Going to the Firehouse

Going to the Firehouse by Mercer Mayer is a short picture book about a class going to visit a firehouse. The little boy is so excited to see the firehouse because when he gets older he wants to be a firefighter as well. The kids in the class get a first hand look at the dog at the firehouse, the ladder, the firefighter pole, the fire engine, and the hose. The idea of having a class of young children visit a fire station is a great idea. I work at a preschool and we have had a few fireman actually come to the school and give a presentation on fires. Field trips or presentations likes these are so beneficial for young children. The class I work with consists of 3 year olds. I do not think they actually understand the whole concept of fires, and what firefighters do. I even think the kids were slightly scared of the firefighters at the beginning because they arrived in their full firefighting gear. As they began their presentation, they slowly took off their gear and explained the significance of each article of clothing. By the end of the presentation they were in a normal set of clothes. I think the process of taking off their uniform showed the students that the firefighters are people to turn to when in need of help, but not too fear them in their uniform. be They are actually normal people underneath their scary outfit. The kids were able to touch all of the articles of the uniform. The firefighters also modeled what to do if they were on fire, and had a student come up and model it as well. By the end of the presentation I believe these kids were able to grasp how important firefighters are, and not to fear them if they see them in a real emergency. I was so thankful that these students got a personal experience with a firefighter in a positive setting, because usually kids will never get to talk to them unless there is an emergency.