8 Smart Ways to Teach Kids about Survival and Prepping
In the United States alone, flooding is a top natural disaster, yielding almost $42,000 average claims in the country within 2008 to 2012, according to National Flood Insurance Program.
Prepping is essential to all individuals, particularly young children. Your kid’s innocence makes them particularly susceptible in becoming victims of disasters of all sorts. Ultimately, they’ll depend on you for guidance and support to better equip them in surviving any catastrophe. Preparing your kids for natural disasters may be a challenging experience for you. Knowing what to teach your kids in advance is the key to succeeding in arming your children with the necessary survival skills.
Vegetables for Family Meals
Food is one of the most essential things you must have for you and your little ones in the midst of a disaster. When a disaster strikes, you’ll ultimately be depending on survival food kits and long-term food storage in order to get food in your stomach. Food kits can only last for so long, though. When these food items run out, you’ll have to rely on natural edible products around you for survival in worst case scenarios. However, a solid base of long-term freeze-dried foods can last indefinitely and act as the nutritional foundation for planned farmed, hunted and gardened food.
With these things said, it’s never too early to train your children to get used to eating organic veggies, periodically in meals, for disaster preparation. Once your children get used to eating organic food products, they’ll have an easier time adjusting to the situation in case a tragic catastrophe occurs.
Study the School Fire Escape Plan
When your child’s school sends home a fire escape plan, consider it as an important preparedness guide. Your child needs to be well-trained in independently fending for his safety needs even when you can’t see him. Explain to your child how the escape plan works once he hears the fire alarm system sounds off in his school. Make sure to look over the fire escape plan sketch with your child while you explain the essentials of keeping him out of danger. Be specific in explaining each step involved when escaping from fire. Make sure you clearly detail each procedure so as to avoid confusion from your child’s end. Demonstrate each procedural step if there will be a need to do so, to make things even clearer.
Get Involved in Running Drills
When there’s an emergency, your natural inclination is to run to flee the dangers that threaten your well-being. A strong physical stamina increases the chances of your kids to run fast enough to escape disasters such as fire and earthquake. Running safely takes practice to master. Teaching survival skills to kids in the form of running drills enhances their physical capability to endure the overwhelming effects of a disaster. Make it a habit to include running as part of your kids’ daily exercise routine. Help them improve their survival skills while staying fit at the same time. Don’t forget that practice does make perfect.
Camping Makes Your Kids Smarter
Camping lets you teach your kids how to survive on their own for a few days. Prepare your kids ahead of time for their camping trip to gain confidence on their ability to be self-sufficient. Teach them the basics of caring for their safety. Teach your kids to be alert about the presence of dangerous animals they may encounter while camping, such as insects and snakes. Along the way, your kids will also learn how to take precaution in dealing with strangers while out on a camping trip by themselves.
Knowing how to teach kids about survival to improve their independence brings about fruitful outcomes in the end. The provision of survival training enables your kids to act and think maturely even at a young age. Your kids will likely become smarter as adults after you feed them the necessary training they need in surviving a disaster.
A Smart Way to Drive Intruders Away
Of course, you can’t avoid having the need to go somewhere sometimes without bringing along your child with you. You need to teach your kids how to outsmart potential intruders before leaving them home alone.
First, you need to completely prepare your kids to be aware of the presence of possible intruders. Advice your kids to keep all doors and windows locked, and close the blinds and curtains. Tell your kids to turn on the television or radio afterwards, to scare potential intruders away before they break into your home. The thought of having people at home makes intruders fear that their criminal plan will backfire
Prep for First Aid
Emergency survival kits save lives when injuries occur. Even at a young age, your child needs to know how to use these tools for their protection.
Find time to demonstrate how to use the tools in a first aid kit to your kids . They will not have someone to look after them all the time to make sure they’re okay. Therefore, they need to learn the simplest way of protecting themselves to better increase their chances for survival.
Memorize Important Contact Information
Require your kids to memorize important contact information of disaster rescue organizations, police, and fire fighters. Your kids need to have access to survival food at home in case of disasters, and through calamity relief operations if disasters strike while they’re away from home.
Conduct Earthquake Drills
Earthquakes occur unexpectedly. Help your kids to be prepared on how to escape to safety in case of earthquakes by conducting monthly drills. Incorporate basic response defenses such as drop, cover, and hold or stop, and drop and roll. Teach these to your kids one at a time for better comprehension.
Being practical and smart are the traits your kids must have to beat the odds of survival. Be hands-on in preparing your kids for surviving any disaster. Guide them every step of the way in attaining the necessary prepping skills to the best of their abilities.
