Family Fortification: Get the Kids Involved in Preparedness

Nutrient survival: ideas to get the family interested in preparation for emergencies
June 21, 2021  
|  2 Comments
Categories: Lifestyle

Alexander Crown has written a new entry for the Nutrient Survival Field Notes series. In it he addresses the frequently answered question, how do I get my family to be interested and see the importance of being well prepared? That is (or should be) an obvious part of your family fortification strategy.

Here’s an excerpt.

Getting the Youngsters Involved

When we talk about Fortifying Your Family, this doesn’t only mean from a nutritional standpoint, although that is an extremely important part of the preparedness equation. Fortification in this sense is also about building trust, strengthening bonds, and more importantly fostering confidence. This applies to anyone in your life that you may be close to or choose to include in your familial unit, neighbors, in-laws, a spouse, and children for example.

Nutrient survival: ideas to get the family interested in preparation for emergencies

This article originally appeared on Nutrient Survival.

So, back to the question of “How can I get these people on board?” Start small with family walks in your neighborhood or at a nearby park. Ask questions about things you see, animals, plants, and things about the landscape that may not stand out immediately. My children and I created several games that they don’t realize are opportunities to build situational awareness and knowledge of their environment.  One game they love is to have a scavenger hunt with pictures for the little one and words for the budding reader. Include details like a red door, a garden hose, or out-of-state license plates; things that kids and adults may miss without a little guidance.

Now that the weather is turning warmer (at least in my neck of the woods), my workout buddy and I are hitting some early morning hikes. Not only are we strengthening our bodies, but we are also strengthening our bond through shared suffering and conversation.  This time together gives us the opportunity to reflect on our week, talk about our families, plans and other things happening in our lives. Who knew the simple act of carrying 30 pounds up and down a mountain would do so much to fortify our bond?

As the weather has continued to warm up and the sun has begun to rise a little earlier each day, we decided we should start bringing our kids along. I have two daughters and he has three, so we opted to only bring one child per parent for ease of control and for the mutual benefit of getting in one-on-one time with them.

Mission Dictates the Gear

To help the little ones feel like more of a part of the team, both five-year-olds carried their own backpack. The mission-critical contents did not weigh more than 3 pounds. We knew it was important to set the precedent of having them carry their own water, a little bit of food, and some common survival items a five-year-old would be able to use. The kids were never out of our line of sight and we both knew going into this it would be a slow rate of movement.

To counter the snail pace, we each carried more weight on our backs than usual to ensure a decent workout. As we started walking up the low-grade hill, my friend’s daughter started to get scared and worried about the climb in elevation. There wasn’t anything to really fear, but kids are kids. My daughter was the bigger help in this matter by grabbing her friend’s hand and leading her up the trail. She wasn’t afraid and she didn’t want her friend to be either.

Kids have a great way of helping each other if we instill it in them early.  By the time we reached the top, any fears had subsided.

Nutrient survival: ideas to get the family interested in preparation for emergencies

Your family fortification strategy should start early, if possible, and should be as inclusive as practicable.

Read the rest of Crown’s family fortification article in its entirety.

 

More Nutrient Survival Field Notes.

Read more by Alexander Crown, on Breach-Bang-Clear and elsewhere

 

tactical gear for kids
Tactical gear for tactical kids…

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2 Comments

  1. Chuck

    The color of your rain gear is dictated by whether you WANT to be found. I can envision circumstances where remaining hidden is your prime concern. In that case neon green really doesn’t match most foliage.

    I would point out that anywhere from 17% to 23%, depending upon which authority you consult, of the male population has some form of color blindness. For those who are red/green color blind as is a relative of mine, he can’t see international orange unless it is at bad breath distance and even then it is just a pale imitation of what he thinks it must be. He tells whether the red light or the green light is on by the brightness of the lamp and the position. You wouldn’t want to be wearing international orange and having him looking down into the forest for you.

    On the other hand dayglo yellow or green stand out as a really bight white and he can see the bright white spot clearly against darker greens or browns.

    Just something to consider when you are eying those ponchos and considering how visible they will be from a thousand feet.

    Color blindness is rarely considered which surprises me considering how many men suffer from that condition

    Reply
  2. PwNel

    Great! Love having the lightweight poncho/rain gear….however, as a SAR pilot I can’t emphasize enough how a bright red, orange, or neon green would help search crew locate folks on the ground. Consider a brightly colored poncho/rain jacket in the kit!

    Reply

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