Good time to teach children fire safety rules

Families are spending more time together during this time of COVID-19 shutdown, and Belleville Fire officials says it’s a good time to teach children the safety rules.

Senior Prevention Officer John Lake says there are many websites on the internet through the United States  National Fire Protection Association, some specifically with Canadian content.

Some internet sites have games about fire safety that children can play.

Lake tells Quinte News the idea is to keep it very basic with young children.

He emphasizes, “And make sure they understand what to do if they hear the smoke alarm in the house.”

Fire Chief Mark MacDonald says more and more people are working from home offices, and older children are looking after younger siblings, so it’s important children understand fire safety.

There are numerous online resources available for free to assist parents with this. These online lessons, games and downloadable activities are a great way to keep children busy while teaching them the importance of practising fire safety at home.

To help with this, we have listed a few fun and helpful online resources for parents to explore:

• sparky.org – Games, videos, apps and downloadable activities/stories to keep kids busy, entertained and learning at the same time.

• sparkyschoolhouse.org – Resources to share, videos to post and even mini-lessons for parents to do at home.

• ready.gov/kids/kids – Emergency preparedness lessons for kids and teens.

• usfa.fema.gov/prevention/outreach/children.html – Resources for parents including printable handouts, activities and more.

• tvokids.com/school-age/fire-safety-week – E-learning resources, videos, games and more.

• nfpa.org/Public-Education/Teaching-tools – Online teaching tools including lesson plans, programs and printable material.