Outdoor survival skills games

Teach them how to look for a water source, where to avoid drinking water, and how to use a simple filter like a LifeStraw. It is important for kids to know how to read a map, use a compass , and GPS in case you get separated. They can also use this to find their way home. Every child should know their street address and city. Point out landmarks such as the library, a water tower, railroad tracks, etc.

For young children, you can make a game of finding your way home from school, the grocery store, or soccer practice. Take a different route than what they are used to and ask the kids to tell you which turns to make to get home. When you are outdoors in the yard, a park, or other location, make learning navigation fun by doing a treasure hunt and drawing a map to find the treasure for practice.

You can also print out maps of the city and point out different bug out routes that are planned. Teach them which plants are edible and which ones are poisonous. Go out on nature walks with your children and help them identify the plants and trees that you encounter. This will come in handy during camping trips and hikes. Emphasize that there are look alike plants and make sure kids check what they find with you before eating anything new or anything that has a toxic look alike.

It can be useful for peeling fruits, opening bottles, fishing, whittling wood or making arrows, and even for self-defense. Make sure you and your child know and follow the laws and regulations regarding the carrying of pocketknives in your community. When hiking in the woods, teach your children to signal for help in case they get separated or lost.

Dress them in bright colors to make them very easy to spot at a distance. Talk about how to use universal distress signals if rescuers are searching by land, air, or sea. Pack them a signal mirror or a whistle and teach them how to use these to signal. For the mirror, aim the reflected light towards the direction of your camp. For the signal whistle, blow three blasts, stop and listen for a minute, then blow again.

Are they still afraid of the dark? Get them off the couches and lead them on their own adventure outside. This is necessary for bug out situations where they have to move out in the night. Start by accompanying them on walks after dark. Better yet, let them play flashlight tag with other kids. Turn off the power or the lights in the house at night and let your kids practice finding a flashlight or nightlight and getting to a designated rendezvous point. You and your children should work out a plan for when something goes wrong and you need to evacuate.

Discuss and practice safety drills for natural disasters, such as tornadoes, power outages, hurricanes, wildfires, floods, or other emergencies that are likely in your area. Assign a meet-up area and a back-up if your house is no longer safe to go back to. Also, have them memorize S. Hide and seek game can be useful for emergency situations. When that time comes, tell them to stay hidden until you or a trusted adult comes near. Remind them they should NEVER hide if the home is on fire or hide from firemen but should get out of the house to your predetermined meeting spot.

Tell yours to stay put if they get lost as it will be harder to find them if both of you are moving around, searching for each other. Point out security guards, cashiers, or staff when you arrive at a store, mall, or other location so children know who to go to for help.

For older children, identify an easily seen just in case meeting point when you arrive at any location. If children are separated or cannot find you at the appointed time, or cannot reach you by phone or text, everyone will go to the meeting point and wait. Your meeting point should be easy to find from any area, such as the Ferris wheel at a fair, the center courtyard or fountain in a mall, or the cash registers in a store.

Pack a few survival items on their backpack such as a whistle, a bright bandana, a spare cell phone you can call even with no service , and a bottle of water for signaling and to keep them hydrated until you find them. Teach them that even though the stranger looks nice or offer them something, they should never trust anyone easily. Looks can be deceiving. When you enter a store, mall, or another public location, ask your child to point out which people are staff or security.

Let them know to go to those individuals behind a register or counter for help first rather than someone just walking around in uniform. In a dangerous situation, they should say no, run away, yell their loudest, and tell a parent or guardian what happened right away.

Make sure they know to call you immediately if they see anyone, they think may try to enter the home when they are home alone. Keep the windows and doors locked as well as the blinds and curtains shut. Tell them to turn on the TV or the radio. Potential intruders may be discouraged from coming in if they hear speaking and noise and it seems someone is home.

Make sure they know they have permission to call if anyone actively attempts to get inside the home. Dialing and reporting an emergency may seem overwhelming to your kid. Help them get rid of those nerves by rehearsing with them. Practice some situations so that they will know what to say to the operator and what to do until help arrives. Make sure they understand when to call for help and that they understand not to use this service unless it is an actual emergency. Liven up their first aid training by creating various scenarios with their friends and let them take turns pretending to be the patient and the one administering first aid.

