Teaching Kids Survival Skills for the Outdoors

Key Highlights

• Encourage your kids to enjoy nature and help them learn basic wilderness survival skills.
• Outdoor skills can help instill valuable life skills as well including resourcefulness and adaptability, which can ultimately boost self-esteem.
• Create a fun learning experience for your kids to enjoy outdoor activities.
• Be the first to demonstrate the skills necessary to survive outdoors.
• Focus on safety but make sure everyone gets to create great memories.

Introduction

With the prevalence of technology in the contemporary world, children have become more sheltered in their homes, always spending time indoors and fiddling with their gadgets. 

Consequently, they spend less time outside which prevents them from picking up essential life skills that can help them survive outdoors. Aside from survival, these skills can also improve problem-solving skills and ultimately boost their confidence, if taught properly.

Moreover, teaching survival skills to children can help them better navigate the outside world, which should help them connect and feel close to nature. These connections with nature and outdoors can foster resourcefulness and independence, which are skills necessary not only to survive the outside world but life in general.

Essential Kids Survival Skills to Teach the Youth of Today

As adults, we have to uphold our duty of instilling surviving skills to the next generation. Several settings can be used, although going directly to the wild remains the best option as it immerses your children to what an outdoor adventure feels like. It may also ignite an interest for them to explore the outside world.

Nonetheless, several outdoor activities can be utilized to teach practical skills to your children. We suggest, however, to prioritize making fun memories and let the education happen naturally as instructions and demonstrations come along with your adventures.

1. Navigate Outdoors with Traditional Map and Compass

While children might think that navigating outdoors would not be any problem considering the prevalence of digital maps and directions, they must remember that gadgets will not always be available.

From signal loss to dead battery, they must not be complacent and become reliant on their gadgets. As such, we should teach them how to find their ways using a traditional map and a compass.

Firstly, we should say that the pointer of the compass always indicates where the direction of the north is. Secondly, demonstrate map reading and lining up the north directions of the map and compass.

Lastly, show how to find the directions by sticking a branch to the ground and using its shadow to identify the east and the west. This should tell you where the north is and then ultimately help in navigating the map with the compass.

2. Constructing a Tent from Natural Resources

Shelter remains one of the basic needs for us to survive. However, knowing how to build one from scratch will better improve your child’s survival skills as it teaches resourcefulness and adaptability. 

When teaching how to build shelters, it is important to discuss first the types that you can easily make from scratch, such as the A-frame, and how well they perform in different weather conditions.

Next, discuss the different materials that they can use to make a durable and efficient outdoor shelter. Start with strong branches, which will serve as the foundation and skeleton of the structure. 

Next, teach them how to collect foliage as it will be the roof and the flooring of the shelter. Lastly, show them how to find strong vines and how to carefully tie them on the branches and the foliage to hold the materials together.

Educating them on how to pick the efficient locations of where to build the shelter also comes in handy. Such that they should pick locations that are close to the water but also high enough that it doesn’t get flooded when the rain pours.

3. Foraging for Edible Plants

Searching for foods in the wild requires a deep mastery of knowing which are edible and non-edible based solely on its looks and where it sprouts. That is why before you venture outdoors, it’s important to learn how to identify safe foods from unsafe ones.

 You can purchase books that discuss the different characteristics of plants in the wild or simply look for trustworthy websites that convey the same ideas. 

Make sure that what you read discuss important details, especially the leaf shape, leaf or body color, and its smell. Similarly, tell them to avoid plants that have unpleasant odor and strange-looking and not gamble for their edibility.

4. Purifying Water for Safe Drinking

Aside from food, it’s also important to search for safe water sources as it will be the main source of drinking water. Of course, you should instruct your kids not to drink directly from streams of water. 

Furthermore, tell them to avoid still water as they are more likely stagnant waters, which are homes to many pathogens. Similarly, they should stay away from dirty waters or those with unpleasant surroundings.

The safest option is clear running waters. The best way to purify them, however, is boiling them in a metal container over a fire since it will kill most of the microorganisms that can cause illness. However, in some cases that some debris or dust remains in the water, it is important to run them to a water bottle filter.

5. Basic First Aid Treatment and Emergency Responses

Aside from gathering food and water, it’s also important that your children learn how to do basic first aid. After all, it helps them handle emergency situations responsibly. As such, they should always have a good first aid kit that they can use, which should include items like bandages, antiseptic wipes, pain relievers, and insect repellant.

