It is just as important to teach survival skills to your children as it is to learn them for yourself. We recommend practicing and learning these skills together as a family. Here are some practical and basic survival skills that we think you should teach your kids:
Basic Survival
- Trust your instincts
- Develop situational awareness
- Think ahead and always have a plan.
- Be able to run and walk a good distance; be in generally good shape
- Dress appropriately for weather conditions
Food and Water
- Find water and identify if it’s safe to drink
- Learn to filter and boil water to drink
- Open canned food with and without can opener (rub can lid ridge on cement and then pry open with knife)
- Know multiple ways to prepare food
- Identify if food is too spoiled to eat
Health and First Aid
- When to call 911, know what to say
- First aid – start with basic first aid, work up to CPR, wilderness first aid and even EMT for older youth
- Learn how to assist an injured or otherwise handicapped person
- Survival sanitation
- Basic hygiene practices – and how it differs from survival sanitation
Survival Skills
- Find or build a shelter using whatever is available to you
- Swimming and floating
- Safely use a knife
- Keep a blade tool clean and sharp
- Sew enough to mend clothing and make simple items such as bags or scrap quilts.
