Kids usually adapt pretty fast in emergency situations. They can handle an evacuation quite well, actually. However, even if they’re able to regroup quickly in such scenarios, it still doesn’t hurt to prepare the young ones as much as possible in anticipation of such crisis settings. Read on to learn how to prepare your children for an evacuation.
Tips On How To Prepare Your Children For An Evacuation
There are ways at getting kids ready without causing them to worry unnecessarily. With children, life is often one big adventure. Take this approach when preparing them for likely evacuations. Anxiety and fear shouldn’t show on your face or actions because kids can pick up on them rather easily.
A great starting point is arranging a few spur-of-the-moment camping trips. There’s no forewarning here. You simply spring the activity on the kids. If they are sleeping, stir them awake, only, do it earlier than usual and tell them you will go camping. Sure, they’ll whine and mutter for a while for being rudely awakened, but do your best to remain optimistic and excited.
This is your chance to get the children used to the idea of taking along whatever essentials you’ll need on the camping trip. To make it more fun, consider turning the task into a game. Point out items one by one and ask the youngsters what these are and what they are used for. Award points for each correct guess plus a coloring book, a stack of cards, crayons and whatnot.
During the course of camping, be sure to involve and expose them to various survival skills. The type of stuff you show them will depend on how old they are. Some activities are pitching tents, making fire and fishing. These survival skills will keep the trip fun and interesting for the kids.
Some children are not used to long walks, always relying on the family car to take them from one location to another. The camping trip is an opportunity for them to get used to moving fast while lugging around backpacks. Of course, loading them down with extremely heavy items is out of the question, but they must still be able to stroll about with small bags or backpacks. The walks should be done with some regularity. Again, the walk has to be interesting. Try distracting the kids from the exhaustion they might feel by asking them about the things around them. To make the trek more educational, bring compasses and maps. This will familiarize them with navigation tasks.
Kids need to understand what an evacuation is. This counts among the most crucial strategies to getting them ready for possible evacuations. Next is teaching them ways to stay safe and what they can do to keep others safe. Using a number of scenarios will get the idea across quicker. Those already attending school are likely aware of activities associated with fire drills.
Most important, impress upon the children that emergency situations are not the time for tantrums and acting out. Instructions are issued because they have a purpose. They are given so people can stay away from harm’s way.
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Dan Annweiler
CEO & Editor of The Emergency Survival Blog