With the first aid kit prepared, you should then move on to teaching how to handle wounds and cuts and how to clean them to avoid infections. You should also explain how different medicines must be used so they don’t abuse it in unnecessary situations.

Aside from the technical side of the procedure, you should also encourage them to stay calm and remain attentive to their surroundings.

6. Tool Crafting with Natural Materials

As mentioned several times already in this article, surviving the wild requires resourcefulness and adaptability. As such, it’s important that your child is ready to craft basic tools that can enable his activities in the wild. 

Enable your kids to perceive nature as a natural toolbox, where they can get sticks to dig, rocks as a hammer or a sharpener, and other materials that they can use for various means.

7. Leaning Basic Help Signals

Knowing how to ask for help also comes in handy as it drastically improves your kids’ chances of surviving and getting rescued when they get stranded in the wild. International distress signal remains the best help signal to learn as most response teams also know how it works. 

The International Distress Signal uses three indications, which could be three fires, three whistles, three flashes of light, or even three flares.

Teach them how to properly spread these signals so they can easily be found. Open locations not buried in the trees or a top of a hill remains the best option as it allows better visibility for the rescuers. As for the whistle, tell them to only use them in the dusk but not deep in the night to conserve energy.

8. Campfire Making Techniques

Making fire in the wild remains an essential activity as well, as it’s the only source of warmth your child can have when exploring outdoors, especially during the night. Teaching them fire making techniques not only teaches them about friction, heat, and combustion, but also how to value practice and patience.

Before you start talking about how to make fire, however, you should teach them first about fire hazards and safety measures. Explain properly the risks involved in starting the fire and once you are confident about their understanding, proceed with your instructions.

Firstly, when starting a fire, make sure that there is a water source close by. This increases the chance of extinguishing the fire in case it breaks out. Several techniques can be used to start a fire including the following:

• Hand Drill – it uses a wooden stick that you spin on top of a flat wood. Make sure that you push the wood down while you spin it as it causes friction and should cause a combustion.
• Bow Drill – while hand drill uses your bare hands, the bow drill uses a bow and a socket. With the socket, you push the stick more to the board while the bow helps you spin the stick faster.

9. Utilizing Different Types of Knot

Learning how to tie knots can help your kid in various contexts, including improving the security of their equipment and strengthening the foundation of their shelters. Like fire making techniques, knot tying helps develop patience while also improving your child’s dexterity.

However, it’s important to learn the basic and more utilized knots, especially the overhand, square, and the close hitch. Each knot has their own purpose, so make sure to discuss that as well. You should teach them as well on how to properly tie the knot tightly so they don’t affect the rope strength.

10. Weather Prediction Using Natural Signs

While they can use their smartphones with weather apps to predict the weather, you should still teach them natural weather signs that they can utilize. After all, their smartphones will not always be present.

For one, it’s important to be knowledgeable of the different cloud types as they are the visual indication of what the weather will be for the day. The gust of wind also changes depending on the cloud type so they can use it to reaffirm their prediction. They can also utilize animal behavior, such as birds flying away often indicating an upcoming rainfall.

Knowing these indications can help them make good choices about their outdoor activities and help them be better prepared when they are in the wild.

Outdoor Activities to Instill Survival in Your Kids

With all the preparations ready, it’s time for you to set your family’s foot outside. However, we don’t advise going straight to the wilderness as it will be your kids’ first adventure. As such, we suggest some soft activities that you can conduct which should still achieve the same results of educating your family of the essential survival skills.

1.   Backyard Camping

Doing a camping simulation in your own backyard remains the best activity to teach outdoors skill for your children. It can also serve as their gateway to outdoor adventure if done correctly. However the skills that you can teach remains limited, as you most likely cannot demonstrate foraging edible plants and water purification methods, you can still teach map navigation, basic knot tying, and help signals.

You can also teach your older kids how to observe the sky to predict the weather, assuming that you can clearly see clouds in your backyard. You may attempt to demonstrate fire making techniques, although preparation must be made to prevent fire hazards.

However, you can still teach constructing shelter and tool crafting with natural materials through a backyard survival challenge, although you would need to provide the materials your children would use to conduct the activity.

2.   Family Camping Trip

If you sense that your family is now ready for an actual camping adventure, then it’s finally time to organize the outdoor adventure. Such camping trips can help your children better practice their survival skills outdoors.

However, picking the appropriate campground can impose a challenge. For one, you should find a family-friendly campsite to keep everyone safe. Some campsites already have established tables, campfire spots, and even restrooms to ensure that families have a comfortable stay.

