Home Safety Check: Alarms and Exits
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What you will learn
- 1Find every smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm in your home with a grown-up
- 2Explain how a grown-up tests an alarm on a regular schedule
- 3Check that every room has two ways out and that hallways and exits are clear
- 4Explain why children get out instead of using a fire extinguisher
- 5Walk through a home safety check and practice the escape plan with your family
Mini Lesson
A plan only works if the home is ready for it. A home safety check is a short walk through every room with a grown-up, looking at alarms and ways out. You find small problems, like a blocked hallway or a window that sticks, and fix them before they matter. In Grade 5 you made a family emergency plan - today you check that your home is ready to follow it.
🏠 The Life Skills Way (step by step)
- SMOKE ALARMS: find each one, usually on the ceiling or high on a wall near bedrooms and on every level of the home. Your grown-up tests them on a regular schedule, for example once a month.
- THE TEST BUTTON: the grown-up presses and holds the test button until the alarm sounds. You may press it while the grown-up holds a steady step stool or ladder - never climb up alone.
- BATTERIES: a short chirp every so often can mean a low battery. Tell your grown-up, who changes the battery or the alarm.
- CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS: carbon monoxide is a gas you cannot see or smell. It can come from things that burn fuel, like a gas stove, a furnace or a fireplace. If your home has these, a carbon monoxide alarm warns you, and your grown-up checks it.
- FIRE EXTINGUISHER: your grown-up knows where it is and how to use it. Children do not fight fires - you get out and stay out.
🚪 Exits and Hallways
- TWO WAYS OUT: every room should have two ways out, usually the door and a window. Check both.
- WINDOWS THAT OPEN: with your grown-up, check that each window opens and is not painted shut or blocked by furniture.
- CLEAR HALLWAYS: keep shoes, bags, boxes and toys out of hallways and away from doors and stairs.
- EASY LOCKS: check that everyone in the family can open the front and back doors quickly, even in the dark.
- PRACTICE: walk the escape plan to your meeting place outside, so everyone knows the way.
A grown-up leads the safety check. Never climb on chairs, ladders or step stools alone to reach an alarm - the grown-up holds it steady or presses the button. Do not take an alarm apart or remove its battery. If a smoke alarm or carbon monoxide alarm goes off for real, get out, stay out, and go to your meeting place. A grown-up calls your local emergency number from outside. If the grown-up is the one hurt and can’t call, you call the emergency number (911 in the US) and say where you are.
Words to know
smoke alarm
A device on the ceiling or wall that beeps loudly when it senses smoke.
e.g. We found a smoke alarm in the hallway outside the bedrooms.
carbon monoxide
A gas you cannot see or smell that can come from things that burn fuel.
e.g. Our carbon monoxide alarm is near the furnace room.
test button
The button on an alarm that makes it sound, to show it still works.
e.g. My grown-up held the step stool while I pressed the test button.
exit
A way out of a room or a building.
e.g. My bedroom has two exits: the door and the window.
fire extinguisher
A tool a grown-up can use to spray out a small fire.
e.g. Only my grown-up uses the fire extinguisher - I get out.
escape plan
The family plan for getting out of the home fast and meeting outside.
e.g. We practiced our escape plan after the safety check.
💡 Handy Tip: pick an easy-to-remember day for the safety check, like the first day of each month, and write it on the family calendar. A check mark each time shows the job is done.
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