Be Prepared. Talking about emergency preparedness should be part of your Girl Scout year. Teaching emergency preparedness skills doesn’t have to be a daunting experience.

Here are ideas for starting the conversation with your Girl Scouts:

Family Emergency Plans

Talk about how you would communicate with family members if an emergency occurs.

• What if you are separated from your family? (School, work, public event)
• Is there a family member everyone can contact?
• Is there a meet-up area?
• What if your cell phones don’t work?

Practicing Emergency Calls

Younger Girl Scouts may want to practice making emergency calls. (Use a uncharged phone.) Check out this Daisy Safety Award blueprint for more ideas.

Make an Emergency Kit

Talk with your scouts about how to make an emergency kit for your family. There’s a great printable to help guide the conversation from ready.gov. It also meets part of the requirements for the Cadette Safety Awardrequirements for the Cadette Safety Award.

The Red Cross Pillowcase Project is a great way to introduce these concepts in a non-threatening way. Check to see if your local Red Cross chapter offers the Pillowcase Project to your community, or you can download the booklet here.

Learn the Lingo

Learning about what natural disasters occur in your area helps meet part of the Brownie Safety Award requirements. Understand what watches and warnings mean and what you should do.

Make Emergency Candles

Our girls made emergency candles during a campout.

Become a Weather Watcher

Learn about how to become a weather watcher and how to know when to head indoors as part of your Junior Safety Award.

Pet Preparedness

Talk to a veterinarian or shelter worker about what to do for pets during a natural disaster or evacuation scenario.

 

Emergency Preparedness and Hurricane Patch Programs

Whether you’re living on the East Coast and in the threat of hurricane season or just want to talk about generally planning for an emergency, there are Girl Scout patch programs that can help guide the conversation and teach essential preparedness skills.

Emergency Preparedness

Girl Scouts Louisiana East offers an Emergency Preparedness patch program. This patch can be applied to a number of geographies, as it touches on evacuations, knowing what to do in an earthquake, tornado or hurricane, and safety after the natural event occurs. (Order online)

Together We Prepare

The Together We Prepare patch program through Girl Scouts of San Jacinto council focuses on general emergency preparedness skills.  (Order the Together We Prepare patch online.)

 

What activities to help your scouts be prepared have you enjoyed? Share your ideas below!