Preparing an Emergency Go Bag for Kids

Teaching your kids about preparedness is a good life skill. One of the ways you can do this is by involving them in packing their own “Go Bags” in case of an emergency.

Teaching Kids About Preparedness

There are so many ways that an unexpected event might occur. Helping them prepare for the unexpected might just save your child’s life one day.

Now, I’ve had my fair share of friends who have made fun of me whenever I talk about prepping (I still love them though haha!) But with the pandemic, people now have a better understanding of the importance of prepping. See, we’re not totally crazy; these things really could happen!

For this post, we’ll be talking about curating a go bag (also known as Bug-Out Bag or Grab Bag) for children. True; a go bag, such as this one, doesn’t really prepare you for a pandemic emergency. But it does prepare you for many other kinds of emergencies, which are likely to happen anytime.

Preparedness as a Lifestyle

Teaching kids about being prepared shouldn’t be a one time thing. Here are some ways you can incorporate it as part of your lifestyle:

• Play situational games: Ask the kids casually how they would respond to certain situations so you can gauge their preparedness. It’s also a good opportunity to teach them proper safety protocols. Some questions you can ask: “What would you do if you get lost? What would you do if you feel the ground shaking? Where would you hide if there’s a bad person trying to break in the house?”
• Update your go bags regularly: Let the kids participate. We usually check ours every 4-6 months to make sure we don’t have expired food and meds and also to make sure the clothes still fit the kids.
• Hold surprise emergency drills: Sometimes, when Luke least expects it, I would hold emergency drills. Don’t do it too often though or else if there’s a real emergency, they might think it’s just a drill. Haha.

About this Go Bag

Important notes before we start:

• This Go Bag in particular is prepared specifically for my 5 year old.
• It is sufficient to last him for around 24 hours.
• It assumes that my kids will be with an adult with a complete Go Bag as well.
• With that said, we have also included certain items that can help him in the unlikely event that he should be separated from us.
• This bag is prepared for the event that we would need to leave home ASAP and escape to a safe place. (Example: An imminent volcanic eruption or earthquake forces us to evacuate immediately)
• It is not meant for long term bug-out.
• And as mentioned prior, it is also not meant as a go bag during a pandemic (For pandemics, as you probably already know, you just need to stay home!)

Contents of Our 5 year old Child’s Go Bag

• Extra set of clothes: Shirt, pants, underwear, socks. I told him that in case we need to make a mad dash out of the house, he should just grab his bag and wear his comfy rubber shoes immediately. He shouldn’t worry about wearing socks anymore. I placed socks on his bag so that he can just wear them when we are in transit already.
• Lifestraw: Used to filter water in case he runs out of bottled water.
• 2 bottles of water: Didn’t wanna put too much because it will be too heavy for him. But if you can add another bottle, that would be ideal.
• 2 Food Pouches: Must be easy open and ready-to-eat
• A pair of travel cutleries: Would change this to a spork when I get a chance to buy one. But for now, this travel toddler utensils will do. You can opt not to include this but I wanted to because I don’t want him using his hands, which could potentially cause more problems if he didn’t wash properly.
• 5 packs of cookies and snacks
• 2 vials of probiotics: The only medication I placed in his bag because it’s the only one he knows how to take on his own (just drink one vial for diarrhea.)
• Band-aids
• Disposable face mask: If you can get both a surgical AND an N95 facemask, better.
• Reusable face mask
• Toothbrush and small toothpaste: Also included some baby toothwipes only because we have a lot of these at home
• Tissue
• Wet Wipes: Get a small pack only so it’s not too heavy
• Alcohol Spray
• Paper and mini pen
• Crank flashlight: Ours is a multi-purpose one with a built-in radio. He doesn’t need the radio but until I find a small crank flashlight for him, this is what he gets. And since he has it already, I also taught him how to use the radio to listen for news. Haha.
• Whistle
• Toy: Something light and hopefully would keep him busy. I placed a reusable sticker book. I also gave him instructions to think now and pick out a small mini book to place in his bag, in the event that we need to run. He knows which book to grab if the time comes.
• Information card: Self-printed card with his face, name, birthdate, allergies if ever, names of parents and contact numbers to call. I also included his baby brother’s info card inside his backpack, just in case.
• Contact Number List: Includes parents’ numbers AND immediate family members, just in case parents can’t be reached.
• Recent Family Photo
• Documents: Copies of his birth certificate and passport, xerox of their immunisation records
• Cash: Make sure they are in small bills. Also, put them inside ziploc plastic bags to protect them from water.

Final Notes:

I am aware that this is not a very comprehensive list but this is what I think is most practical with my 5 year old son considering his needs and also skills.

In the future, I would add a compass, paracetamol and a small tube of ointment for his use. I’ll also put in tools like scissors and pocket knives. But for now, these items are in our adult go bags instead.

Lastly, and this is IMPORTANT: Make sure your child knows how to use every single item in the bag. And that he is part of the whole process (packing the items, etc.) We taught Luke how to use the crank radio/flashlight, how to use his Lifestraw, and more. It would be useless to have an item there that he won’t know how to use in the event of an emergency.

That’s it for now! Let me know if you have additional suggestions by leaving a comment below!

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