More importantly, make sure that you go over the listed skills above and other reminders posted, such as the preparation of survival kits and proper camping gears. You should also learn how to demonstrate the necessary characters to instill the value of remaining calm and thinking clearly during rough times, so your children can pick up such qualities.

As you camp, invite your family to explore the site to see what surrounds you. Show them how to find animal tracks, gather firewood, and use a compass. At night, come together around the campfire to share stories, look at the stars, and remember your adventures. These moments will create lasting memories and make your family connections stronger.

Important Reminders During Outdoor Adventures

While outdoor adventure remains a fun activity with lots of great experiences to learn from, it should come to no surprise that safety sits at the core of the essential skills listed above. As such, when initiating an outdoor adventure, as adults, we should be more prepared than our children. Let’s research about the area we seek to venture into, understand the things that impose dangers to our family, weather, wildlife, or geography alike.

Let’s take measures and mark the paths we take to ensure that we can safely go back. Prepare the proper gear and wear appropriate clothes so we can easily move around. Plan our trips properly. More importantly, let us make sure that our adventure with our family becomes an eventful and fun experience for everyone.

Bring Proper Gears and a Survival Kit

To better emphasize the need to be prepared before going on an adventure, we should demonstrate such preparedness towards our kids. As such, it’s important that we have proper gears and survival tools at our disposal. After all, this can help us in emergencies and gives us a lot of areas to work with.

In preparing your survival kit, make sure you involve your family so they also get informed of things they have to prepare if they decide to venture on their own. Discuss which items you need to improve survival, which include the compass, map, first aid kit, signaling tools like whistle and flashlight, water purification tablets and water filters, and consumables.

Keep the survival kit compact so you can easily grab it as you respond to emergency situations. And before going out, check the conditions of the items and ensure that they are functional.

Demonstrate Calmness and Attentiveness

Panic remains a major enemy during any survival situation. After all, it leads to rush decisions and tunnel-visions that make problem-solving procedures a lot harder. As such, it’s important to teach your children how to remain calm and attentive during tough situations. The best way to do it, however, is demonstrating such skills during your adventures.

• When you venture with your family, make sure that you respond keenly when something messes up. Show them the importance of taking deep breaths, to remain calm. Rather than simply reminding them that panicking does not help, demonstrate to them the value of remaining calm and thinking clearly to respond to unexpected situations. It’s important that you emphasize how you focus on things that you can control such as your actions and feelings, rather than lamenting over unexpected situations.

Conclusion

Teaching essential survival skills not only prepares them as they venture the great outdoors but also helps them develop as a person. When kids develop self-autonomy through activities like shelter building, finding resources, and surviving, they gain independence, which ultimately boost their self-esteem.

Activities like camping can help instill these survival skills, but more importantly it allows them to gain insights on how fun and exciting nature time could be. Just make sure to tell them the importance of safety and guide them as they learn how to venture out on their own.

Frequently Asked Questions

What age should children learn survival skills?

There is no necessary age for a child to start learning survival skills. That said, you can instill survival knowledge bit by bit as they grow up and integrate them on their daily lives. Things such as tying knots, basic first aid, and even water cleanliness can be taught inside your home although their importance is further emphasize when in the wild.

Once they get older, especially around 8 or 9, that’s the time you can try bringing them outdoors to learn these survival skills. Make sure to keep an eye on them and tell them to always focus on their safety and encourage them to keep calm and attentive at all times.

How can I make learning survival skills fun for my child?

Immersive involvement with survival definitely helps a lot in setting up a fun learning experience for your child. It can come in form of a game adventure in your backyard where you set up puzzles including tying and untying knows and making use of compass to treasure hunt. Or do the real deal and set up a family adventure in a safe campsite so your child would know what fun nature has in store for them.

Are there any survival skills courses for kids?

Yes, there are several survival courses that your child can join in, which involves professional instructors to insure your child safety. Some campsites and outdoor schools offer seasonal kids’ camp made specially to teach children survival skills. They conduct plenary sessions and mix fun activities after their talk to ensure the understanding of your children.

What are the most critical survival skills every kid should know?

Definitely how to start fire and how to find clean water. Fire will help your kid keep themselves up at night while finding clean water and purification methods can help prevent dehydration so they can further survive. Aside from that, learning help signals can increase their change of survival as it can notify the approximate location of your child in case they get lost.