As parents, we want to protect our children from harm. It’s why we are here. So we diligently prepare for possible emergencies, and we do our very best to educate ourselves on how to survive them.

This is why I’m here today.

In today’s article, I thought it would be a great idea to have a go-to guide for some survival skills to teach your kids. With the current skills gap in our youth today, why not incorporate some basic teachings that will help keep your children safe.

Not only will these survival skills keep them safe, you will be displaying a positive influence for their love for the outdoors.

 

 

Without further ado, let’s jump into the article!

 

For more information on outdoor safety for kids, please check out https://www.survivalschool.us

 

 

 

5 Basic Survival Skills to Teach Your Kids

 

 

 

#1. Starting a Fire.

 

 

Knowing how to start a fire can be essential to survive in the wilderness for a few reasons.

A fire provides warmth, it offers a way to cook food and purify water, and it helps rescuers find your location.

Not only is it important to know why we need a fire, but what we need to look for beforehand. Also, it’s important that we teach our kids how to find a good spot away from the wind to start a fire and then how to find kindling.

Furthermore, explain that logs that are dead and dry will fuel a fire well. Demonstrate how to lay one end of a log on top of another so that you get the desired air flow helping the fire to burn.

 

 

#2. Building a Shelter.

 

 

Shelter building can be a lot of fun for children, especially if you make it fun for them.

Simple leaf hunts and lean-tos are easy to build, and the kids can use it as a fort when you’re done. If you teach them to build the frame in a sturdy manner, and insulate the walls with thick vegetation, their shelter will help your children survive.

Also, it’s important to teach your kids that this will be a camouflaged shelter, so they will need a way of making it more visible. A bright strip of cloth or clothing to drape over it works well.

 

Finding Safe Drinking Water is a Must.

 

#3. Find Safe Water.

Humans can go quite a while without food. Water is another story. We cannot go long without it.

Your child should know ways to not only find water but how to make it safe to drink. We need it, but we can’t drink contaminated water without getting sick or dying.

Something as simple as a life straw in their pack could be a great addition. Also teach them other methods, such as boiling over the hot fire.

Rainwater collected in leaves or other containers is the best bet. Teaching them to look downhill where water naturally runs is the best way to find it other than rainwater.

Teaching your kids how to be resourceful when it comes to locating water should never be overlooked.

 

 

#4. Know Knife Maintenance and Safety.

 

 

When you assign your child to a knife or gift them one as their own, you need to teach them how to take care of it. A knife without maintenance becomes useless fairly quickly.

It’s a good idea to spend a couple of hours going over basic cleaning and sharpening techniques. Nonetheless, sharpening knives is a skill all outdoors people should have. It’s usually just a task we do while preparing for a hunting or fishing trip, or working in the shop some evening.

Demonstrate the basics of knife sharpening in the woods when you’re in a pinch or in the shop when you need a sharper blade for butchering. Start with knives you don’t care as much about.

 

 

#5. Teaching them Situational Awareness.

Here is a survival skill that should never be overlooked and that is situational awareness. I would start out by regularly pointing out landmarks and creating family meeting places when you’re together.

These landmarks are good to point to when you’re walking to school, visiting an amusement park for the day, at the mall, or on a hike in the wilderness. By pointing out items casually with your child they will subconsciously become more aware of their surroundings.

 

 

Thoughts & Takeaways

And that wraps things up for today. These are 5 survival skills that not only can keep your child safe, it also helps us as parents realize that it’s good to have a refresher too. I hope you found this article to be helpful today. Please share some of the survival skills that you like to teach your children in the comment section below.

 

 

 

-CT