Over the last thirty years, our lives have slowly been taken over by more and more electronics. But all it takes is power outage to remind you how people used to pass the time before screens were a permanent part of even toddler lives. Whether you’re waiting out a hurricane or holing up after a big blizzard, when you and the family are alone together without power, suddenly everyone remembers the things our ancestors used to do to keep themselves entertained over long days without television or the internet. In fact, you probably remember doing more than a few of these activities with your own parents when you were little.
1) Singing Together
There is nothing more wonderful and satisfying than making musical harmony with your family. From teaching your younger children how to carry a tune to singing duets with your spouse, if your family doesn’t already sing a lot, you may be surprised just how much you enjoy the activity. The best part is that you don’t have to know all the songs your parents used to sing or even start with the whole family knowing the same songs. Over the course of the outage, you can teach each other and form yourself a little family band.
2) Actual Board Games
Remember playing games on actual boards with little plastic and metal pieces? These days, if you ask your child to play Monopoly, they’re likely to try and pull up a mobile app but that cupboard full of old board games is your secret weapon in a power outage. With just enough light to see the board and read the cards, you and the family can go back in time and enjoy all the classics that used to make up thousands of family game nights across the country. Checkers and Chess, Monopoly and Risk, Sorry and Parcheesee, whatever your favorite games were as a child, consider stocking them up for power outages and camping trips in the future. They do still sell the board versions in department and toy stores.
3) Playing Dress-Up and Pretend
Are most of your children’s toys electronic? While anything battery powered will soon lose it’s ability to entertain, you and your kids have entire closets full of ‘toys’ to play with as long as you add just a touch of imagination. Set aside clothes you’ll need to wear during the outage and otherwise open up the closets to play time and a world of pretend. Your children can be magical heroes and mythical creatures while you take the roles of commanding monarchs and cackling villains. You can lose an entire afternoon to running in and out of closets, changing costumes, and inventing stories together.
4) Romping in the Yard
When was the last time your children spent more than fifteen minutes playing outside? Times have changed but the physical needs of children have not. If it’s safe to go outside during your power outage, bust out the balls, bats, jump ropes and hula hoops because no power means that your kids have no excuse not to play. There’s no TV their missing, no way to text with friends, and plenty of boredom to burn up with outdoor activity. Don’t forget to treat yourself to a little play as well. A few rounds with the jump rope or playing catch is a great way for parents to get involved in outside time.
5) Charades and Detective
Finally, there are plenty of games you can play with no materials, power, or props at all. Don’t have a board game ready? Play a rousing game of charades or start pulling up your memories of old party games. There are plenty of hide-and-go-seek or murder mystery type games to play or, if you don’t recall the rules well enough, simply make up your own games. Children especially love to invent new games including a variety of very silly rules. Use whatever you have around the house and play whatever comes to mind.
When the power goes out for long periods of time, the digital age starts to lose its grip. We remember that it’s fun to spend time together, even long ’empty’ hours talking and playing without worrying about checking emails or answering texts. In fact, you’ll probably have so much fun playing ‘analog’ games with the family during the outage, you might just pull the breakers once a year to bring back the magic as family tradition.
