Winter Survival For Kids: What Your Children Should Know

When the temperatures drop and your kids want to be outside, you need to know how to dress and equip them. Every mom needs to know all about winter survival for kids. Here’s a list of skills and gear to get started.

Specific skills and knowledge I want them to have

The following list includes things that are important to me that my kids know. I’ve included some links to other Survival Mom articles which, while not specifically geared towards winter survival for kids, outline general survival principles that you can adapt to your child’s age and abilities.

• how to prepare for going out into winter weather
• what to do first if you ever feel you’re lost or in danger
• the four basics of survival: warmth, shelter, food, and water
• how to make it easy for rescuers to find them

Also, for circumstances where your children won’t be with you, impress on them the importance of letting an adult know where they are going and the approximate time they’ll return. The search begins faster and rescue occurs more quickly with this information.

Basic skills and knowledge like these can make the difference between a winter filled with icy fun and bright pink cheeks and noses and one with injuries and accidents.

Other important things about winter survival for kids

In addition to those specific skills and knowledge, I also want them to carry a survival kit and a survival mindset.

Pack a basic winter survival kit

When there’s a chance they’ll be out of my sight, say, when they’re skiing or tramping through the woods, I want them to have a small survival kit with them. Just in case.

Once kids are on their December break, putting together individual winter survival kits is a sure-fire activity to keep them occupied. They’re small enough to be carried in backpacks or fanny packs, and kids love having something important that is all their own.

Winter survival for kids is about more than just the survival kit, though. It’s also important to keep in mind that an essential piece of survival equipment is knowledge.  Make sure your kids know what to do with each item if they’re ever in an emergency situation. Here’s what you’ll need to make up these kits.

• a bright colored bandana or similar size cloth or a schemagh, which has many uses
• a whistle (This one blows 100 decibels!)
• a small, powerful flashlight or headlamp
• 2 hand-warmers and 2 toe-warmers
• 2 high-calorie energy bars (We reviewed “survival bars” in this article) or trail mix if the bars might freeze
• a small bottle of water (Once it’s empty, it can be filled with snow for more drinking water.)
• a lip balm
• a couple of bandaids
• a large black trash bag or survival blanket (use as an emergency blanket or shelter)
• a pocketknife
• a small packet of tissues (emergency toilet paper, runny noses, etc.)
• a large zip-lock bag or small nylon sack to store everything in

In no way is this meant to be provisions for long-term survival! It’s filled with just enough essential items to help a child signal for help and stay occupied until rescue arrives.

Additional items you might include for older kids

For older kids, you might add a firestarter, a few tablets of over-the-counter pain medication (in case there’s been an injury), and additional food and water.

You could also teach them to make an Altoids tin survival stove or a Buddy Burner. They’re fun projects that are surprisingly effective at providing short-term heat as well as being a makeshift stove.

Remember, though, that it’s critical kids also pack a survival mindset.

Mindset is the most important skill

Survival isn’t about gear and gadgets, ultimately. For all of us, from children through mature adults, it really is about common sense and making good decisions. One way to nurture that mindset during the winter months is to model those thought processes aloud.

Modeling common sense and good decision-making for survival situations

Here’s an example of how to do this.

If reading a story about a wild animal trapped in an icy pond, you might say, “That’s a scary situation. I’ll bet that little deer was afraid, but look how the rescuers are being so careful not to fall on the ice. If they fall in, they won’t be able to rescue the deer. It’s a good thing they didn’t just rush right out onto the ice.”

If I first asked my own kids, “What would you do if you saw that a deer had fallen into a pond covered with ice?”, my soft-hearted kids would almost certainly respond, “I’d run right out and get it!” But when I model a more common sense and less emotional decision, I’m teaching them to do the same.

Following this discussion, I could then ask, “So what’s the smartest way to help a person or an animal who has fallen through the ice?” Notice I’m emphasizing the word, “smartest” and again, rehearsing this scenario as modeled by an adult will guide a youngster toward decisions that are far more likely to result in survival.

Using stories in the news and from children’s literature are excellent ways to do this without raising fear levels needlessly. Do this for all sorts of situations not just situations dealing with winter survival for kids.

Sometimes parents have to be sneaky in order to teach their kids what they must know. Now that winter is in full swing, take advantage of the colder weather to teach important survival skills your kids will never forget.

What’s important to you about winter survival for kids?