It’s time to assemble a Five Day kit. Experience has shown a 72 hour kit is not enough to meet needs before help arrives. Following a disaster first responders and relief organizations will be organizing, tending to those critically injured, preventing more damage and controlling danger and even attending to their own family needs. When infrastructure is damaged supplies may take days to arrive.
This week hold a scavenger hunt. Copy the Articles: The Ultimate Five Day Kit and The Ultimate Five Day Kit Part Two from the Totally Ready website.
Eliminate the food, water and clothing from the list and create a list to be used in your hunt. Divide the family into teams, set a timer and see how many items each team can find in the allotted time. You should already have many, if not most, in your home.
Gather together and divide the times among the kits, assembling one for each family member. As you build your kits make note of items you will need to purchase. By the end of the week you should have all the supplies needed in your kits except the food, water and clothing which we will add in future weeks.
Determine a place your kits will be kept and add hooks or shelves as needed. All kits should be kept in one location.
Finally this week ask your children which foods they would like in their Five Day kits. Consider creating a master list. You may include dried fruits, single serving fruit cans, fruit leather, pouched tuna or chicken salad, nuts, jerky, granola bars, breakfast bars, individual containers of peanut butter, crackers, and of course some desserts. If you decide to add instant oatmeal or cup on noodles or other items needing to be reconstituted be aware water may be in short supply. You may choose to add foods that can be eaten directly from a can such as chili but they will add quite a bit of weights. We sure to add hard candies and/or lollipops as they really help with thirst when water is limited. You may also consider adding pouches of lemonade or other flavorings that can be added to individual water bottles for variety.