Keeping children safe from fire requires educating them not only about the dangers of fire, but also about what to do in case of a fire. Taking the time to teach your kids fire safety at home could mean the difference between life and death.
Step One
Discuss fires and fire safety with your child in a calm, rational manner. Avoid using an alarmist tone or making your child fearful all of the time. Provide your child with basic preventative information such as that he should never touch or play with matches or that the stove is always off limits. Use the language that she'll understand, such as simple wording for a kindergarten-aged child or more complex sentences for your fifth grader.
Step Two
Add in information on how to know if there's a fire in the house -- such as listening for the smoke detector to beep or smelling smoke.
Step Three
Develop a fire escape plan together. Draw a map of the house, noting each person's rooms and the exits. Create viable escape routes, such as exiting from the front door, as well as secondary routes, such as the first floor family room window. Mark the escape routes clearly on the plan. Come up with a meeting place that is outside of the house, such as across the street in front of the neighbor's porch.
Step Four
Instruct your child to never open a door that is hot to the touch, using a secondary escape route if possible.
Step Five
Practice the escape plan with your child, pretending that there is a real fire in the house.
Step Six
Practice how to stop, drop and roll in the event that your child's clothes catch on fire.