F is for Fireman

Our first Community Helper for F is Fireman! We were lucky to find a kit on firemen at our library.  It included a couple books as well as a firemen hat and coat. For some reason Nadia did NOT want to try them on!

One of the books was about what to do if there is a fire.  It was a good way to start talking to the girls about fire safety and calling 911.  The also practiced Stop, Drop, and Roll as well as crawling low to the floor to avoid smoke!

Then we did a little experiment with fire.  WARNING: You are dealing with fire, and need to be extra careful! Make sure you are prepared to extinguish the fire and NEVER leave the kids alone with fire!

I started with 2 tea lights.  I lit them and asked the girls how they thought they could put the fire out. First they tried blowing. It worked!

Next they wanted to try water, but I wanted to try something else before we got the candles all wet.  So next we tried smothering the candle with a glass.  This demonstrated to the girls that the fire is using oxygen; when the oxygen is gone the candle burns out.  I also told them they make special fire blankets to smother flames as well.  

Then I let them try water. That worked pretty quick!

Surprisingly the candles still lit, so we had some races.  Blowing the candle out was the fastest, followed by the water, and then the glass.

Then I wanted to show them why blowing out big fires doesn't work.  So I took a bunch birthday candles and stuck them in some play dough really close together, as close as they could be.  Then I lit one on fire and asked Bria to blow on it gently.  After a couple tries it lit the neighboring candles.  I explained to them this is how the wind spreads fires.  She would get one blown out only to have it start again! That is why fireman use water!

We wanted to visit the fire station, but unfortunately our fire fighters were busy with inspections this week, so they didn't have time for a tour.  The girls have been there before, so it wasn't a huge deal. And we did take them cupcakes anyway!