Theme · Fire engines
Fire engine books for children: why this theme starts so early
The red engine, the siren, the long ladder: fire engines often fascinate children very early. Here's what is known about role play, what isn't, and why this theme often works earlier than any other.
What is known about role play, and what isn't
First, the gap. We found no study explaining why fire engines appeal so much to preschool children. The “dream job” rankings that circulate are marketing surveys, not developmental research.
What exists is more general. The specialist literature on role play before school describes how children practise language, empathy and resolving conflicts through it: they take on a role, negotiate it with others and act out things they can only watch in everyday life.1
That doesn't explain fire engines in particular, but it does explain why a job can become a theme: it offers a role with clear actions and an obvious goal.
Why this theme often works earlier than others
Fire engines have a practical advantage over most other themes: children see them for real. An engine goes past the school, you hear the siren, the colour is unmistakable. Dinosaurs and unicorns have to be explained first; fire engines don't.
What that changes when you buy. First, fire engine books work much earlier than other theme books, sometimes from one or two, with a picture book that names things or a lift-the-flap book. Second, children of this age notice when a book doesn't match reality, for example in the equipment or how a call-out goes.
A word about words. In English, “firefighter” covers women and men alike. In a story, there's nothing to stop the person holding the hose from being a woman.
Or a story of their own
If your child should be the hero
- Your child spends a day at the fire station, where the crew put out a gorse fire and then rescue a cat stuck up a tree.
- During a storm, your child helps the crew clear a road blocked by a fallen tree, using the long ladder.
- Your child learns from a firefighter what to do if you smell smoke, and then shows the whole family.
Frequently asked questions
- From what age is a fire engine book good?
- Earlier than for most themes: a picture book that names things from about one, a lift-the-flap book from about two. Children see fire engines in the street, so the theme needs no explaining.
- Why do children love fire engines so much?
- No study explains it in particular. Research on role play shows children practise language, empathy and resolving conflicts through it; a firefighter offers a role with clear actions and an obvious goal. And children see fire engines for real.
- Non-fiction or a story?
- Both work. Non-fiction books explain the job with flaps and wheels. A story suits the child who loves the theme but gets bored by explanations.
- Can the story have a female firefighter?
- Of course. “Firefighter” covers women and men alike, and in a story nothing stops the person leading the call-out from being a woman.
Sources
- 1.Labuhn, A. S. (2011): Spiel und Spielen in der frühen Kindheit. KiTa Fachtexte. (in German)What it confirms: Role play before school and its part in language, empathy and resolving conflicts; nothing on fire engines in particular.
Other themes: Animals, Autumn, Dinosaurs, Rabbits, Moles, Elephants, Witches and Unicorns. Or children's books by age, growing up, topic by topic and all the illustration styles.