What do I mean by 'playing with fire?'
I mean the things that I have observed children do naturally when they are finding out about fire, like; poking it with a stick, rolling an ember out of the fire with a long stick and pressing on it to see if it goes out, feeding the fire with wood, toasting a marshmallow, experimenting with different kindling and fire-starting methods. All these activities are so powerful for children to learn from and with a few simple safety rules in place are very do-able.
There's a good reason why children are fascinated by fire and it goes back to our primeval instincts as humans seeking fire, shelter and food. Children are born with natural curiosity and tend to be drawn to fire. This might sound scary to some parents but it is a natural instinct that you will find hard to push against. In fact, I believe you should actively engage children in learning how to respect fire.
Here are 4 benefits
1. Physical skills
2. Emotional well being
3. Safety awareness
4. Concentration skills
The first step of lighting a fire is creating heat. This can be done in a number of different ways, the most common would be using matches. One of the ways we do this at Forest School is by creating a spark using a flint and steel.
This requires quite a bit of strength in your fingers and thumbs to create enough friction between the flint and the steel to make a spark. The technique requires children to put force through the flint and scrape it along the steel to create friction and hopefully a spark. This action builds coordination from using both hands at once and hand-eye coordination from finding the right point on the steel to be successful.
The action comes from your shoulder so will also build strength which is great for gripping a pencil well in order to develop writing skills.
Without a doubt, a memory made for life. Just look at George and Nolan in the video below. The process is quite difficult so when children are successful they feel elated. This does wonders for their self-esteem and confidence levels. It's a superhero moment, especially for those children who struggle in school. It shows that these children have hidden talents outside those that are commonplace in school. Their newfound ability enables them to help others which makes children feel valued and important.
In the current worldwide pandemic, children need all the confidence and self-esteem possible.
The great thing about allowing children to experiment with fire is that it will go some way to satisfying their desire to answer questions that they have a yearning to know. Some may say that giving children this opportunity encourages them to go off and light random fires in the woods and become reckless. I actually think that those who think this should have more faith in children. I believe the opposite to be true. That in fact offering this opportunity means that when children do come into contact with fire (not literally) they will know how to be safe and also will know how to respect the natural environment as well as respect fire. It is difficult to push against a natural instinct and many of the fires started recklessly may well be young people who still have that desire to play with fire but have never been allowed the opportunity in a safe environment.
With practice and rehearsal of asking children to identify hazards, they become great 'danger spotters'. This process teaches them how to assess risk and put measures in place to reduce this. When you know where the risk Is you are far more likely to avoid it. For example, they may spot trip hazards around the fire area so move them or step over them to reduce the risk of an accident. Being able to assess risk independently, I believe to be one of the most valuable gifts you can give a child because they can use it usefully in life in all kinds of situations, to stay safe.
I have often seen children be totally focused on fire lighting for half an hour or longer. The same children that have been told that they may have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) The drive children have to be successful is incredible. This is fantastic for building concentration skills and also proves that children can concentrate if they are engaged with an activity that they are curious about and want to learn more about. It might be that they don't concentrate at school because they aren't interested in the subject or the work is too hard or too easy. I can't concentrate either if I'm not interested, can you?
Next time, I am going to continue the series on fire by giving you a guide to the first step of fire lighting and some top safety tips for you to support your child.
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I hope you all have a safe and Happy Christmas,
Sally x
