We Added More

Each day we continue to add more to our card board fire truck.

Fire fighter Greg gave us stickers to add to our truck

so we named it Engine 10 just like his.

 He was happy that we decided to paint the truck red like his too.

We added a light and bell.

We went 'old school' with the bell because we already had one

and wasn't sure how to make a siren

or certain that we needed a loud noise 

in our already noisy room.

One child was playing with toy fire trucks and pointed out

that we needed lights.

As she was painting the lights she decided we needed a hose too.

Continuing to hurry to fires and put them out.

Deciding What to Build

We had planned a city bus trip a couple of weeks ago but with

all the snow we received the trip had to be cancelled.

Since that time I had started thinking about introducing fire fighters

to our program.

But I wasn't sure if the children wanted to move on from the bus idea.

To see where their interest lays I did a survey.

The children had to pick between building a bus or a fire truck.

A couple of pages later the tally favoured a fire truck.

This morning we dug out a big box and started to transform it.

This is a really wide box so we will be able to have two drivers.

I know this doesn't represent a real fire truck 

but it's important to meet the needs of the children

and driving a truck is a high interest.

We pulled out some equipment to begin the play.

Next week we will decide what colour to paint the truck.

We will also visit a real fire station and learn more

about a fire truck.

Putting Out the Fire

This morning at school this little guy came up to me and asked for something 

that looked like water.  As he stood there he twiddled with his fire helmet.

At first I didn't understand what he was after until I looked over to 

where his mom sat by our fake fireplace.

She held up the black hose and pointed to the end of it.

Ah, he needed water for his fire hose.

We found a piece of tissue paper and he stuck it in the hose and

proceeded to put out the fire.

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of him putting it out

but when he was done he left the hose there.

A little later another child came along and 

pretended the same thing.

Our fireplace has provided quite a variety of imaginative play.

Where's the Fire?

Now that we have a fire truck we need to practice our fire fighting skills,

but where?

We built a house from another cardboard box.

Gotta love cardboard boxes.

We used an old orange cheer leader's pom pom for fire.

So much action play.

Day after day.

Transforming Airplane to Fire Truck Part 2

Our next step was to convert our Buffalo search and rescue plane to a fire truck.

The propellers and wings needed to be removed first.

Then we started to paint.

Day 1 and the painting was completed we started to work on the inside.

We added a steering wheel on a table with foot pedals below it

as well as some seats.

Of course a fire hose was a necessity.

Day 2 and I put out materials to help decorate the outside of the truck.

Wheels, ladders and lights were made.

 I attached a bell in lieu of a siren.

I set up an area with information that we received from the fire station

and the clothing fire fighters wear.

Finally we finished with a thank you card for 

fire fighter Jonathan and his crew

that did an awesome job.

How We Transitioned from an Airplane to Fire Truck Part 1

It started with changing our table from an airport to roads.

Then the kindergarten class lent us their fire station.

Then we built a ramp to connect the two.

We played for this for awhile then I organized a tour to the fire station.

We learned about fire safety and got to climb in the trucks.

Once we were back at school we started thinking and planning.

How do airplanes and fire trucks differ?

What does a fire truck need?