How to include your children in your prepping.

Children have a natural instinct of wanting to learn. Being a child is the best time to learn the necessity of always being prepared. Sure they may forget a few things here and there in the process but consistancy is key.

When you are consistent with a child the things they learn become second hand nature.

Weather you are preparing for a disaster or an economic collapse, children can sometimes be seen as a downfall. Another person to keep in mind. A setback. They , however can be more than just that.

Here at the homestead, as I had mentioned in our introduction, we have two children. One, who just turned six, and another who just turned one. Our six year old is like a sponge. She is constantly absorbing what she is taught and is at a critical stage in life where if fed the wrong information can easily be turned in the wrong direction. Our one year old is still a baby and is more focused on learning how to walk and feed himself.

Here are a few things we are doing with our children to teach them how to have a prepared mind set.

1. First they live with us and see how we operate. Some of the best skills are learned through observation. such as patience and persistence. If at first you don't succeed, try again.
2. We get our daughter involved with the handling our garden from seed to harvest. Each year she helps plant the seeds, water them, pick the produce, and process. No she is not doing the actual canning but she helps break the beans and gather the seeds.
3. We have started a B.O.B (bug out bag) for our children. When showing our daughter everything we add to the bag we explain why we are adding it and why it is important and how to use it.
4. We are teaching our daughter basic knots and how to tie them. It may not be pretty now, but over time they will become cleaner and a good skill to have such as when making snares.
5. I have shown our daughter how to sew small bits and pieces together. They may not make anything specific right now but she knows how to use the tools when they are handed to her.
6. Our daughter knows where there is smoke, there is usually a fire
7. If there is an emergency, such as a tornado, you head for the basement.
8. If there is a knock at the door you see who is there first, then get an adult. Never open the door to strangers.
9. We teach our children how to care for animals. We have a cat and a brood of newly acquired chickens. Even though we have few animals for the time being, our daughter has seen how to care for cats, dogs, horses, rabbits, and chickens by exposing her to animals other family member have.

Many people put a focus on making sure your children know their name, address, phone number, their parents names and how to dial 9-1-1. Those are good things to know, but, what good is it to know a phone number that is no longer accessible to call an emergency response team that is no longer available. Now days, people ship their children off to school and depend on the schools to teach them everything. Is it just me or has society become lazy in their ways. The best teachers can be the ones you are looking at in the mirror. All you have to do is incorporate them into anything you are trying to accomplish just as you would with any good plan.

For more information and tips on how to include your children in your prepping or if you have any suggestions feel free to e-mail us at thehomesteadjones@yahoo.com or leave a comment. Till next time, see you on the flip flop.