As a prepper, it’s important for you to be able to turn everyday activities into moments that you can learn from. Luckily, there a bunch of hobbies that can serve as vehicles for improving essential prepper skills. Here are six activities that can help you become a better prepper. (h/t to SurvivalBlog.com)

Radio hobbies

Knowing how to monitor radio communication using a ham radio or police scanners can give you and your family a clearer picture of what the chatter is like before, during and after a disaster. That’s why it’s a good idea to learn how to become a radio operator. Learning how to monitor communications can keep you informed, so you may be able to react quickly to any situation. This gives you and your family an edge over others when SHTF. (Related: 5 Must-have radios for survival in a grid-down situation.)

Cooking

People who go through disasters need food to survive. Chances are, you or another person in your household know how to cook. This is great – but what happens when the primary cook in the family gets sick or is otherwise unavailable to do the cooking? Will your children have to rely on unhealthy, processed snacks and improperly cooked dishes? You and the other members of your household can, as a family, learn more about nutrition and assembling healthy ingredients together to form a great dish.

Hunting, fishing and gardening

Food will become scarce during a disaster. Shelves in big box stores will be cleared out and food supply issues can cripple your neighborhood. Learning how to cook food is one thing, but learning how to hunt or grow food is another story. Before a disaster, you can practice hunting, fishing and gardening right away. Not only will you learn a new, invaluable skill, but children can also develop an appreciation for catching or harvesting their own food.

Aerobics

Staying healthy, even during disasters, is extremely important. One way you can do this is to participate in indoor exercises, such as aerobics. You and your family can get better heart health simply by doing a 20- to 30-minute aerobics exercise every day. Not only that, but doing aerobics regularly can also strengthen your immune system and reduce your risk of falls, making getting sick and getting injured during a disaster scenario less likely.

Weight training

Weight training is also a great exercise for a prepper family. Weight training decreases your risk of injuring yourself, especially for younger members of the family who like running around. Weight training can also lead to a healthier heart, better diabetes management and improvements in mental well-being. Fortunately, weight training exercises can be done from the safety of your home, saving you plenty on the commune to and from the gym where you have to pay a monthly membership fee.

Team sports

A great prepper family acts as a team. Playing team sports like football, baseball and basketball can teach your family a variety of skills – one of the most important of which is teamwork. Learning how to work with others makes you and your family members successful not only in sports, but also in everyday life – and especially during a disaster. Furthermore, team sports can help your family learn leadership skills. Identifying a common problem, having a leader delegate tasks and working as a team to overcome your obstacles will make for an efficient prepper family when SHTF.

There are a variety of other hobbies that you and your prepper family can take part in that can develop your survival skills. For example, you and your family can learn how to play musical instruments, which can increase family morale during tough times, or solve puzzles together, which can improve your problem solving skills. Whichever hobby you and your family take up, the most important thing is that, if you think outside the box, many hobbies and activities can be turned into learning opportunities for better disaster preparedness.

Sources include:

SurvivalBlog.com

SHTFDad.com

Healthline.com

MedicalDaily.com

FitAndMe.com