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Fireworks Safety for Kids
We have slowly been allowing the kids to participate more and more with fireworks, and have been teaching them fireworks safety for kids (and grown ups).
Here are our basic guidelines we have figured out for our kids.
** Each family’s safety guidelines are different, and each kid is different. What works for my family may not work for yours, and what works for your family may not work for mine.**
Fireworks Safety for Kids guidelines
- Do not play with fire like it is a toy. Yes, fireworks are fun, but if you are not careful they are dangerous.
- Pay attention to what you are doing, and look at what you are holding.
- Wear shoes, sparks may come off of the sparklers, fireworks, or other things, and that is a safety issue.
- Older kids may safely light fireworks that do not shoot up in the air (the novelty ones: chickens, tanks, noisy things). As they are able to safely light simple ones, they are allowed to light more difficult ones.
- When lighting a firework, you light it on the ground, ready to back up when it lights.
- Do not run around with fireworks. You are more likely to trip while running, so that is more dangerous.
- Back up to a safe distance, about 10 feet for most of the smaller items.
- Keep a bucket of water handy for any surprises (in my many years of fireworks, this has not happened that I remember, but it is good to have just in case).
- Rockets are for the parents to launch, they are more complicated, and my kids are not ready for them yet (I think this may be something they’re allowed around 13, depending on maturity).
- NEVER POINT FIREWORKS AT ANOTHER PERSON! Learn from your Uncle’s mistakes, you do not need powder burn scars, they take a long time to heal.
- Only use fireworks with a parent or responsible adult (Uncle Sean is not a responsible adult).
These are our general ground rules. Part of why we allow our kids to light fireworks is because we do not want them to fear fireworks. A child who is afraid is more likely to do something stupid because they are not in control and could hurt other people. If you teach your kids in a responsible manner how to handle fireworks they are less likely to do something stupid when they are teens or college kids hanging out with friends.
As you can see they quite enjoyed playing with, and lighting fireworks last 4th of July, and we worked hard to teach them fireworks safety.
Do you let your kids light fireworks? What fireworks safety have you taught your kids?
Comments
6 responses to “Fireworks Safety for Kids”
The kids I don’t worry about…the husband…he could use a safety list.
Ain’t that the truth.
We haven’t played with fireworks at all, but your list sounds pretty good to me!
B3 is a bit young, so until she grows older there is a universal ban on fireworks. Great fun though, and she will love them when she does ‘come of age’!
Leah’s comment cracked me up. Our fireworks choices are rather limited in Califiornia, but daughter is allowed to participate in sparkler extravaganza on 4th of July. It’s a big crowd of kids of different ages all with sparkles lit by adults. Somehow it always worked. She didn’t handle anything bigger than that – the bigger fireworks displays are handled by adults and much older kids.
These are really great rules for using fireworks, and reasonable ones. I grew up in a Latin country where we blew off fireworks all the time. I miss the fireworks, which we only have on the 4th of July and New Year.
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