Dealing With Children Fascinated With Fire (lighting matches, etc.)

When I was first thinking about an article on fire building and children I thought back to different experiences I have endured during my 60 years on the planet.  I remember a cub scout outing with nine second and third graders, myself and one other parent leader. There we were eleven people huddled in a circle, with me explaining the proper way to build a fire. Pretty soon the boys were each practicing lighting matches.  One particular scout crouching directly across from me lit his match, promptly screamed, and threw the flaming match in my face.  I of course jumped and fell over backwards barely escaping the flying torch.  All the boys loved the commotion except the match thrower who was terrified and scared he had done something wrong.  I asked the boys, how many had lit a match before and was surprised by the answers. Only half the boys had ever lit a match, only one (my child) was allowed to light candles or fires when camping or at home. The lesson I took away was that many boys needed to be introduced to and taught some very basic life skills, also don’t kneel in front of first time match lighters.  Once when one of my children was at the young age where fire fascinated him my wife and I caught him in the bedroom closet with a box of wood kitchen matches, some which had just been burned, the smell still in the air. We promptly took him outside and sat him down on the concrete sidewalk next to the driveway and let him “play with matches” Of course we watched and worried, not sure what to do. That evening outside we roasted hot dogs and made sure he got to light the fire.  We also made sure that he helped light the wood stove we used to heat our family room.  Not too long ago the neighbor and his two boys accompanied me and my boy on an afternoon boat trip. We beached the boat on a small island to make a campfire and cook hot dogs for lunch.  The other father assured me that his boys were wise old campers having spent the summers with their aunt camping all over the northwest. The boys were nine, ten, and eleven years old, my boy being the oldest. On the island I challenged them to scrounge for tinder, kindling, fire wood, and then to light the fire using only one match. Watching the boys fumble with matches I wasn’t surprised to hear that the neighbor boys had never lit a fire, and wouldn’t admit to ever lighting a match, explaining they weren’t allowed to touch matches at home or when camping with their aunt. Our fire lighting challenge was a dismal failure, the recent rain made it extra tough.   However, I had expected problems and had brought with us a ten minute highway flare. I suspect even the dad was excited about using a flare for fire lighting, once again bringing to my attention that some real world life basics were missing.  Once the sulfur burned away and our campfire was ready for cooking we had a great feast.  With our pocket knives we sharpened saplings for cooking sticks, another first for the wise old campers. John 2010