Fire Safety Week!

• We studied Fire Safety this week. 
• We are looking forward to our visit from the Burton Fire Department next week. :)
• We had a fire drill on Wednesday. Our class did a great job. They were quick, quiet, and stayed together. 

• At Morning Meeting:
• We started doing a “Question of the Day” this week. Each morning after breakfast the kiddos go to the carpet and answer a simple yes or no question. At morning meeting we go over the answers and count to see how many friends said yes/no and determine which side had more/less. This week's questions included:
• Should fire engines make loud noises?
• Do you like to eat watermelon?
• Do you like to eat macaroni and cheese?
• Does water put fire out?
• At Large Group:
• We sang songs and read rhymes about fire safety. They loved acting out this song about riding on a fire truck. 

• We practiced how to “stop, drop, and roll”. 

• We did a science experiment with play dough, candles, and fire to see the different ways we can put fire out (blow, water, and take away the air). 

• We read both fiction and non-fiction books about fire safety, firefighters, and fire stations. 

• At Small Group: 
• We talked about how we dial 9-1-1 in case of an emergency. We practiced dialing on pretend phones. We encourage you to teach your child a number they can always reach you at. We also suggest discussing your home fire safety plan with them.

• We went on a fire safety scavenger hunt to look for fire extinguishers, exit signs, smoke alarms, sprinklers, fire hydrants, and fire alarms. 

• We played a counting game with dice, a number ladder, and community helper figures to work on number recognition and turn-taking skills.

• At Choice Time: 

Art Area:

We created bracelets, dream catchers, magic wands, and much more in the art area this week. 

 

Block Area:

 

 

We made an apartment building out of a cardboard box, added flames, and used play people to “put the fire out”.

 

Discovery Area: 

 

 

We used magnifiers to find and identify tiny letters in a picture of a firefighter. 

 

Dramatic Play:

 

 We brought in our rocking chair so we could rock our babies to sleep.

 There was a lot of puppy/kitty play this week. They were very creative and used the links as leashes.

 Fairy wings! They were all being tooth fairies and using the tweezers as their magic wands.

Sand and Water Area: 

 

We put foam flames with numbers on them in the water table and the kids “put out the fire” with spray bottles. They also did this outside with chalk flames on the wall. 

 

Writing Area:

 

Our new easel for the art area arrived, so we moved this easel into the writing area. They are using it like crazy!

 

 Library Area:

 

We introduced the listening center this week. They are loving listening to stories on tape. 

 On the iPad:

 

 We found a few apps that focus on fire safety that the kiddos really enjoyed using this week. The apps read stories about Sparky the fire dog and his adventures. 

 

• Share books with your child about counting, size, shapes, and numbers.
• Count everything! Count steps up and down stairs, count the number of windows and chairs, count how many times you can bounce a ball or skip rope without stopping. Count just about anything your child is interested in.
• Set the table. Ask your child to set the table, putting one item out for each person.
• Encourage your child to sort objects. Sometimes the categories are obvious, such as sorting silverware. But see how many different ways your child can sort other objects. For example, sorting clothes by color/size/fabric.
• Ask "Why?" and "What do you think?" Encourage your child to explain their thinking to you to increase their language and comprehension skills.  
• Encourage your child to talk about their day. Ask them to tell you about a story we read or what they did at choice time. Go through this blog post with them and have them describe the pictures to you.