Let’s face a fact: most kids are very happy playing with something that is electronic. They would play them all the time if they could. I know the pain of that statement because I had a preteen son who was the same way.

I worried about how he would entertain himself if the power went out and the batteries on his Nintendo 3DS died. I worried about how my two daughters at home would entertain themselves without cell phones, computers, Kindles, and Netflix. I worried about all of us dealing without Wi-Fi.

However, we have had a few times of dealing with this now and they dealt just fine. Why? How?

1. The batteries on various electronic things take a while to die. We also have a few solar chargers.

2. I had the foresight to give them a love of reading. With a flashlight or candle, they can read forever.

3. I never wanted to be the parent that had to constantly entertain her kids. I had them entertain themselves and play with each other (the joys of living on the farm with a homebody mother). They learned to play together. We have disagreements, but they get them worked out quickly without too much parental interference.

What can kids do to entertain themselves without using electricity or power? Realize that I have a 10, 13.5, and 18 years old at home. This list is geared for older kids. When my kids were little, entertaining themselves was much, much easier.

Things To Do When You Have No Power!

1. Books and magazines (Start a library with a variety of books that might spark their interest)
2. Board and card games
3. Legos (My son is quite the fan! He has books and several sets.)
4. Drawing paper and pencils/chalks
5. Painting supplies
6. Crafts
7. Clean their bedrooms – a good lantern or oil lamp carefully used will provide enough light.
8. Clean out school bags
9. Tell stories or read out loud
10. Scrapbooking or organizing pictures – we get a lot of trips down memory lane doing this!
11. Set up the ultimate car track and race the little Matchbox cars
12. Set up a Rube Goldberg contraption
13. Perform some science experiments
14. Teach them to cook without power
15. Play outside if the weather is not bad.
16. Play flashlight tag indoors
17. Put together a puzzle or puzzles. 
18. Play with the pets
19. Take a nap
20. Put on a family play and/or puppet show

Just in case you were all wondering, these ideas were supplemented by my children. They came up with most of them!

What do your kids like to do when the power is out or the batteries have died in their various electronic devices?

Thanks for reading!
Erica

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