In this article, I will go over 18 survival skills your kid should know ASAP.
Survival skills are basically skills that help you survive, often with the natural environment. These skills can help you and your child to survive horrid disasters.
Survival skills are rarely considered for children, in our convenience-centered society.
However, if a situation came up in which these skills were needed, it’d be too late. You don’t know when survival skills can come in handy for your kid. Maybe you don’t know much about survival skills. That’s okay. You and your children can both still learn together!
You can turn outdoor adventures into learning centers for your children!
By teaching your children survival skills, you’ll boost their understanding and morale! Don’t you feel better after learning something new? So do your children.
Let’s dive in.
In This Article
- 1. S.T.O.P
- 2. Trust Rescuers
- 3. Carry a Survival Kit
- 4. How to Build a Fire
- 5. How to Prevent and Survive Dangerous Animals
- 6. How to Find and Purify Water
- 7. How to Make and Find Shelter
- 8. How to Do First Aid Right
- 9. How to Use a Compass and Map
- 10. Basic Self-defense
- 11. How to Grow Your Food
- 12. How to Preserve Food
- 13. How to Forage
- 14. How to Identify Food Spoilage
- 15. Basic Sewing
- 16. Fitness
- 17. Self-Awareness
- 18. Positivity
- Closing Thoughts
1. S.T.O.P
This is a barebones fundamental for an emergency situations.
What do you think your kid would do if you are apart for an extended period of time? For instance, when on a family camping trip, your child gets lost in the middle of nowhere. Do you believe your child will panic and run about aimlessly?
You should show your kid how to S.T.O.P. if you don’t want that to happen. It’s an abbreviation for something really significant.
- Stop when you think you are lost.
- Think about your situation.
- Observe your environment.
- Plan what to do.
Always have a strategy in place if you go anywhere where you could get separated from your children. This can also happen when taking your child or children to busy places.
2. Trust Rescuers
Clarify the children that if they are in an emergency condition, the persons who are shouting their names are attempting to assist them.
Show them what firefighters, law enforcement agents, and experienced trackers look like in their different uniforms. They may also be familiar with search and rescue dogs, as they are often used to assist with the recovery of children in emergencies.
Your child should be aware that qualified K-9 rescue teams are always called upon during an emergency. The CIA also has a forum dedicated to several K-9 heroes.
You should read some news stories about this to inform yourself on this matter.
3. Carry a Survival Kit
Children are more vulnerable to hypothermia than adults, which happens when the body temperature falls below 95 degrees.
Their small bodies cool down faster than adults’, particularly at night or after getting wet. Make sure they have extra clothes for any outdoor adventure into the wild. And on a hot day, they can wear some insulating fabrics and carry a backpack that suits their size.
Packing extra clothes is necessary before going on a day hike with your children because a brief jaunt through the woods is when you’re more likely to get lost.
Day hikers are responsible for 90 percent of all search-and-rescues within the park, according to Great Smoky Mountain National Park’s Andrew Herrington, a safety coach interviewed by National Geographic. They account for 42% of all search and rescue cases nationally.
When spending time in nature, you and your children should still bear the following survival tools:
- Bad whether backup clothes, such as a long-sleeved thermal shirt, gloves, a warm beanie, a pair of trousers, and a compressible puffy jacket for protection, can be stored in a large plastic bag or dry bag to ensure that they remain dry even if submerged in water.
- A water filter that is easy to use, such as the LifeStraw.
- A thermal blanket made of mylar Bars that serve food (that they actually like to eat)
- A family picture, a doll, or a little stuffed animal may offer psychological relief.
- Sunscreen, SPF 70 or higher.
- Pocket first aid kit.
- An emergency whistle.
- To keep safe in the rain, use a child-sized rain poncho, rain cover, or garbage bag.
- A fresh-battery flashlight or headlamp.
4. How to Build a Fire
If your child is alone in the middle of nowhere and freezing outside, making a fire to stay warm is important. Teach them how to make and be around a fire safely. As soon as the sun goes down, the temperature in the mountains will drop from comfortable to below zero.
Teach them about their surroundings. It is preferable to calm down early and start a fire, rather than being lost in the dark and freezing with no way to make one.
Here are 7 ways to start a fire in the wild.
5. How to Prevent and Survive Dangerous Animals
People in towns and other densely inhabited areas don’t give any thought to wild animals. Nonetheless, they pose a genuine challenge.
Wildlife is a real challenge in the wilderness.
Is your kid aware of what to do if they come into contact with a bear, mountain lion, or a swarm of coyotes?
Determine the wildlife in your town, then teach your child how to prevent coming in contact with them and what to do if they come into contact with them. It may literally mean the difference between life and death.
Here is exactly how to prevent and survival animal attacks.
6. How to Find and Purify Water
Humans can last for extended periods of time without food. Water, on the other hand, is a different story. We won’t be able to do without it for long. Your child should know not only where to find water, but also how to keep it safe to drink.
We need it, but we cannot drink dirty water without becoming ill or dying. A simple Lifestraw in their pack may be a perfect addition. Teach them other techniques, such as boiling over a hot pit.
Here is how to find water in the wild and how to filter and purify water in the wild.
7. How to Make and Find Shelter
Shelter is more than just for a people’s comfort; it is critical. It should be a top priority to stay out of bad weather. Teach your children how to make the most of their natural surroundings.
Teach them how to build a lean-to with rocks. Using tree branches as a makeshift shield from the storm. Stay cool by placing yourself in the shade.
