Your children

Children: what to tell them, and a bag they pack themselves

The official list gives children one line: formula, nappies, wipes. In practice, a seven-year-old will want to know why the lights are off, and a thirteen-year-old's phone will be on 4%. This page is mostly about talking to them and giving them a job; the kit comes second.

What to say, by age

Save the Children's advice for UK parents is simple and holds up: explain calmly and honestly in words that match their age, don't say "don't worry", and give them a job. Children usually cope better with a dark evening when the adults are honest about what's going on.

Under 5s: "The electricity has stopped for a bit. The grown-ups have a plan. You're in charge of the lantern." Keep bedtime at bedtime. A bath becomes a flannel wash; the story still happens, by torch.

5 to 10: They will ask the same question six times. Answer it six times. Tell them what's being done to fix it (the engineers, the 105 number, the radio). Give them the glow sticks.

11 and up: Treat them as a deputy. They carry their own bag, they know the stopcock, they know the meeting point and the two phone numbers by heart. The phone battery is a lesson they'll learn on their own; a cheap power bank in their school bag saves it.

Limit the rolling news on the one phone with signal. If something big is happening, you raise it with them before TikTok does.

Free things, this week

Every child over five knows the home address, one parent's mobile number by heart, and how to dial 999. Be Ready asks for this. Practise it in the car.

Check the school and nursery have your current numbers and a second contact who can collect. It saves a lot of stress if the school closes early.

Agree a meeting point if the family gets split up and phones are dead. The front of the school, grandma's, the big tree in the park.

Put a printed contact card in each school bag. Name, address, two numbers, allergies, "if found please call".

Walk them through the kit box once, with the lights off. Make it a game. Torch tag counts.

The grab bag they pack themselves

If you ever have to leave in a hurry (a flood, a gas leak in the street, a fire next door), each child should have a small rucksack by the door that they packed and therefore know. Contents, from Save the Children and the Be Ready flood list, with a few practical changes:

One comfort thing, chosen by them. Keep it to one; choosing it is half the value.

A family photo. Save the Children's suggestion, and a good one.

Warm layer, pants, socks, a hat. Rotate sizes every clocks change.

Snacks they actually like, a 500 ml bottle of water, a foil blanket. The foil blanket is light enough that they won't notice it.Bramble foil blankets ×10 adorFoil blankets multipack ad

Pencils, a small pad, cards, a couple of glow sticks. Two hours in a church-hall rest centre feels very long with nothing to do.Emergency glow sticks (6) ad

Their own small torch. A head torch works well, and keeps their hands free.Lepro rechargeable head torch ×2 in my kit adorBlukar rechargeable head torch ×2 adorLedlenser HF4R (USB-C) ad

A copy of the contact card and any medicines they take, with a note of doses. Inhaler, EpiPen, insulin as applicable. Always read the label.

Babies and toddlers

Be Ready is specific here and right: keep ready-to-feed formula, not powder, because in a water outage or a power cut you may not be able to boil water safely. Add nappies and wipes for the period you're planning for, a sling (easier than a buggy in a rest centre or a flooded street), two changes of clothes, the dummy, and a way to warm milk that doesn't need the mains: a flask of just-boiled water filled when the warning comes in, or the camping stove.

Ready-to-feed formula for the days you've chosen, in date. Rotate through normal use.

Nappies, wipes and nappy bags to match. Supermarket.Baby wipes ×1,080 ad

A child-sized hot water bottle with a proper cover. For the cot in a winter cut. Never in the cot with a baby under a year; warm the bed, then remove.Hugo Frosch junior hot water bottle ad

Children's paracetamol and ibuprofen, in date, and a thermometer that works. Buy medicines at the pharmacy with your normal shop; I don't link them. Always read the label.Omron Eco Temp digital thermometer ad

Making a power cut a good evening

Hot chocolate from the camping stove, the lantern in the middle of the floor, UNO, shadow puppets, the radio on. If you treat it as a bit of an adventure, children usually will too. Save any grown-up worrying for after bedtime.