Using emergency preparedness lesson plans and activities can help keep your family safe during trying times. Our emergency preparedness for kids includes games, disaster lessons, simulations and game ideas, disaster printables and worksheets, and more—helpful whether you’re looking for disaster preparedness activities for students, emergency preparedness activities for preschoolers, emergency preparedness games for scouts, or you’re just starting your family emergency prep plan and looking for how to create emergency bags for family.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS LESSON PLANS AND ACTIVITIES FOR YOUTH AND FAMILY
Adding emergency prep lessons to your learning can help kids remain calm during tough times. It can also help kids with problem solving, teamwork, creativity, leadership, and even communication during emergencies.
How do you teach emergency preparedness?
Tips for teaching your child what to do in an emergency:
- Talk to your kids in a calm way about prepping for weather and disasters. (Remember, emergency for kids can be super scary!)
- Review a wide range of emergency situations: earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, ice storms, fires, hazardous material spills, stranger danger, and other unexpected emergencies.
- Discuss different emergency scenarios for students and how to handle them.
- Break down emergency preparedness lessons for kids into smaller lessons or short prepping activities. Don’t spend a 12-hour day talking to kids about emergency situations. It’s just too much for young brains!
- Cover what to do before, during, and after different types of emergencies. Make a family emergency preparedness plan before during and after.
- Use educational videos and open discussion to help calm fears.
- Add drills as part of your emergency preparedness activity ideas can help kids understand exactly what to do in an emergency and confidently develop the skills they need.
- Get everyone involved in building an emergency supply kit, whether it be a 72 hour bag for home, an emergency car kit, or even an emergency bag for school or co-op.
- Use printables as part of your emergency preparedness lesson plans to reinforce what kids have learned, especially for younger kids.
- Print out the FEMA Prep Checklist or the Red Cross Emergency Preparedness Checklist and go through it with your kids.
(Keep scrolling for the full emergency preparedness lesson plans, activity ideas, emergency preparedness books for kids, and even fun games for teaching emergency preparedness!)
OK! Let’s get to our emergency preparedness activities for students, homeschoolers, and families!
Lessons and Activities To Teach Emergency Preparedness
Create an emergency lesson plan template using different learning tools and activities from this mostly free emergency prepping lessons list. Use these ideas for a variety of youth disaster preparedness groups!
Emergency Prep Lesson Plans for Kids
- Review different disasters and facts
- Print fun and free emergency preparedness activity sheets
- Do emergency situations worksheets (get free disaster preparedness worksheets printables here)
- Watch a short emergency prep video for kids
- Download a free disaster prepping Mickey & Friends Activity Book from Red Cross
- Get a free printable Prepare With Pedro activity book emergency prep download for kids
- Download Student Tools for Emergency Planning (STEP CURRICULUM)
- Get free Youth Emergency Preparedness Curriculum for Grades 1-12 (broken down by grade level)
- Print a free Kids’ Emergency Preparedness Activity guide download book
- Download the Student Tools for Emergency Planning Teacher’s Guide
- Get a free Here For Each Other emergency guide from Sesame Street (great for emergency preparedness activities for preschool and kindergarten!)
- Download a free preschool emergency prep lessons book (5 short emergency preparedness lessons for preschoolers)
- Have a disaster prep pep rally for students, homeschool co-op or even your family and friend group (FREE GUIDES: Grades K-2; Grades 3-5)
- Have a Preparedness Camp for Kids
- Download free printable disaster flashcards
- Learn about the science of earthquakes
- Print out a free disaster coloring book from FEMA
- Download a free natural disasters puzzle activity book for grades K-5
- Watch how to prepare for emergencies from Sesame Street
- Download a Let’s Pack An Emergency Kit printable from Sesame Street
- Watch a kids’ video on Emergency Helpers and First Responders
- Print Ready! Set! Prepare! kids preparing and activity book
- Complete an online quiz to test your knowledge of weather
- Download a free PDF book for kids on preparing (Grades K-2; Grades 3-6)
- Get lesson ideas for weather
Games To Teach Emergency Preparedness
If there’s a fun way to prepare kids and families for disasters, it’s with games.Prepping games add a lighter level to a serious topic, but still help with kids’ emergency preparedness.
This list includes natural disaster games online as well as simulation games you can. print out and play.
- Play the Ready 2 Help game
- Help the heroes with the Disaster Master Game
- Show Gayle how to create a disaster bag with the Build A Kit Game
- Play the STOP DISASTERS! game online
- Download and play the Mapping Natural Disasters games and activities
- Print and play the Disaster Lights Out game for natural disaster simulation games
- Learn about tornadoes by playing with a tornado simulator game
- Learn about hurricanes with a hurricane simulation game
Emergency Preparedness Children’s Books
Add these weather, prepping, and disaster kids’ books to your emergency lesson plans:
- Extreme Weather: Surviving Tornadoes, Sandstorms, Hailstorms, Blizzards, Hurricanes, and More!
- What Happens During an Emergency? Emergency Book for Kids
- What To Do When You’re Scared and Worried
- National Geographic Kids Everything Weather: Facts, Photos, and Fun that Will Blow You Away
- Playful Preparedness: Prepare Your Children-For Life! 26 Games for Teaching Situational Awareness and the Survival Mindset
Emergency Preparedness Activities for Kids and Family
- Print off the Red Cross Emergency Preparedness Checklist or FEMA Emergency Preparedness Checklist and review it with kids
- Make your own family disaster plan (if you have littles, download this disaster plan printable from Sesame Street)
- Download the free printable Family Communication Plan for disasters
- Print out and complete this free family communication cards download printables
- Watch a video on emergency kits and then Learn how to pack a 72 hour bag for all ages
- Create a snow day survival kit to help keep kids calm during winter storms
- Live in a hurricane area? Review hurricane preparedness here
- Learn how to create a fire evacuation plan and learn how to conduct emergency prep drills with kids
- Help kids create a home inventory of important items
- Print I Know My Address And Phone Number Printable for practice in case you get separated from young kids during emergencies
- Talk about what will make kids feel better during emergencies and then watch the Furry Fuzzy Hugs online book from Sesame Street to
- Get a FREE Coping Skills Worksheet to help kids through emergencies
Emergency preparedness lesson plans and activities on preparedness are important learning tools for kids!
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