and some photos of the different types of vehicles that they use. He talked about the different types of truck and what emergencies they were used for. Crew Chief Peter is based at RAF Fairford so he explained to the children that the yellow fire engine was just for aircraft fires; the red vehicles might go to the help of people involved in a road accident or trapped in a burning building. One of the engines had a bigger tank of water to enable the firefighters to reach remote places.

Peter explained to the children that firefighters need to keep fit and healthy by exercising and eating lots of healthy foods.

He told the children that if we see a fire, we must never touch it but shout in a loud voice: “FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!!” so people would hear and phone the firefighters to come and put it out. Lilly, who is Crew Chief Peter’s daughter, was then asked to demonstrate what to do if our clothes catch fire. Peter shouted, ‘stop, drop, roll’ so Lilly quickly stood still, dropped to the ground and rolled over as this would put the fire out. All the children then practised this move. Crew Chief Peter then showed us the ‘Breathing Apparatus Shuffle’ known as the BA Shuffle! It is used when the firefighters are in pitch blackness and they place one hand on a wall, the other in front of their body and tap their toe to check the floor. Then we had great fun trying out the shuffle!  Peter also put on his heavy breathing mask and explained that it connected to oxygen which he wears on his back.

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Fireman Peter showed us his special clothes that he wears to protect him when he is fighting a fire. He explained that his trousers are folded down on his boots so that he can get dressed very quickly when the alarm is sounded.

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Even Mrs Morrison got to try on his very heavy coat! Then it was the children’s turn to try on helmets and safety glasses!

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Chief Crew Firefighter Peter’s visit was a great success and was one of many preschool learning activities that made a great impression on the children. They could be heard incorporating what they had learnt in their play; they practised the ‘stop, drop, roll’ routine with great enthusiasm! At the end of Peter’s session, we decided to practise our fire drill – the children were very sensible and listened carefully to instructions. Fire Chief Peter told the children how important it is to practise fire drills.

We continued the transport theme during the rest of the week. Our new number rockets were a great success; we used them for counting, sequencing, pattern-making and zooming to the moon! Our messy preschool learning activities included junk modelling transport; the children demonstrated their creativity using cartons, glue, tape and the odd pompom! Heather designed a submarine, so she told Mummy!

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We have had a great time at Holy Apostles’ pre-school during our transport topic and have learnt how to keep ourselves safe as well!