Creating a Children’s Weather Emergency Kit #EnergizerCFK #ChampionsforKids #CBias

With our tropical storm season just around the corner, we know that seriously bad weather for Florida is on the way.  Madison and I created an emergency weather kit for kids to help them weather a storm – things can definitely get hairy here in Central Florida!  And it’s not just the summer time that is bad; we have severe weather year round.

After going through three hurricanes in a row in 2004, Madison knew what she wanted to put into the kit that we were going to create and donate to People of Faith.  She remembered how bored she was at times – but mainly, how scared she was.  She had a flashlight, but it was still frightening for a young child to be in the dark for so long without electricity.

We headed out to Walmart to create our kit.  You can see our entire shopping trip in my Google+ album here if you’d like to see what all we checked out.  Madison wanted to create a bright and happy kit – well, I think she definitely hit the nail on the head.  Instead of a plain basket, she chose a cheery large Spongebob basket – even though it’s an Easter basket, it would be a great basket/bucket to have on hand to fill up with water if you need it (you never know – some homes have septic systems and are unable to flush their toilets, and need buckets of water on hand).

As we headed over to the flashlight area, she thought it would be a lot of fun to give a kid the chance to make a fun snack – so when she saw a camping version of worms in dirt, she put it into the cart.  What kid wouldn’t have fun making that?  And no electricity is required at all!  The glow sticks were also fun to play with in the dark, so she chose a package of those.

The flashlight section was pretty large, but she zeroed in on the kid friendly gear.  We actually found a headlamp!!  She got one of those and a Buzz Lightyear flashlight with Energizer batteries.  She remembered that when she needed to go to the bathroom, she would have to set the flashlight down and it made the room a little eerie.  She decided that wearing a light on your head would be helpful in that situation.  Hey – what can I say?  Sometimes she’s pretty smart.

(please excuse her red eyes – she had been sneezing up a storm – also, she was recently diagnosed with being gluten intolerant/lactose intolerant AND having IBS – so she looks worn out from all of the things her doctor has been putting her through recently)

We headed over into the toy aisle and found a few fun odds and ends to throw into the basket – and then grabbed an extra pack of AAA batteries for the flashlights.  We also picked up a large, snuggly Spongebob blanket, a few fun snacks and a coloring book with crayons.

After we got home, we unloaded all of our goodies and packed it all up into the bucket.  Spongebob looked so happy, didn’t he?  Madison (and Zachary, the ham) were pleased with the outcome of the basket.

Off we went to drop it off!

Unfortunately, we were not able to take a photo of her dropping the basket off with the director of People of Faith – Madison left extremely happy and pleased knowing that when bad weather hits, the child that receives that basket will not be afraid or bored.  They’ll be warm, happy, and entertained with the numerous items that she picked out, and won’t be left in the dark.

We encourage you to create a weather emergency basket and drop it off with your local shelter or church to donate to a family in need during bad weather.  You never know who it may help out!

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  All opinions are my own.