Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Austin, TX

It seems that 90% of preschoolers go through a firefighter adulation phase.  There were two books that were big hits around our house for a while:  Fireman Small to the Rescue and Poinsettia and the Firefighters.  My son's interest in these books gave me the idea to plan a trip to the fire station for us and some friends.

A description of how to set up a tour is on the Austin Fire Department website.  I called the Education Office at 974-0290 and told them the station we'd like to visit and called that station directly (since the kids we invited were all under 3, I opted for a convenient location rather than a huge station, which would have more to see on the tour).  The person I spoke to about the tour was pretty open on the size of the group, so I thought 10 moms and their children would be doable.  That ended up working out perfectly, since the day of a few folks couldn't make it.  I gave the station a few weeks notice before we visited.

We visited Fire Station 12 on Hancock Drive, which is across from the Yarborough Library in Central Austin.  The firefighters pulled out the truck so we got to check out the gear while the kids arrived.  Then we took a tour through the station and had the chance to ask questions (advice:  decide on questions beforehand, since the younger kids can't think of much on the spot.)  After that we got a "tour" of the fire truck, and all the kids got a chance to "drive".  At the end of the visit, the kids got stickers and we took a group photo.  The entire visit took about an hour, and most of the group moved onto a nearby park to finish out the morning. 

My son was less interested in the visit than I had expected, although he was at the tail end of a cold.  Other moms reported back that their kids spent the rest of the day playing fire station, so that was good to hear.  I was not too disappointed my son wasn't that into it, since we can visit again, it was easy to set up, and it was free.  Next time I think I'll pick a bigger station to visit with more to see, and do more advance "marketing" by picking up some books to read beforehand and brainstorming some questions.

Have you visited a fire station?  If so, what was your experience and at what age were your children really interested in it?