If you've been following us for any length of time, you know we're a homeschooling family. And as a family living off the grid literally right in the wilderness, we know how important it is to teach our kids survival skills. It's a long way to the nearest hospital, and it's tricky to connect with emergency services in this remote location. So we were thrilled when our THiNK OUTSiDE BOXES subscription box included a whole lot of first aid and emergency items.
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Use Think Outside Boxes Subscription Box to Learn Wilderness First Aid
For the past few months, we've been getting the Think Outside Boxes subscription box (use our exclusive coupon code FIRSTBOX to save on your order). Our two youngest loved the recent First Aid Box. It arrived several weeks ago, and we've been putting it to good use. Every few days we pull out the activity booklet and work through a few pages.
We've learned how to do a D.R.A.B. assessment (Danger, Response, Airway, Breathing). We also had a long discussion about 9-1-1, which we don't have here in the Northwest Territories...yet. We're told it's coming this summer. (We were told this last summer as well.)
The activities in each month's guide are a little different depending on the theme, and a good balance between fun, practical, hands-on and academic. This month the favourite activity was the emergency role play, where we all got a turn to be the patient and the emergency responder. However, learning how to bandage heads and hands took a close second!
Related: THiNK OUTSIDE BOXES Initiation Box Review & Coupon
The gang over at Think Outside Boxes really outdid themselves with this month's selection which was just chock-full of first aid wilderness survival gear and goodies. Some of the kids first aid and wilderness emergency items included
- a First Aid kit with 76(!) items
- Water-resistant digital thermometer
- Outdoor survival bandana
- Elastic Bandage
- Tongue Depressors
- Water-resistant Resource Cards (How-To and info cards)
Being Prepared in the Wilderness
While we love spending time outdoors in the wilderness, we know how quickly things can go wrong. That's why we're working on equipping each child with a wilderness survival kit.
Each backpack (they came in our Initiation Box) includes basic survival gear items, including many things from the monthly THiNK OUTSIDE BOXES subscription box. We've received three boxes to date - the Initiation Box with the backpack, the First Aid Box, and the Weather Box. Watch the blog for the lowdown on that one.
Using THiNK OUTSiDE BOXES as Part of Our Off Grid Homeschooling Lessons
We homeschool year-round, but our summer homeschool routine looks a little different from our winter homeschool schedule. During the summer we focus on nature studies, outdoor science, art, and survival and self-sufficiency skills like foraging, animal tracking, and gardening.
Related: How to Use Foraging to Teach Your Kids
The THiNK OUTSiDE BOXES are a year-long monthly subscription box service for kids. The boxes are themed to match the season. As the spring boxes are First Aid and Weather, they fit right in with our homeschooling plans. We can work through the activities in about five 20 minutes to 30 minutes sessions, but often the kids continue "playing" with their gear for another hour or more after the lesson is over.
One cool new feature introduced in April is that you can now print THiNK OUTSiDE BOXES lesson plans to organize your lessons with the kids. Whether or not you're a homeschooling family this is a valuable resource. Your kids get to really learn how to use each item, and you can drive the lessons home with hands-on practice.
Tip: Use the Vocabulary List in the lesson plan as a supplementary spelling list for a change from your regular Language Arts homeschool lesson.
Sure, it's easy enough to grab a few items from the drug store to create a small first aid kit for your kids. But it's a whole lot more fun (and educational) to use the THiNK OUTSiDE BOXES First Aid Box to create an entire learning experience. Check out their online store and use our exclusive coupon code FIRSTBOX to save on your order.
Looking for a reason to get outdoors? Try foraging with your kids (remember to bring your wilderness kit). Grab this list of free foraging printables and downloads to turn your outdoor adventure into a fun learning experience.
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This post is part of the Homestead Blog Hop!
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