You know that it’s National Preparedness Month, right? You’ve been celebrating it non-stop since Monday – gleefully rummaging through your disaster kit for expired items to replace, turning your morning jog into a practice loop of your evacuation route… No? You haven’t?

I understand.

Preparing for disaster is like going to the dentist. You know it’s important, but you put it off because it’s just not fun.

That’s why I’m determined to make it fun. In a few weeks I’ll be hosting a “Recipe for Disaster” party at my house. It will be a sort of preparedness potluck in which all the guests bring disaster kits items instead of dinner dishes. (So, for example, someone might sign up to bring ten flashlights, while another guest might sign up to bring ten big jars of peanut butter…) Each guest brings a bucket to the party, and then we all exchange our items so that everyone has at least a good start to a kit.

But where’s the fun part?

Well, I plan to be a bit tongue-in-cheek with the theme. I’ll bake a volcano cake and serve drinks like mudslides and hurricanes. And after everyone has had a couple of deliciously chocolate-y mudslides I’ll probably introduce some slightly ridiculous party games that involve earthquake drills or mapping your home evacuation route… I’m thinking something like Pictionary with your eyes closed, drawing your escape plan and then having your partner see if he/she can recognize it. Or possibly some sort of charades game that actually involves doing Drop, Cover, Hold On. At the very least I can have people take the quiz to test their RQ (“readiness quotient”).

The idea is that this becomes an annual party, and each year it gets more interesting because the party food can be made from everyone’s about-to-expire kit items. (I’m imagining a lot of peanut butter cookies!) So it’s a fun excuse to have a party and a reminder to renew your kit items.

So what do you think? Do you want to host a “Recipe for Disaster” party of your own? Do you have any suggestions for my party games?

P.S. Yes, you can easily leave the alcohol out of the mudslide and hurricane recipes and have just as much delicious fun.