A hidden cave or alcove (after they’ve searched for wildlife), or instructions on how to build a snow shelter. Both of these abilities can protect them from full exposure to the weather.
It will keep them warm, calm, and dry if they know how to use what their environment has provided them with.
8. How to Do First Aid Right
Knowing how to provide proper first aid is an essential life ability that everyone should have.
As a result, your child must learn these skills as early as possible. If you’ve ever heard stories of small children saving their parents’ lives when they learned how to administer basic first aid, you’ll understand that you should teach your child basic first aid.
You should never underestimate the importance of teaching your child proper first aid as a parent. Your child will not only save their lives but also yours.
Here is a military medic’s guide to first aid.
9. How to Use a Compass and Map
Knowing how to decide directions is another crucial ability that any parent can instill in their kids. When you child gets lost, your child may need to know where he/she is to know where to go.
Knowing how to determine the correct direction could mean the difference between your children going missing and being identified. Knowing how to use a compass and map properly is one of the best ways to decide the direction in the wild and the urban areas too.
This is exactly how to read a compass.
10. Basic Self-defense
Self-defense is something you must to teach your kids. Self-defense is a survival ability that is essential not just for your child’s protection but also for his or her well-being.
While learning self-defense takes time, teaching it to your child can be extremely rewarding. You’ll probably have a good time showing your child how to protect him or herself if your kid ever finds him or herslef in a risky situation.
11. How to Grow Your Food
Growing a vegetable garden is enjoyable! It serves tasty and nutritious food. Kids should have a clear understanding of how to cultivate a small garden.
Start growing your own delicious veggies and fruits with your kids. From seed to table, teach your children alongside you. If there were no more grocery shops, people would need to know how to garden just to survive.
Simply begin one, have fun doing it, allow them to learn something different, and allow them to enjoy the beauty of life and the fruits of their work.
Here is the mega guide to gardening for preppers.
12. How to Preserve Food
It’s crucial to understand how to preserve food. You can’t eat your food all at once and you’ll need to understand that most food spoils fast. Long-term food preparation skills come in handy here. Your children must understand the fundamentals of food preservation to be prepared for food shortages.
Primitive forms of preservation are also essential. If they are in the desert or the power supply is down, energy will not be present unless you have a generator. Be it sun dehydration, fire canning, smoking, salt curing, or some other primitive form of preservation. You should teach them how to prepare and preserve food with and without technology.
13. How to Forage
Many useful plants are now called weeds in today’s society. Several of these, however, are both healthy and nutritious. Almost all edible plants have medicinal properties. It is important to teach your child how to recognize those edible species.
You should show your child those plants in your neighborhood or on a local hike if you find any. This ability could come in handy if your child becomes lost in the desert.
Here are 11 plants that are edible & nutritious for survival.
14. How to Identify Food Spoilage
Eating rotten food can give you a memorable experience – and not in a good way. Make an effort to learn how to detect spoiled food and toss it out.
Your child should always be able to tell if food has gone bad. If mold is rising all over it, it’s generally a good idea to throw it out and find food elsewhere.
Here is how to tell if your food has gone bad + tips on how to prevent it.
15. Basic Sewing
Sewing is another useful ability that you can teach your child. If your children know how to knit, they could probably repair their own clothing. Teach your children how to use a needle. This will allow them to patch tents and tarps while camping as well.
This ability can come in handy if you go camping with your kids and are unable to patch the tents. They’ll be able to lend a hand if they know how to sew.
16. Fitness
The typical American is getting more obese then ever – this is an obesity crisis. Do you want your children to suffer obesity or health issues? If not, teach your kid how to eat healthily and exercise more. That garden I mentioned earlier will assist you with this!
It will expose them to new foods while also assisting them in staying fit. Going outside instead of staying inside and staring at a laptop all day would also help. If they are not in peak condition and a survival situation arises, they may not be able to make it if they’re unfit.
17. Self-Awareness
If your kids are mindful of their surroundings, they would be best able to deal with or escape circumstances that might endanger them.
If you teach your child what he or she can look out for in various situations, he or she will always be prepared to respond. One ability you should work on is listening, as well as being alert to detect potentially dangerous situations.
18. Positivity
I don’t know about you, but when I get into a rut, it affects the rest of my day in a bad way. Negativity will jeopardize one’s chances of survival and pretty much everything else.
Your child must learn to stay calm and keep an optimistic. A can-do attitude is essential in emergencies. They must know how to do this regardless of the circumstances. Teaching them positivity could save their life.
Closing Thoughts
Teaching your children survival skills at an early age will not only teach them to overcome difficult obstacles they’ll face in real life, it’ll help improve their quality of life substantially as well.
The 18 survival skills your child should know, as discussed above, are critical. It is also enjoyable to teach these skills to your children. You should begin educating your children now so that you will have peace of mind ensuring that they will be able to remain healthy no matter what happens.
Should this be all the survival skills you teach your children? Probably not. You should aspire to learn more with your kid. That is why we made this website! Go check out the linked resources and search what you want to learn in our search bar above.
This is a fantastic list of abilities to have. I am not the parent of any tiny children. Even if my children have grown up, they still need to know these things. Thank you for providing this information. You’ve given us all something to ponder.
Great information
Thanks. Good concise article. Taught our kids in the 80’s and 90’s. Hunting, hiking and camping. Now our grandkids are in our sights. Forwarding to parents
Amazing. I’m glad you liked the article!