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Show A match is a tool submitted by the Park City Fire Protection District A tool is an object with a specific purpose. Implicit in this definition is the idea that the tool should be used only for its intended purpose. By presenting the match to your youngster as a tool, you teach the responsible use of fire and lessen the chance that curiosity may cause your child to play with matches risking fire and serious bums. The match is a tool whose purpose is to light candles, start a fire in the fireplace or light an outdoor grill. Tell your child it's OK to strike matches and use fire, but only under safe conditions and only in the presence of a parent or responsible adult. Teaching about fire this way helps to eliminate one of the motivations for juvenile match play curiosity about fire. Fire, like the match, becomes a tool to be used instead a a toy to be played with. This method is more effective than the traditional message of "Don't play with matches." Teaching that a "a match is a tool" lets the child learn about fire in a controlled setting. Teaching that "a match is a tool" lets the child learn about fire in a controlled setting. Teaching that "a match is a tool" makes fire an everyday part of the child's world. "Match is a tool" training should begin with an explanation of the concept at an early age, and should be reinforces with hands-on experience experi-ence in the safe lighting and handling of matches by the age of five. Remember to keep matches, cigarette lighters and the like strictly out of children's reach before that time. Show the child how to light, hold and blow out a match then have the child demonstrate the behavior, time and time again. Multiple repetitions in a single session will further drive home the message that matches have a valuable function and that the skill must be practiced with an adult. Match education can be the beginning of a healthy attitude toward fire that lasts a lifetime. |