Start with simple things such as how to clean and bandage a cut, how to create a sling, how to create a transport sled from a tarp and limbs. Teach them how to pack and inventory first aid kits to familiarize themselves with the contents and its uses.

Talk about safety, prevention, and how and when to take action in an emergency. When in the car, you can play the license plate game, I Spy, description game observe a certain area and recall every detail by memory , or right way to… game give driving directions.

Swimming is a survival skill everyone should learn. Sign them up for swimming lessons in your community or if you are near a small river or lake, you can teach them yourself. Emphasize water safety including how to correctly gauge depth and current of water.

Teach your kids water safety and accident prevention. Some things to consider include:. Planting and nurturing their own fruits and vegetables will give them a sense of pride and teach them responsibility. As soon as kids are walking, they can begin to help in the garden. Let them help you plant seeds, water, and pull weeds as they get old enough to tell the difference between weeds and plants.

The person who gets to the last base first without being seen is the winner. Answers can only be said once, the last player remaining in the circle wins.

Best with 6 players, but can be played with 2. Can also be played using emergency items name items in an emergency kit, items to bring on a camping trip, types of shelters, etc. After they work for a while, give them items to help such as a few strips of duct tape, some rope, or a poncho.

See who can make the best shelter from a couple of items. Tags: Emergency plan , Emergency preparedness , Kids , Survival. Previous article Next article. Follow us. This is a fantastic way to help family members learn to identify wild edible plants they can eat in emergency situations. However, for the sake of safety, be sure everyone understands that they should never eat a plant if they are uncertain if it is safe, as there are poisonous plants that look similar to edible plants.

Children who are unsure about a plant should always ask an adult before eating it. Before playing this game, teach the kids about the different types of shelters that can be built in the wild, such as lean-tos and teepees. Kids should understand that outdoor survival depends on finding or making shelter that will help keep them warm and dry. This game can have a couple of variations. With the first, you can have everyone, either individually or in teams, locate the best natural shelters they can find.

This can be hollow trees or logs, natural overhangs made from tree branches, caves, or other applicable shelters. The second variation is to divide people into teams and have a challenge in which you see who can build a lean-to or other type of shelter the fastest. You can do this near your campsite or find a spot along a hiking trail. Wherever you are, make use of material you find there.

You can also choose to provide each team with some basic items they might have in their survival or bugout bag, such as rope, duct tape, or a tarp. Do your family members know how to start a fire? Even older children can learn. And young children can learn what materials are required to make a fire. This challenge will see individuals or teams in a wilderness setting gather the materials they think they would need to successfully start a fire. Before starting the challenge, talk about the different materials that can be used to get a fire started, such as materials that would make good tinder and kindling, and what wood is best for the fire.

This is a hide-and-seek game that will teach kids how to move with stealth. This is a useful skill to learn in case the time ever comes when they have to stay hidden from potentially dangerous people. The game is played as follows:. The final game is one that will help kids develop their navigational skills. If you are camping, have a cottage, or are just hiking for the day and have a base area set up, you can play this game.

Stay together as a group, or if you have more than one adult who can navigate, split up. Then play as follows:. These questions can cover all kinds of natural history and outdoor related questions on whatever topic is relevant.

For example you might ask, "Do robins eat worms? You do not give the answer immediately; rather you let the children decide if this is a true or false statement. If it is true, the owls chase the crows. If it is false, the crows chase the owls. You do not announce what the answer was until the children have started chasing each other or you can wait until they have returned to the line.

Once they are back in line you can give a short description of why it is true or false. The game restarts when all of the players end up on one side of the line, i. You as the announcer can make the questions as difficult or easy as you want. If some confusion happens because the kids don't know the answer, and they end up running in the wrong direction this is okay. Making mistakes is a big part of the process of learning.

Outdoor games for children are an excellent teaching tool. Try using these and other outdoor games for children to help encourage kids to maintain and grow their connection to the natural world.

Outdoor Games for Children on the Sharing Nature website. About the Author: Filip Tkaczyk is a periodic guest teacher at Alderleaf. Learn more about Filip Tkaczyk. See for yourself if this eye-opening course is a good fit for you.

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