Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Dec 08/99) - When it comes to teaching young children about safety, it's good to have an ace up your sleeve -- or in this case a puppet on your hand.

To that end, 11 Northerners found themselves sleeved with a Sparky the Fire Dog puppet on Sunday afternoon.

The seminar, to help fire department and fire marshall staff from across the NWT hone their skills for teaching kids about fire safety, was sponsored by the GNWT Office of the Fire Marshall and put on by puppeteer Polly Elson.

Elson, who lives in Arizona, has been working with fire departments across North America for years. Thirteen years ago, with two Phoenix firefighters, she founded an educational conference which focuses on how to use puppets and clowns to help firefighters teach children life safety skills.

Firefighters are well suited for the job because "they are our friends. When people have a problem, they call firefighters," she said.

"There's a lot of creativity. It's an artistic way to teach. It's about bringing that artistry in people out," she said.

With a puppet, the firefighter can teach children about the dangers of fire --without using a dramatic image, she explained.

Mike Lowing, with the Yellowknife Fire Department, said this course will be integrated into the department's educational strategy.

"Polly Elson is here to give us a technical approach. And we bring the enthusiasm," he said.

Elson notes when making presentations to young children, it is important to teach one behaviour at a time. One of her methods is to interact with a Sparky the Dog puppet about which tool box is the adult tool box and which is the children's. As a "surprise," the child's tool box contains matches and a lighter.

The discovery comes complete with a surprised reaction from a hand-held puppet. The puppeteer and the puppet work as a team to show the children that the matches and the lighter should be given to an adult. Once the child's attention captured, the message is sent and received.

"You know, I've never had child not be able to tell me what matches and a lighter are," Elson said.

To teach about Christmas tree safety, Elson uses "Penelope Pine."

The duo can teach about proper watering, when lights should be turned off, or which types of ornaments are safe and which ones are not so safe.