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Maria2013 10:23 AM 09-05-2013
I'm having a real hard time teaching fire safety and conducting the Drill (ages from 1mo. to 3yr)
...even the kids that know the Drill refuse to cooperate ....I've done Drills in the past but to be honest I'm not sure I would have passed the Test, none of the kids ever did what we practiced
I thought maybe some of you don't mind sharing how you handle Fire Drill?
also if you have a link where I can find b/w printable pages etc. it would be great
Thanks
...even the kids that know the Drill refuse to cooperate ....I've done Drills in the past but to be honest I'm not sure I would have passed the Test, none of the kids ever did what we practiced
I thought maybe some of you don't mind sharing how you handle Fire Drill?
also if you have a link where I can find b/w printable pages etc. it would be great
Thanks
MyAngels 10:36 AM 09-05-2013
About once a month we play the "fire game" here. I have a poster board with a picture of a fire on it and I place it various places in the house. Then we talk about what we would do if the fire were here, or there, or there, and we practice, talking through what's the right thing to do, etc. I also have a ringtone on my phone that is the same as my smoke detectors that we listen to so they get used to it.
When we do the drills I set an alarm on my phone with the smoke detector sound that I just set for a random time, which is our signal to drill. They do very well with this, and I think it's mostly because of our practice sessions.
When we do the drills I set an alarm on my phone with the smoke detector sound that I just set for a random time, which is our signal to drill. They do very well with this, and I think it's mostly because of our practice sessions.
melilley 10:49 AM 09-05-2013
I do one once a month. I have 1- 12 mo. old, 1- 13 mo. old, 1 24 mo., one 23 mo. one almost 3 and one just turned 3. I set off the actual fire alarm and say "fire" and the older kids will run to the door, and I pick up the 12 mo. olds (they are not walking yet) and we run out the door to the tree in front. Then we will come back in and talk about it. They love practicing! In fact, they will ask to do it over and over, days after we do it.
If you make a game out of it, they may be more interested in doing it!
If you make a game out of it, they may be more interested in doing it!
JoseyJo 12:05 PM 09-05-2013
Originally Posted by melilley:
I do one once a month. I have 1- 12 mo. old, 1- 13 mo. old, 1 24 mo., one 23 mo. one almost 3 and one just turned 3. I set off the actual fire alarm and say "fire" and the older kids will run to the door, and I pick up the 12 mo. olds (they are not walking yet) and we run out the door to the tree in front. Then we will come back in and talk about it. They love practicing! In fact, they will ask to do it over and over, days after we do it.
If you make a game out of it, they may be more interested in doing it!
That's what we do too. Same with the tornado drills. The kids love it! I make a game of seeing how long it took and we all give high fives when we beat last month's time, and talk about how we could do it faster (but still safely) if our time is longer. On our way back in from the fire drill we talk about all the rules- don't stop to get anything, don't get your shoes, walk quickly and safely, etc.I do one once a month. I have 1- 12 mo. old, 1- 13 mo. old, 1 24 mo., one 23 mo. one almost 3 and one just turned 3. I set off the actual fire alarm and say "fire" and the older kids will run to the door, and I pick up the 12 mo. olds (they are not walking yet) and we run out the door to the tree in front. Then we will come back in and talk about it. They love practicing! In fact, they will ask to do it over and over, days after we do it.
If you make a game out of it, they may be more interested in doing it!
Maria2013 06:21 PM 09-05-2013
I've had groups of kids that were that easy, not this one!
...our time fluctuates so much I'm to ashamed to recorded it
Thank you for your reply
...our time fluctuates so much I'm to ashamed to recorded it
Thank you for your reply
e.j. 07:23 PM 09-05-2013
Originally Posted by MyAngels:
I have a poster board with a picture of a fire on it and I place it various places in the house. Then we talk about what we would do if the fire were here, or there, or there, and we practice, talking through what's the right thing to do, etc.
I really like this idea and want to incorporate it into my fire drills now! I have a poster board with a picture of a fire on it and I place it various places in the house. Then we talk about what we would do if the fire were here, or there, or there, and we practice, talking through what's the right thing to do, etc.
I also like the idea of setting your phone to make the fire drill sound. I wish I could do that with mine. I've been doing day care for years and have always wondered......when do you start to actually time the drill? Do you start timing it once you decide to do the drill? Do you start timing it once the smoke alarm test button is pushed? Once the kids have their shoes on (or jackets/boots/hats/mittens) and are ready to head outside - especially in winter when they really need to be bundled up before heading out? Once they actually notice the sound of the smoke alarm? Setting a phone to sound the alarm would solve that problem for me!
Maria2013 04:58 AM 09-06-2013
Originally Posted by e.j.:
I really like this idea and want to incorporate it into my fire drills now!
I also like the idea of setting your phone to make the fire drill sound. I wish I could do that with mine. I've been doing day care for years and have always wondered......when do you start to actually time the drill? Do you start timing it once you decide to do the drill? Do you start timing it once the smoke alarm test button is pushed? Once the kids have their shoes on (or jackets/boots/hats/mittens) and are ready to head outside - especially in winter when they really need to be bundled up before heading out? Once they actually notice the sound of the smoke alarm? Setting a phone to sound the alarm would solve that problem for me!
