It’s been a while since I did my field trip series here. It started back in 2005 with my big kids when they were in their field trip crazy days, and I have done field trip reviews on and off for years… but with my older two in high school and the little guys too small to remember field trips for a while, I let it slide.
Now that I’m back to just doing elementary again, we are getting our field trippin’ on!
Admittedly, this field trip was a while back, but for the sake of the long list I aim to share eventually, it wasn’t fair to leave it out. Fire stations are one of the very best places to start off your field trip adventures with preschool kids and younger elementary kids. It is important to talk about safety, to have a safety plan for what your kids need to do in the case of a fire in your home, to know how to contact 911, to learn your address, and to know that smoke can also kill you – not just fire. I also think it is really important for the little ones to see someone put on a fireman uniform in front of the kids – maybe even let them try it on or touch it – so they aren’t afraid of a fireman in the case that one day they might need to be rescued by one.
Firemen love food, too. Our local homeschool group took them a bag of shiny apples as a thank you for putting on the field trip for our group. They liked sharing with us about how they cook for each other and take turns cleaning up while they are on duty. We toured their “home” away from home and saw their weight room, kitchen, and TV room (complete with reclining lounge chairs). They loved visiting with the kids and answering questions.
Your local fire station is also a fun place to host a party, if your little one likes fire trucks like my little guy did back when he was a preschooler. He carried around a tiny micro fire truck in his hands all the time. Who knows where that little thing ended up. He loved it so much that he slept with it a lot of nights. We attended a few birthday parties for their friends at fire stations and the firemen did demonstrations with the gear and trucks for the kids.
You don’t even have to be a homeschooler to do field trips at your fire station. Many preschool moms and public school moms also take advantage of this. It’s good for everyone to get to know your local firemen and let them know you are teaching your little ones about safety and what they are doing for the community.
Tune in on Fridays and I’ll try to get back to posting each week about some place we’ve been fieldtrippin’. In the mean time, consider taking a batch of cookies or brownies to your local firemen and letting them know you appreciate them!