Description:
This week's activity was all about fire safety and how we should behave around campfires.
Links to EYFS:
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Communication and Language
Physical Development
Mathematics
Understanding of the World
Activity:
We started by sitting in a circle around base camp and talking about how to be safe around campfires. This included several very important things the children had to remember:
Not walking through or near the centre of base camp (where the fire would be) but rather stepping back over the log they were sitting on and walking around the outside
Not throwing anything onto the fire as it could dislodge something that was already lit
Not trying to place anything onto the fire after it had started as only an adult with a fire glove could do so
Not running or jumping near the fire
Making sure we had enough water nearby to put the fire out if necessary
We discussed what we would do if we ever needed help with a fire that had got out of control and talked about whether we should try to put it out ourselves or call the Fire Brigade. We practiced pretending to call 999 and asking for help using the site phone and thought about what we may be asked and what information would be helpful to the emergency services. At different points during the week we also practiced evacuating Forest School as if there were a real fire and developed our skills at coming to Base Camp quickly and calmly as well as walking up to the gate in two's holding each others hands.
After our fire safety talk, we asked the children to collect three different thicknesses of sticks - thin, medium and thick sticks and to put them into their respective piles. Once this was done, the children used a small axe to chop some thick logs and put them into a pile, ready to put on the fire. To build the fire we started with some cotton wool and scrunched up paper, then added some of our previously collected thin sticks and a few of the medium sticks.
To start the fire we used a flint and steel striker to make a spark in order to catch the cotton wool alight, which in turn lit the paper and then the sticks. Once the fire got going we added some of the thicker sticks and eventually the logs the children had helped chop with the axe. We then all really enjoyed sitting around our lovely warm campfire that everyone had helped to build!
Home Activity:
Practice pretending to dial 999 and role play different scenarios with different emergencies. Take turns in playing at being the person needing help alternating with the person receiving the call and encourage the children to think about what questions they might be asked if they ever did call 999. This may also be a good time to begin talking to your child about their home address and pointing out the name of the road when you turn in or out of your road.