LETTING YOUR CHILD PLAY WITH FIRE
Would you let your child play with fire? It seems to be wired into us from a young age that fire is not something to mess around with, but where’s the fun in that? Of course, fire can be dangerous but if we introduce our children to it using safe methods we can nurture a healthy respect for the hazards of fire alongside their natural wonder for it.
Here’s the thing, children LOVE playing with fire – so we might as well teach them how to play with it safely and how to be responsible when lighting their own fires out in the woods. We’ve never had a burn injury at our Forest School sessions. We have established boundaries for the main campfire and clear rules on what kids can and cannot do with their own fires.
In this episode of our vlog Rewild My Child you can see our regular Young Rangers lighting their own fires and passing on some of what they’ve learned.
YOU CAN WATCH THIS EPISODE OF OUR VLOG RIGHT HERE…
I find it so encouraging to see how far these children have come with their firelighting skills and knowledge of camp craft. It’s very satisfying (as a teacher) to see them gathering enough kindling to start their fire, picking out dry sticks rather than wet, soggy ones and to see how they can rekindle a struggling fire using the right techniques. These children love lighting fires and are happy simply to let them blaze away – I’ve never seen a child trying to burn the woods down. They might make smoke signals, make charcoals for drawing or simply poke away at the embers with burning sticks. The fire acts as a warming and comforting focal point for the group to be together, enjoying nature. This has been the role of campfires for generations and long may it continue.
If you liked this and want to see more – check out our YouTube Channel, where we have a whole host of videos from How To Make Wild Teas to How To Use An Axe With Kids.
