Theme Learning
"You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives."
~Clay P. Bedford
~Clay P. Bedford
Fire Fighters and Fire Trucks
Every summer we do a firefighter theme. We have various activities that we do. Some we repeat, some we don't and we always add on activities because the kids' skills and interest levels grow and change each year. We culminate our activities with a visit to the local fire station. Last year, the kids were there when the fire department got a call and had to leave. The kids loved to watch the fire truck drive away with the siren on.
Literacy Connection
Books
Some of our favorite books for this theme are The Firefighters by Sue Whiting, We Work at the Fire Station by Raintree Sprouts, and Crawl Low Under Smoke by Lucia Raatma.
Vocabulary Development:
fire truck, monitor, hose, dials and gauges, valves, spray, drive, ladder, ladder truck, engine truck, platform, engineer, fire station, rescue, fire safety
fire truck, monitor, hose, dials and gauges, valves, spray, drive, ladder, ladder truck, engine truck, platform, engineer, fire station, rescue, fire safety
Songs
"Hurry, Hurry, Drive the Fire Truck"
http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/h027.html
"The Wheels on the Fire Truck"
(We made up our own lyrics to this song.)
The wheels on the fire truck go round and round.
The engineer on the fire truck goes up and down.
The siren on the fire truck goes wee-oo, wee-oo.
The hoses on the fire truck go whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The lights on the fire truck go flash, flash flash.
The ax on the fire truck goes chop, chop, chop.
http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/h027.html
"The Wheels on the Fire Truck"
(We made up our own lyrics to this song.)
The wheels on the fire truck go round and round.
The engineer on the fire truck goes up and down.
The siren on the fire truck goes wee-oo, wee-oo.
The hoses on the fire truck go whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The lights on the fire truck go flash, flash flash.
The ax on the fire truck goes chop, chop, chop.
Dramatic Play
Skills: Vocabulary Development, Social, Critical Thinking
We built a fire truck out of diaper boxes and construction paper last year. We used a pool noodle and this green "thing" we found at Michaels for a hose. We had a lot of fun pretending to put out fires.
This year the boys painted a large box we got when something came in the mail. We put their preschool chairs inside the box as well as the "hoses". When there is a fire, the alarm sounds and we jump in the fire truck, drive to the "emergency" and put the fire out. The toddler likes to drive the fire truck next to the painted one.
Compare/Contrast Fire Fighters and Police Officers
This year Andrew is starting to be interested in police officers as well as firefighters. He was a little confused about what jobs each had so we made this picture comparison chart and talked about what jobs each one had and similar jobs each have separately. Firefighters: Drive firetrucks, put out fires, spray hoses, wash fire trucks. Police Officers: Arrest people, drive police cars. Both: help people.
Comparing and Contrasting in fun ways helps preschoolers prepare to be successful in reading, math and science.
Art Connection
Skills: Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Art, Critical Thinking, Planning, Social
We found this at Michael's. Andrew had fun painting it and playing with it after it dried.
We painted a "fire truck" with a big box:
"Wall Paper"
It's fun to cut out different shapes and tape them up on a wall! We cut two rectangles off of long butcher paper that we bought at Michael's and three small circles for the tires out of construction paper. Chalk was the art medium of choice for this fire truck.
Fire Station Visit
When we visit the fire station, the fireman taking us on the tour shows us around the whole station. We see their rooms, their workout room, the kitchen, their training room, where they do laundry and the most fun part for all the kids: The fire trucks. They let the kids climb in the back seat of the fire truck and the kids love it.