Raising Resilient Kids: Involving Your Family in Emergency Planning

Kids can do more than just wait out a storm or emergency—they can become strong contributors in your family’s preparedness plan. Teaching them age-appropriate safety skills builds confidence, resilience, and calm under pressure. These 20 family-friendly ideas help you get started.

20 Ways to Involve Kids in Emergency Planning

• Assign simple preparedness tasks they can complete with pride
• Practice exit routes and identify home hazards together
• Help them memorize important phone numbers
• Create a family emergency meeting point and role-play using it
• Let them help build and personalize go-bags
• Model staying calm during safety drills and discussions
• Discuss why certain emergency supplies are important
• Walk through how to call 911 and what to say
• Include them in fire, earthquake, or storm drills
• Identify safe adults they can turn to in a crisis
• Explore local shelter maps and emergency charity resources
• Make emergency planning fun with games and stories
• Keep the language simple and honest—avoid scary extremes
• Encourage questions and celebrate their curiosity
• Involve them in labeling and organizing supplies
• Let older kids lead family drills or pack their own kits
• Use picture charts or checklists for younger children
• Introduce basic first aid using kid-friendly lessons
• Practice what to do if you're separated during an emergency
• Assign pet care roles or safety buddy responsibilities

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Blackout Preppers' mission is to provide supplies and information to help save lives when blackouts, crises, disasters, emergencies, and hazards happen.
Our motto: “Prepare If You Care.”