Fireman Sam DVD

Fireman Sam Offers Great Lessons for Kids

 

Fireman Sam is the kind of character you want your kids to watch and like.  He is your basic good guy—the hero next door, according to the song.  He is a caring, likeable, affable fellow always ready to help out.  

And he drives a super-fast, super-red, super-cool fire truck!  What more could a kid ask for?  Not much.

But parents do ask for more—as they should.  

With so many shows and movies to choose from, we parents should be picky about what we turn on for our kids.  And with so many packed with violence, sarcasm, and less-than-great values, we should have something good on hand when our kids are comfortable on the couch and we press “play.”  Fireman Sam is an educational show that teaches bite-sized life lessons with good characters and fire trucks—a sure draw for boys, and most girls, too.

The six short episodes on “Ultimate Adventures in Courage” take place in a small village somewhere in the United Kingdom.  After a few minutes of listening to different accents—American, British, and Scottish all pop up—my son asked me: “What state is this in?”  It was fun to whip out the world map and show him the United Kingdom, and to remind him about languages and, in this case, accents.  

This small village only has traffic when the storyline requires it; the few townspeople know and like each other.  It is a manageable little fictional place in which kids can be entertained and learn lessons.

I like this series for my children because each episode holds a lesson that is completely relatable to my 5 year old daughter and 4 year old son.  For example, the first episode starts out with the biggest and best game of hide-and-seek yet to be played.  The two hiders are so intent on being the best that they forgo safety for the chance to win.  One child hides on a boat, the other in the training building at the firehouse.  Each child requires a rescue—one more dramatic than the other—and everyone learns that safety should always come first.  

With two kids who always forget they should never play hide and seek in a store, I like this lesson!

Each episode includes great lessons for kids that are applicable to so many different situations: use team work to solve problems, stay calm in tough situations, think before you act and each person has something to contribute.    

To teach these lessons, the creators of this series use a team of firefighters who are all funny, earnest characters in an old-timey sort of way.  There is a great representation of gender and race as well as silly unique identities, such as (my personal favorite) the firefighter named Elvis who, you guessed it, has sideburns and is constantly humming tunes.  

In addition to these grown-ups at the fire station, there is a group of village kids whose activities, mistakes, and games are examples of what to do and not do.  They, too, are good kids who mostly do the right thing.  Their bad choices are normal kid mistakes that are quickly rectified.  And—the best part!—there wasn’t a single sarcastic, snarky comment in the whole DVD.  

It seems that every little boy and some little girls go through a firefighter phase, and this series is a great one to remember when you need a gift for the child in that cute little phase.  Pair this DVD and others from the same series with a fireman hat and a trip to your local fire station, and you’ve got another gift checked off your list!

Fireman Sam: Heroic Rescue Adventures, Ultimate Adventures in Courage!

HIT entertainment

Price: $14.99

www.firemansamonline.com

Appealed to my child(ren)  5
Appealed to adults  4
Would watch more than once  4
Child appropriate content  5
I would purchase this product for my family  yes
I would purchase this product as a gift  yes
Overall rating  5

All ratings on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being highest.

 

Meet the Reviewer!

Kate Schwarz is a full-time mom

and wife living in Great Falls, VA. 

In addition to reading to her three

small hildren, Kate runs marathons,

Crossfits, and blogs about raising

kids with books at

www.katesbookery.blogspot.com.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here