The Fire Truck

Last week, the kids learned about fire safety. On Wednesday, two firemen brought the fire truck so the kids could see them in their uniforms and look at the fire truck. The kids were able to spray the hose on the lawn and sit in the driver’s seat of the fire truck while having their picture taken. Earlier that morning, the little boy who loves to make food out of play-dough ran over to me carrying his plastic fire hat. All he could tell me was that it was a fire hat and he put it on his head and then took it off. He sat on my lap and while another teacher was asking questions about fire safety, he’d be one of the first to answer. At the end of the day, his mother told me he loves fire trucks and that at home, he and his brother are always playing with them. I remembered him playing outside a few weeks ago. He sat up in the play house and kept saying that he needed to put out the fire. His way of putting it out was to fill a bucket with wood chips and pour it on an imaginary fire somewhere on the playground. Every time I thought he was done and that he had put out the fire, he’d say that there was a new fire and he had put that one out too.

Usually, his last day of school for the week is Thursdays. Since he will be moving back to Sweden after this week, I bought him a going away gift. I found a fire truck that makes sounds. It has four buttons for the different sounds. I also got him run run koala!
I was actually looking for a book about fire trucks or trains, but there weren’t any that I liked so I bought this one hoping he’d like it. When he opened his gifts on Tuesday, he was excited about the fire truck. He immediately found the buttons and listened to all the sounds. I wasn’t sure if his mother was in a hurry so I told him there was something else in the bag. After digging through all the tissue paper, he found the Diego book and he was even more excited about that. It turned out that he loves Diego and the, “Dora The Explorer” show. I was glad I had picked that book because he started looking through it right there and wanted it read to him. His mom explained that they could go home and play so they packed up the bag and he lifted it. He found it heavy, but he wanted to carry it anyway. The director walked by and he had to show her his new big fire truck. After he put the fire truck away again, he realized the bag had his name written on it and pointed at a couple of the letters. His mother thanked me and he gave me a hug. I was happy that he liked his gifts and that I had the chance to get to know him.