GEKA Orrong Road

The campfire

Megan Miller, Early Childhood Teacher and Marion Saavedra, Early Childhood Educator 

Over the last few weeks, several children in Blue group have talked about going camping and included this in their dramatic role play.  Campfires and toasting marshmallows have been a key feature, so we talked about the possibility of setting up the kinder’s fire pit.

As a group, we discussed what fires might be for as well as rules and safety aspects of being around fire.  We have begun to collect sticks and branches that have fallen in our playground to use as firewood for the fire pit.  You might like to bring in some sticks, pine cones or other kindling you have found in your garden or at the park.

Links to learning:

• Including fire in the kinder program, provides children with the opportunity to experience fire in a supportive environment and promotes a healthy and respectful relationship with the element of fire.
• It supports children to be confident and involved learners whilst developing responsibility for themselves and others by discussing the benefits and dangers of fire; and encountering and managing reasonable risks.
• Allows children to explore the properties of fire; fire as a chemical reaction; what fire requires in order to burn; what we use fire for; how to put out a fire; how to use fire safely and responsibly; general fire safety and how we can use fire for cooking.

Experience the social elements associated with fire – bring the group together in a shared learning experience, tell stories, sing songs, connect with indigenous ways of being, build on the children’s own cultural experiences e.g. camp fires.