Children gathered around to hear the legend of Smokey Bear, yesterday. The set up included a Smokey Bear sign and the painting of the burnt tree. Britt wore the Ranger hat and did an act out of the story of the real little bear cub who was orphaned in fire.
Britt had pictures of Smokey Bear, who survived a terrible fire. The story tells of the fire being so strong that 30 fire fighters had to stop fighting the flames and just lay face down on the ground until the fire passed. After that is when they found the little bear cub up in a singed tree, and they named him. Smokey, who recovered from serious burns, then lived at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. Smokey received so many gifts and letters that he was assigned his own zip code.
We discussed the difference between putting out a fire and preventing a fire, and what we can do to help prevent forest fires. The children learned Smokey’s five rules of fire prevention:
1. Only you can prevent wildfires.
2. Always be careful with fire.
3. Never play with matches or lighters.
4. Always watch your campfire.
5. Make sure your campfire is completely out before leaving it.
We practiced putting out our campfire. Then we listened to the “Smokey The Bear” song and then the children drew pictures of Smokey.
