My family is in a Relationship. A serious one, with the fire company. This is A-Okay with me. You see, we live in suburbia, where all the firemen are volunteers. Hardcore, solid guys and gals who work incredibly hard to serve us all solely out of the goodness of their hearts. I will never forget the day I was out sweeping the porch and I saw my neighbor, a fireman, peel out of his house and bolt across his lawn in a desperate run to meet the truck and go help someone. I looked down at the broom in my hand and thought, “Huh. I’m cleaning the porch and he’s saving lives…”.
Not only could these fire dudes save my family from a really scary situation at any given moment, they have blessed us in numerous ways:
Does it get any sweeter?
They open up the doors of the firehouse and let my son have his 4th birthday party there. With a bangin’ cool cake.
They host a fire safety night every September. With real fires the kids get to put out and everything.
They cart the gorgeous red truck into my son’s preschool every year and let the kids oogle and open-mouth gape. And put up with squealing excitable children for hours on end.
My neighbor gave my son a knit EBFC (East Brandywine Fire Company) hat and he feels incredibly boss in it. He is incredibly boss.
Yo. He’s too in the ‘hood to smile…
ENRAPTURED.
Yeah, as institutions go, I’m in love. Sparky, the firedog mascot of the NFPA (and all local American fire stations)? He is our hero. So when word got out that the hot canine was busting in out in some new music videos? AND a new app? My kids were all over it (read: I lost the iPad for the foreseeable future).
Check out the video recommended for grades PreK-1, Little Rosalie by SteveSongs:
And I love the video suggested for grades 2-3, What’s That Sound? by Recess Monkey:
The tunes are catchy, hip, and they throw our beloved Sparky front and center. What red-blooded American kid doesn’t love on Sparky? We’ll cheer on that hip dog wherever he goes! My children were entranced and couldn’t get enough of checking out the videos and playing around with the new app.
These videos and the app make learning about fire safety fun and kid-friendly, something that I so appreciate. When my father was growing up, his home was destroyed by fire, so he was always adamant that my sister and I be knowledgeable about fire prevention and work delicatedly to protect against accidents in our house. Some modern-day resources that help me pass these important lessons to my own kids? Fantastic in my book.
It’s an honor to work with FEMA and the NFPA to promote this new tech-savvy Sparky to our kiddos. As a thank-you to you for giving feedback on these new videos, just leave a comment below by 12am on 3/18/14 telling us what your favorite part of these videos is or one thing your kid(s) learned from these videos, and you’ll be entered to win a $10 giftcard to Starbucks!*
I’m thankful for all the work the NFPA and firefighters every where do to protect us all. Know that here, in our little corner of Downingtown, PA, we are cheering you on with the vigor inherent to only those who have met a ROCKSTAR and fallen in love.
We love Sparky!
***Thank you to FEMA and NFPA for sponsoring this post. All opinions are 100% genuine.***
*Only one entry per person, must be 18 yrs. or older and live in the continental U.S. Thanks for participating!
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Amy - Funny Is Family says
My kids were totally rocking to those jams. They learned to walk briskly. How awesome to have a birthday party at the firehouse! I wonder if we can do that in our town? Hmmm…
Meredith says
Catchy tunes…may get stuck in Mommy’s head too 😉
Kathy at kissing the frog says
The one we watched talked about knowing two ways out, which I think is important for kids. If it happens, they could be confused and get trapped. It was a great conversation starter for us.
Meredith says
Yes! Smart, and making sure they are utterly comfortable with knowing exactly what to do.
Jen b says
I thought the first video was great for the younger kids because it kept repeating g exactly what they needed to know, with a good, catchy beat! We also liked when the firemen joined into the group singing 😉
Meredith says
Repetition is exactly what this age needs! Give it up for those groovy firemen 🙂
Julia Sherwin says
I love that department, too! We do Breakfast with Santa there every year. I didn’t know about the birthday parties. I thought only Wesr Chester did that. Great to know!!! Lachlan wanted a fire house party. His birthday is in sept., so we’ll see if he’s still interested then….
Meredith says
How could I have forgotten to mention Breakfast with Santa!? Such a treat for the kiddos!
Leyna Odell says
I liked the second one better, but my 5 year old liked the first one (which I guess is she appropriate!). For the first one, I like that it said to walk (but walk briskly) because I can see my kids running out of the house and tripping and falling if there was smoke. My 5 year old watched and asked where our family meeting spot was – which we have never really discussed before. So I think we will make a plan and a test run today. Thanks!!
Meredith says
Love that it kicked off this conversation–I need to go over the meeting spot with my kids too. Thanks, Leyna!
Julia says
I remember being very scared about the old “stop, drop and roll” way of teaching kids about fire safety. These videos are a great educational way to raise awareness amongst children, but also (in the second video) mentions not being scared.
Meredith says
I remember that too–so much from when I was growing up. Working with kids to help them not be scared is so important!
Jen says
These are too cute! I agree that the second one is more catchy but I have a 3 & 5 year old. The first one is great because it counts the steps. They can easily remember it when it’s done this way. My 5 yr old asks to check the smoke detector all the time.
Meredith says
I love that your 5 yr. old reminds you to do this! I wish mine did! 🙂
femmefrugality says
These campaigns are so important! Found myself in a fire situation a few years back with a bunch of adults, and was shocked to find that I was the only one who knew what to do, and that was because I worked in schools where the fire department actively taught kids about fire safety. Thanks for sharing this!
Meredith says
Holy cow! What a crazy experience and I’m so glad you had the know-how, Femme!
Stephanie says
These are adorable. And we are obsessed with Steve Songs, so that is a plus. 🙂
Meredith says
Steve Songs! A definite plus 🙂