6 Family Activities For During a Power Outage

It happens to most people at least once a year. You are sitting around the table at dinner or standing in the bathroom in the evening, and suddenly, the lights flicker and go out. You wait for a minute, but they do not turn back on. Congratulations. You are dealing with a power outage.

Most of the time, a power outage is a brief nuisance. You have to wash the dishes by hand instead of in the dishwasher one night, or you have to get ready for bed by candlelight. Power outages, however, become a much larger problem when kids are involved, especially when the power outage lasts more than a few dark moments. Kids do not necessarily know what to do with themselves during a power outage. Young children may be scared of the sudden darkness and further unnerved when their trusty bedside lamp does not turn on to chase away the monsters. In some ways, older children and teens can be worse. They may not suffer from the frightening inability to banish monsters from their closets, but many older children and teens today have no idea how to entertain themselves without their electronics. So, what is a parent to do during a power outage? Here are six family activities for during a power outage.

Tell Stories

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Put your family’s creativity on display, and tell stories during the power outage. If you know any myths, fairy tales or legends by heart, you can recite them for your children. Thunderstorms make for excellent backdrops for old stories of dragons and storm gods such as “The Legend of Yamata no Orochi” or eerie old tales such as “The Black School.” If your children find storms a little scary already, you can tell more reassuring or humorous stories with happy endings such as “East of the Sun and West of the Moon,” “Thrymskvidha,” “Raven Steals the Sun, Moon and Stars” or any number of old trickster tales.

You can also make up your own stories. On a nice evening, do as ancient humans did, and use the stars as inspiration. Find new or unfamiliar constellations, and make up a story about them. You can also put on “shows” using candlelight and shadows.

Play Games

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With no electronics to distract or entertain the kids, take advantage of the dark and plan a family game night. Pull out a board game, and set up some candles. If you are wary of having candles near a cardboard board, you can also play cards. Gin Rum, 500 Rum or Rummy, Egyptian Rat Screw and Crazy Eights are always popular with children, and many teens or young adults enjoy them, too.

If the storm has blown past but the power is still not back on, you can also go outside and play. Hide and seek, flashlight tag and kick the can are great games for a summer night. Just be careful not to trip over any tree limbs that may have fallen, and warn children from hiding under old oak trees unless you can see that there are no precariously balanced broken branches, or widow makers, hidden in the tree.

If the storm is still raging, you can also play the same games inside. Just be sure that children know the rules so that a creative child does not end up accidentally breaking something in their bid to fit in the perfect hiding place.

Go Outside

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Power outages often last much longer than the storm that knocked out the lights. If the electricity is still out the next day, take advantage of the lack of electronics to distract your children, and send the family outside. In the winter, have a snowman building contest or a snowball fight. Even if it is icy, you can go sledding in the backyard. During the warmer months when power is out due to thunderstorms and downed power lines, take your children to the local park. If you cannot get there or do not have a park nearby, think back to what you enjoyed doing during your childhood. Set up a kickball game with other neighborhood children or play tag. Use the time without electricity to make sure your kids get some much needed fresh air and vitamin D. Younger children might also enjoy having a backyard “picnic” and eating their lunch in the grass.

Read or Color

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When the power is out but it is still daytime, encourage your children to read a paper and ink book. Many children have begun developing shortened attention spans, smaller vocabularies and poor writing skills because they do not read books anymore. Instead, most of their contact with the written word is in the form of texts and social media posts where “OMG! Fab dress! I luv it!” is considered perfectly acceptable writing. Reintroduce your children to the joy that books can bring.

You can also help your kids bring out their more artistic side. Young children might enjoy some new coloring books and markers while even teens might enjoy drawing or painting on a dreary afternoon.

These activities do not have to stop when the sun sets either. Set up some candles away from loose paper and where little ones are unlikely to knock them over, and let your kids enjoy coloring or reading by candlelight. For imaginative children, you can even make it a game and have them pretend they are reading in an old castle or pirate ship which is why there is no electricity.

Sing

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When the lights are out, put your focus on senses other than sight. Sit down with the family and enjoy making some music. Lead your children in songs that they know, or teach them something new. Church songs and hymns are good for during power outages because most of the family will know the lyrics. Your family might also enjoy hearing folksongs that tell stories. Lavender Blue has regained new popularity following Disney’s live action “Cinderella” and “The Pretty Girl Milking Her Cow” is an old Irish classic. You might also enjoy translations of other folk songs such as the Scandinavian “Herr Mannelig.” Call and response songs also work well since children only need to learn the “refrain.” Many sea shanties and old work songs are set up in this fashion, and there are a number that are perfectly acceptable for children and teens such as the sea shanty “Roll the Old Chariot.”

Rest

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Power outages can be a great time to catch up on much needed rest. Without electricity, it is much harder to fall into the trap of doing “just one more thing before I go to bed” simply because you do not have the ability to do some of those things, be they a load of laundry or replying to one more Facebook post. Take advantage of this, and put the whole family to bed early. Before tucking the kids in, tell some bedtime stories or sing an old lullaby. You can also take a “family nap” and have the kids share their dreams when they wake back up. Even just laying down on the couch and letting your mind wander can be very relaxing.

You can also rest your spirit by spending some time in prayer. With no external distractions, you can refocus on your spiritual life for a few minutes. Read some favorite passages from Scriptures, sing some favorite hymns or have honest discussions about faith with your family. Use the sudden lack of electricity to prompt a discussion of what the family is thankful for, or use the candlelight to set the mood for retelling favorite Bible stories. Get your kids involved by letting them choose the story, or, if they know the story, let them tell it. If you children do not know the stories by heart, pause every few minutes, and let them guess what happened next.