One meeting point. One outside contact.

Because they solve different problems. One immediately outside the home covers something like a house fire, where you need to know everyone is out. One outside the neighbourhood covers not being able to get home at all — roads closed, area evacuated. Choose specific, findable places, and make sure children can describe both.

Local phone networks often jam or fail first, so family members in the same area may not reach each other while a distant relative still can. They become the message point everyone reports to. Ask them in advance, and put their number on a paper card in every bag and wallet — phones die and lock exactly when you need them.

More than fits in a rucksack. For four people over three days the calculator gives 40 litres — about 20 kg per adult if you carried it all, and 58 litres in a hot climate. That's why water is stored at home for sheltering in place, and a filter or purification tablets go in the bag instead. Check the supply duration your local authority recommends, since it varies.

No, and be wary of anything that does in a single template. Responses differ by hazard and country, and can be opposite — sheltering in place for one, evacuating immediately for another. Instructions given during an actual event override any plan. This builds the logistics: who meets where, who calls whom, what's in the bag, where the documents are.

Keep them short, calm and matter-of-fact — alarm, grab bag, meet at the near point, call the outside contact. Explain rather than dramatise, and let children practise the parts they'd have to do alone, like knowing an address and a phone number by heart. Two a year is enough, and each one doubles as a check of medication expiry, batteries and clothing sizes.