Firefighter party games

Need some firefighter party games for little kids?

Firefighter party games will keep your little firefighters busy! This is a popular theme, and a very educational one too, as you can imagine.

If you can visit a fire station or have a fire crew and their engine visit you during the party, you'll add an unforgettable element to your firefighter party!

It's well worth enquiring about this possibility, as many fire stations are more than willing to participate, and they'll probably throw in some educational freebies to give the kids too.

These firefighter party game ideas will soon have your kiddies trained and ready for action!

Need party planning ideas for little firefighters? Here's a great list of Firefighter Party Ideas

Firefighter party games - training exercises!

Firefighter obstacle course
Rather than having a race, you could start each kid off individually. The idea here is simply to finish the course. You'll need some adult helpers around the course, and a practice run through with the birthday boy or girl is a good idea to show everyone what they have to do.

Arrange these activities in whichever order suits your surroundings. Various ideas here, you don't need to include them all, just pick and mix and add a couple of ideas of your own depending on how adventurous you're feeling!

• I'd start my obstacle course with a firefighter dress up - helmet, goggles, jacket, boots, gloves and a mini "hose" will do - pop them in a box. Each child has to put on all the clothes, run round the box five times, and take the costume off! Then they go onto the next part of the course, and the next kid can start.

• If you have a slide in your yard or garden, this can be used as a ladder. Attach some soft toys to the top of the slide, and as each child gets to the top of the steps, they must "rescue" a soft toy and slide down with it, and pop it in a box at the bottom of the slide!

• Crawling under the smoke is another good activity. You can imitate smoke by switching a bubble making machine on and off as the kids go by, or by fixing a blanket or sheet across the obstacle course that the kids have to crawl under.

• A squirt gun test will have the kids begging to do the obstacle course again! Fill up enough squirt guns with water beforehand, one for each child. You can get the kids to squirt at a target of your choice. It could be a simple round target to shoot at, or a picture of a window with flames, for example.

Once you've got the kids puffed out... it's time for...

Firefighter Q and A
Depending on the age of the children, prepare some firefighter safety questions. Your guests don't have to know the answers, as this is more an information activity.

Four or five questions will probably be enough. If you have a real firefighter present to answer the questions, even better - if not, an adult can dress up and lead the Q and A.

Here are some sample questions:

1. How can a fire start?

2. What should you do if you see a fire?

3. Why are matches dangerous? You could get the kids to say the rhyme:

   Matches, matches, never touch!
   They can hurt you very much.

4. How would you move through a room full of smoke?

You can have some good discussion here, but keep the momentum of the party going - once you have thought a little about one question, move onto the next, and when you're done, you can issue each child with a certificate to say they've completed their firefighter training! You could add a medal or badge, too, to make the kids feel really important.

Sparky® is the dalmatian mascot of the National Fire Protection Association and has his own kids' website at Sparky.org. Check out his site for some more fire prevention tips, coloring pages and online activities, which will give you more inspiration for your firefighter party games!

More firefighter birthday party games

Firehouse relay
Get ready to get wet! Two teams, two buckets, some wide open space and a lot of splashed water!

Each kid takes a bucket of water (make sure it's not too heavy) and runs up the course and back again, passing the bucket onto the next child to do the same. Both teams compete at the same time, starting off with the same amount of water.

The team with the most water in the bucket at the end is the winner!

Pin the tail on the dalmatian
A classic firefighter party game where you can pin the tail or the spot on the dog... or the helmet on the firefighter - or the ladder on the firetruck! It's up to you.

Firefighter keep fit
This could take the form of a follow-my-leader type game. An adult can be the leader first of all, calling out the actions:

• climb the ladder
• crawl under smoke
• rescue the cat
• pour on water
• run to the engine
• ring the bell
• stamp your boots

Some of the children might like to take turns at leading the game.