How to Prepare Your Kids for Disaster

When it comes to preparing for any disaster that may come your way, it’s important that one be equipped with the necessary knowledge to help you in the heat of crisis. This is known as disaster preparedness and this goes for everyone of all ages, especially children.

Another thing about disaster is the need to keep your family safe from harm. As the patriarch or matriarch of the family, your children look to you for safety and guidance and when they see your fear, that fear is passed onto them. However, it will also be your responsibility to equip your children with the necessary skills to survive disaster, not only for their own good but your assurance as a parent as well that your children will be okay when disaster strikes.

With that said, here are some tips that can help you prepare your children for disaster:

1.  Make Sure They Have the Necessities

When packing your child’s disaster kit, make sure that what is included in their pack are the following:

·         Water

·         First-Aid kit

·         Food

·         Radios

·         Cellular Phone

·         A Map

·         List of Numbers to Contact in case of Emergency

If your child has all of them, their safety is doubly assured.

2.  Teach Them How to Use Emergency Supplies

Since their children preparing for disaster, it’s important for them to know how to use items made for emergency uses. At their age, they may be able to use a flashlight, their radios, phones and other mediums of communication. But what about their first-aid kits? Or how to read a map? That’s where your teaching them comes in.

When you teach them how to use the items, be sure to start with the simplest one and then work your way up from there. For example, teach them how to use their first-aid kits, then teach them how to read a map. How you teach them matters just as much as how they respond.

3.  Teach Them How to Contact Emergency Responders

Should anything truly disastrous happen to you and your family, it may be up to them to save the day. If ever someone else is in need of emergency help in disastrous situations, even if that someone is yourself, teach them how to contact people who respond to emergencies. Once they know what to do, the safety of your entire family is guaranteed.

In fact, you can even make a game of it for the sake of entertaining them in the heat of disaster. You can have them believe that they are superheroes and that by contacting emergency responders, they’ll be able to call in their reinforcements to help save the day and your lives.

4.  Teach Them How to Gather Food and/or Water

This skill can be taught to people of all ages, your kids included. For them, teach them how to fish, how to gather fruit, and even how to cook. Also, you can teach them how to gather water and filter it for them.

5.  Expose Them to the Outdoors

A key component to your child’s learning of survival skills is exposure to the great outdoors. By exposing them outside, you’ll be able to give a more detailed lecture and demonstrate countless techniques and tactics for their survival.

Regardless of what may happen, your child’s safety is guaranteed. Though they’re learning to assure their own safety by their own hand, it’s your guidance as their parent that gets them through.

About the Author: 

Esther Diaz

A 22-year-old graduate of graphic design, DIY enthusiast, make-up lover and has a love-hate relationship with desserts. I dream to be soon one of the known bloggers.

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Why are BouncyCastles and Houses so Popular?

For those out there who’ve never seen one, a bouncycastle is an inflatable building that you will usually see at a children’s birthday party, funfairs and various other events. The bouncy house can vary in size and shape from a simple enclosed bouncy area, to large “houses” of various styles. For example, a bouncy house can be shaped like a castle, might have more than one floor or level and often features a bouncy slide. These playful structures are extremely popular with children (and with some adults too!), and were first developed in the late 1950s.

The first bouncy house inflatable was a much more stripped down version of today’s incarnations and the first bouncy surfaces of this kind weren’t even enclosed. This was not so good in the interests of children playing on it and a bad idea, because they could easily bounce themselves off of it much to their annoyance,and even get hurt in a worst case scenario. The early inflatable was supposed to be what it may have felt like to walk in space or on the moon. And in fact, bounce houses were initially called “Space Walks”.

Renting and Material

Space Walks were popular from the start, especially during those times with the focus on the Space Race. Of course, if you’ve ever inflated a simple air filled mattress and have children, you will already know that just that alone is enough to provide entertainment for hours!If you’re considering renting a bouncy castle or other inflatables for a children’s party, you can get a great deal on rentals from companies suchas Simply the Best Events.

Bouncy houses and castles are usually made from a much stronger material than your average inflatable camping mattress and are made from thick layers of rubber, vinyl or nylon. And since lots of bouncing can rapidly deflate a bounce house, you’ll find that most of them are being constantly refilled with electric pumps. These are usually plugged in or powered by portable generators depending on the location.

Too Much of a Good Thing Can Be Dangerous!

Most of the time, only children of a certain age and size play on bouncycastles and houses. Adults, especially if playing on very small inflatables, can,if not careful, quite easily bounce themselves off and have an accident. This applies to children also. It’s always in the children’s best interests to wisely restrict the number of bouncing children to the amount that is recommended by the manufacturer.

Too many children bouncing around can lead into them bumping into each other, which can lead to unhappy times and even worse. If you’re going to rent a bouncy house or castle, make sure that it’s well supervised to avoid collisions and any improper use.You can purchase small bounce houses, but these are not made to the same standards as are the commercial ones. They will not have the same durability as the rented type.

