The instinct is to pack for a child the way you'd pack for a toddler on holiday, entirely for them, without them. In an actual evacuation, that is the wrong instinct.
The official checklist with exact quantities - print it and pack from it rather than guessing how much water or how many days of food is enough.
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A child's bag: a change of clothes, one comfort item, something to do that needs no batteries, a small photo of the family. Your bag, separately and invisibly to them: the official supply list below, covered in full.
They get a bag with weight and choice in it. Nothing essential rides on a child remembering it.
"One toy, you choose" is a task a child can complete and feel good about. "Pack anything important to you" is not a task — it is an open-ended question that produces either paralysis or four stuffed animals and no socks.
A go bag that sits untouched for two years has clothes that no longer fit and snacks that have expired. Put a date in your calendar, twice a year, to open it and swap out what has been outgrown.
From about four or five with a picture checklist and your help; by eight or nine, largely on their own with a spot-check at the end.
A small family photo is one of the most reassuring things you can put in a child's bag - it is light, it costs nothing, and it answers a fear they may not say out loud.
Part of our guide to Emergency prep for families with kids.