I start timing when the smoke alarm goes off, I do not take the time to put kids shoes on, I treat the Drill as if it was a real fireI really like this idea and want to incorporate it into my fire drills now!
I also like the idea of setting your phone to make the fire drill sound. I wish I could do that with mine. I've been doing day care for years and have always wondered......when do you start to actually time the drill? Do you start timing it once you decide to do the drill? Do you start timing it once the smoke alarm test button is pushed? Once the kids have their shoes on (or jackets/boots/hats/mittens) and are ready to head outside - especially in winter when they really need to be bundled up before heading out? Once they actually notice the sound of the smoke alarm? Setting a phone to sound the alarm would solve that problem for me!
Today I wanted to see if the kids remembered anything of yesterday fire safety lesson, so I asked them: "what do we do if there is a fire?" a 3 yr old answered "we can't have a fire we don't have a hose" a 2yr old said "we get marshmallows"
MamaBearCanada 06:40 AM 09-06-2013
Originally Posted by e.j.:
I really like this idea and want to incorporate it into my fire drills now!
I also like the idea of setting your phone to make the fire drill sound. I wish I could do that with mine. I've been doing day care for years and have always wondered......when do you start to actually time the drill? Do you start timing it once you decide to do the drill? Do you start timing it once the smoke alarm test button is pushed? Once the kids have their shoes on (or jackets/boots/hats/mittens) and are ready to head outside - especially in winter when they really need to be bundled up before heading out? Once they actually notice the sound of the smoke alarm? Setting a phone to sound the alarm would solve that problem for me!
I thought timing was from when the alarm went off or once they notice the fake fire flames to see how long it takes you to get out if there was a real fire. In regards to winter - if there was a real fire you'd maybe do shoes and grab their stuff to put on outside but if it was bad you'd just go - you wouldnt be waiting inside to get coats, mittens, hats on. KWIM? So the practice should replicate that as much as possible. Some providers just have a big bag of blankets by the door that they'd grab to wrap the kids in once out.I really like this idea and want to incorporate it into my fire drills now!
I also like the idea of setting your phone to make the fire drill sound. I wish I could do that with mine. I've been doing day care for years and have always wondered......when do you start to actually time the drill? Do you start timing it once you decide to do the drill? Do you start timing it once the smoke alarm test button is pushed? Once the kids have their shoes on (or jackets/boots/hats/mittens) and are ready to head outside - especially in winter when they really need to be bundled up before heading out? Once they actually notice the sound of the smoke alarm? Setting a phone to sound the alarm would solve that problem for me!
itlw8 06:45 AM 09-06-2013
I do them 1x a month but if I have new students or if the drill does not go well we step it up to 1x a week I use the smoke detector expecially if the noise freaks them out. Those are the kids who will hide in an emergency and they need to learn what to do and to not panic.
If a child panics I do it more not less. Any change in routine like summer and school age means I do them more frequently for a while.
If a child panics I do it more not less. Any change in routine like summer and school age means I do them more frequently for a while.
e.j. 04:14 PM 09-06-2013
Originally Posted by MamaBearCanada:
In regards to winter - if there was a real fire you'd maybe do shoes and grab their stuff to put on outside but if it was bad you'd just go - you wouldnt be waiting inside to get coats, mittens, hats on. KWIM? So the practice should replicate that as much as possible. Some providers just have a big bag of blankets by the door that they'd grab to wrap the kids in once out.
Yeah, if there were a real fire, I definitely wouldn't be stopping to put shoes and jackets on - no matter what the weather. During practice drills, though, I'd rather not expose them to the elements unnecessarily. In regards to winter - if there was a real fire you'd maybe do shoes and grab their stuff to put on outside but if it was bad you'd just go - you wouldnt be waiting inside to get coats, mittens, hats on. KWIM? So the practice should replicate that as much as possible. Some providers just have a big bag of blankets by the door that they'd grab to wrap the kids in once out.
Once the fire drill is over, we generally stay outside to play since we're already dressed and ready. I used to bring the kids in after a drill and found that it wasn't woth the hassle of the youngest kids getting upset because they thought they were going out to play only to be brought right back inside again. Now I try to get the kids ready to go out and then we talk about what to do in a fire. We talk through the process of getting out and run through different scenarios like, "If the fire is on the stove, which door would you use to get out? What if the fire is near the hall door?" etc. I usually sound the smoke alarm at that point so they can hear what it sounds like and then start timing the drill once we're ready to actually head out. I was just never sure if that was correct or not. I did have one licensor ask to observe a drill and she seemed fine with the way I conducted it but I forgot to ask if there is a "preferred" way of doing them since I don't think there's anything specific in the regs about it.
I do like the idea of having blankets stashed somewhere in case I did need to bring the kids out fast during cold or wet weather. I'll have to see what I can do about implementing that idea. Thanks!