Enjoy your bounce and please bounce safely!

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Are Solar Shingles the Future?

As technological advancement become rigorous, innovative products such as solar shingles continue to proliferate in the market. Solar shingles utilize photovoltaic cells to generate electricity from the sun’s energy which generally produce 12 watts of power per square foot.

Advantages of Solar Singles

As a Building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) product, they may either use Copper Indium Gallium Selenide solar cells or mono- or poly- crystalline silicon cells.

This 2-in-1 roofing solutions is a good alternative to conventional solar panels and traditional roof shingles especially when homeowners need to have total roof replacement.

Here are the possible reasons why solar shingles continue to gain popularity in the market:

●     Aesthetically Appealing

Solar shingles blend in seamlessly due to its structure similar to traditional roof lines and they come in variety of colors as well. They can be made from asphalt, concrete, glass, clay, or ceramic materials. This only means that the aesthetic appearance and overall architectural design of your home will not be compromised. Moreover, with this innovative product, you can do away with large and bulky solar panels because the same energy-saving mechanism will now be in your roof shingles.

●     High Energy Efficiency

Since solar shingles are developed to convert sunlight into useable form of energy, they must yield highly efficient energy that may cover the building’s electricity requirements. Fortunately, solar shingles’ system efficiency is high enough to produce reasonable amount of electricity to sustain your home’s electricity needs. However, this BIPV still needs to be perfected in order to increase its efficiency like that of the traditional solar panels.

●     Eco-friendly Roofing Solutions

This roofing solution produces clean energy from the sun. Consequently, it helps in protecting the environment by reducing carbon footprints brought about by fuel-generated electricity. Moreover, homeowners may save up to 40-70 percent on their electricity bills when they opt for solar shingles.

●     Price Competitive with Traditional Shingles

The price of solar shingles started to come down and become price competitive with traditional solar panels. This may be more affordable if its production increases and become more accessible to more homeowners. Furthermore, if the savings you will get from electricity bills will be taken into account along with the total amount to be spend on roof replacement and installation of solar panels, solar shingles will cost less.

●     Weather-resistant and Waterproof

Solar shingles are still a roof covering so it must still serve as a protection and barrier to all forms of weather elements that may damage the roof. True enough, this product can withstand heavy loads, damaging effects of natural elements and daily wear and tear, making your roof covering last longer. More importantly, solar shingles still make your roof water-resistant to prevent any leakage that may be detrimental to your roof’s integrity.

It is undeniable that solar shingles may replace traditional roof coverings and be utilized as energy saving solutions by every home in the future. This means that solar shingles may replace conventional shingles or solar panel arrays due to the number of benefits it delivers. If you would like to have these efficient and cost-effective roofing solutions, seek the help of authorized roofing contractors to have the product installed correctly at your home.

Written by True Son Exteriors, the best contractor for roofing in Columbia, MO.

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6 Tips to Select a Forwarder for Shipping Freight

When it comes to shipping freight from one destination to another, you just cannot choose a freight forwarder at random. You need to understand that a freight forwarder will work as your partner and play a big role in the success of your business. If your freight forward is not a trusted partner for your logistics needs, you will end up dealing with serious issues. Here are a few things to keep in mind to select the best freight forwarder:

 

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·         Know your unique circumstances and needs. It is important to have a clear idea about your internal requirements before you start your search for a freight forwarder. Get some idea about what specific services will work for you and what mode of transport is more suitable for your business. It is also important to know about the volume you want to ship to select a right forwarder.

·         Educate yourself about freight forwarding industry. This will help you learn what they will be responsible for and what your responsibilities are once you sign a contract with them. Use the internet or talk directly to some freight forwarders to get a better idea about how they work.

·         Opt for a freight forwarder with ability to handle multiple types of shipments. Even if you think you ocean freight is currently the best option for you, you never know when you might need to use air freight. Therefore, it is better to select a forwarder with experience, technology, and capacity to handle different types of shipments.

·         Ensure they have the experience you require. It is important to check if they are capable of handling larger shipments. It is equally important to inquire how they are going to manage your shipment. This is related to designating a person who will serve as your point of contact for arranging documents, coordinating the shipment, and communicating when a problem arises.

·         Do not forget to ask about their network of agents working in your destination country. This is extremely important to ensure that your customer faces no issue when shipping freight. You should also inquire about it to avoid dealing with any issue for any DAP, DDU, DDP shipments.

·         Organize a list of requirements before going any further. It is always better to have a clear idea of when you want to begin. You should also have your objectives clear in your mind – it could be related to commodities being shipped, delivery time, terms of sales, special packaging requirements, volume, and more.

It is important to pay attention to all these points to be able to select the best freight forwarding company working with you. However, you should also choose to work with a company that comes with multiple service contracts and offers cargo insurance policies for all your shipments. This will ensure that you are working with a professional and that your shipment stays safe as well. Not all freight forwarders are going to offer insurance, so be sure to know this in advance to avoid any problem later.

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