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Here are some tips to help you talk to your children about emergency preparedness.

Involve Them
One of the best things you can do as part of teaching your children about emergency preparedness is to involve them. For example, if you have food storage as part of your preparations, perhaps an older child could help in the task of arranging the shelves.

Find something for younger children to do as well such as making sure there are always enough batteries for the flashlights or choosing the day for your next emergency drill.

By involving them, they will be more likely to pick up on the lessons that you are trying to instill.

Make it Fun
There are ways to make teaching emergency preparedness fun without taking away from the seriousness of the lessons. Some families have "emergency nights" on a regular basis. They eat only food from their food storage, practice any drills, such as fire escape routes or tornado drills, and then go over all of their plans.

To add some fun into the mix, you could play board games by candlelight or build a fire and roast marshmallows and make s'mores. What you do is not as important as that the night leaves an impression on the children.

Also, because you took the time to throw some fun into the mix, the children will look forward to the next emergency preparedness night, rather than dreading it.

Address Their Fears
When you talk to your children about the possible emergency scenarios that they could face, it is important to address their fears and answer their questions honestly. If they ask about the pets, or about their toys just tell them -- in the most basic terms -- what to expect.

Of course, part of good emergency planning should involve taking steps to protect your pets whenever possible. Also, depending on the type of emergency, it is a good idea to allow small children to bring one special toy. This can help make a potentially very stressful situation a little bit less so.

Rehearse the Plans
As mentioned above, some families have regular emergency nights. Even if you don't want to do that, it is important to rehearse what you have tried to teach your children.

This is especially true for situations that could call of the children making a decision on their own. Fire escape routes, how to get to the safest spot during a tornado and how to call 911 are all examples of practices that should be rehearsed with your children.

Be Matter of Fact
Because you want to prepare -- and not scare -- your children, it is important to remove much of the emotion when you talk about potential emergencies. You want to discuss the possibilities in a matter of fact way. If you do this, then when an emergency occurs, they will remember what you said AND they will recall your calm manner.

If your lessons are full of passion and emotion, they may be what they recall that during an actual emergency and that could make the situation more stressful for the child.

However you choose to address emergency preparedness with your children, the important thing is that you do it as soon as possible. The more prepared your entire family is, the better the chances they will have to survive an emergency.