How to Keep Kids Calm During Tornado Season

Summer is getting closer by the day! And while many of us are looking forward to sunshine, beach days, and visits to the mobile ice cream truck, late spring and early summer also means tornado season for many people across the United States. 

Your top priority during tornado season is to keep your family safe. But how can you keep your kids calm as well so that their fears and anxieties don’t take over and make the experience even worse? Here are some top tips for helping your kids through this season. 

How to Keep Kids Calm During Tornado Season

Keep Them Entertained While Waiting Things Out

If you head down to the shelter and all your kids can think about is what’s happening outside, they’ll only imagine the worst. One way to keep their minds off the storm is to ensure they have activities while taking shelter that they’ll enjoy. This is more important the longer you stay in the shelter to wait out the storms. 

Keeping coloring sheets and supplies or games can be a great way to prepare. You may find free Sonic coloring pages online or you can create your own with images of their favorite characters. These sheets will allow them to focus on something they enjoy and take their mind off the storm.

But most kids these days like to spend their time on their gadgets, so you’ll need to ensure they’re charged. 

Portable generators are an easy way to keep everything charged in a below-ground shelter. We recommend solar-powered generators to avoid having fuel in your shelter. Use top portable solar panels strategies to charge your generator in advance so you can quickly take your generator into your shelter when the time comes to take cover. 

Encourage Calming Breathing

Studies confirm the connection between deep breathing exercises and stress reduction. Young children may not be interested in calm breathing or meditation if they’re wiggly and stressed, but you can quickly make it a fun game. 

One easy exercise is the 4-4-4-4 exercise. Breathe in for 4, hold the breath for 4, breathe out for 4, and hold for 4. See who can do it the best and make their bellies big to encourage deep, diaphragmatic breathing. You’ll distract that while encouraging proper breathing and calm. 

Go Over Your Plans in Advance

The unknown can often be the scariest factor of all in a storm. But if your children know what’s happening, they can feel comforted knowing they’re doing what they need to feel safe. Discuss what tornadoes are and what you’ll do to keep the family safe. Do tornado drills as a family, so they feel prepared. 

Keep Some Updates to Yourself

If you blast broadcasts discussing the storms or showing scary images of the storms, your children’s anxieties will increase. While you want to stay weather aware, do what you can to only give your children the essential information. 

If your phone has service, you can get text notifications on your phone from local news outlets. If you’re reliant on a TV or radio, turn down the volume and turn the screen, so it’s not directly in your child’s vision. 

Stay Calm for Them

Experts have observed a direct correlation between how parents act and children follow. If you’re stressing, worried, or lashing out from a place of anxiety, your children’s emotions will mirror these emotions. 

The best thing you can do for your children is to keep yourself calm. Whatever you can do to stay in a clear mindset, such as deep breathing or limiting notifications to what directly pertains to your area, do it for your children’s wellbeing. 

Making Powerful Storms a Light Breeze for Your Kids

There’s no question that tornadoes are scary. But if you live where tornadoes are common, you don’t want each stormy day to be a traumatic experience. Follow these strategies to ensure tornado season is simply a calm visit to your safe place rather than a nightmare for your kids.