Prepping for Survival with Your Children: Here’s What You Need

family hiking and in the field

The following tips come from an author who has an interesting take about “bugging in” in case there is a disaster. He has a two-year-old and a ten-year-old. Take a look:

Your level of preparedness will determine a lot about how to prepare stuff for your children. I am going to base most of this off of my plans which are to bug in. However, I will offer some input on bugging out with kids. We plan on a three-month bug in. That is three solid months of not going outside. This obviously depends on planting seasons and the threats in our area. My boys like being active so this plan presents a multitude of problems. Here is a list of simple things I have gathered for a two and ten-year old to occupy their time.

•A stack of coloring , word search, maze and other entertainment books.
•Three boxes of crayons.
•Two boxes of colored pencils.
•A case of blank, white paper.
•Several spiral notebooks.
•At least ten different board games.
•Playing cards and other card games.

This stuff is all that I have packed away in my supplies. My sons have other things to play with but I want them to also have brand new stuff to entertain them during our three months.

You can’t just rely on coloring and card games to entertain kids though. Kids will go crazy if they are expected to suddenly go from video games and TV shows to coloring books. I picked up an older pocket DVD player at a pawn shop. It works great on my rechargeable batteries and I have a solar-powered charger that I can charge my batteries with. We have headphones and splitter. This allows them both to quietly watch a movie when the power is off. Normally they don’t like the same movies but we always work it out. This way my sons can still enjoy some form of electronic entertainment, even if we have to bug out.

What about security?
I can not and would not expect my ten-year old to stand guard for any longer than it takes for me to use the bathroom or change a diaper. The only way I can think to provide security at night, while traveling, is to use traps. I have one of those tripwire traps that will trigger a shotgun shell. I plan on relying on this and some 550 cord with a couple bells attached. I fully realize that this is a poor nighttime defense but it’s my last resort for traveling with just my children.

Besides keeping them entertained, make sure they have chores. Keep them busy with elementary projects, some food prep, guarding supplies or – if you have a pet – taking charge of your pet, keeping him healthy and also protecting him.

It’s also a good idea to prep your children in case the “bugging-in” becomes a “bug-out” situation. If you have a camp ready for you and the family long walks may be involved so be certain they have durable shoes and are up to the task of a lot of walking.

Go over to The Prepper Journal for more invaluable information about your children during a crisis situation.


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