Keep Games On Hand For When Power Fails

Games: You never know when you need to supply some instant, power free entertainment.

See if the following sounds all too familiar:

“OK, power company….it’s been three hours without power now, and the kids are getting a scared look in their eyes as they watch their phone battery run down, and it’s too dark in here to play cards….Power company?!?” …. Seen on my facebook feed during the last winter storm.

There’s two parts of fixing this situation, of course. The first part is to have “alternative lighting” available for power out/grid down situations. The second part is to have a ready made stock of games and diversions ready to go.

Disclaimer:  I don’t have kids, so some of this is based off conversations with friends and I don’t mistake that for expertise.  I did think it was worth writing to raise the ideas in the minds of those of you who Do have kids, though.  Also, it’s worth thinking about for adults as well.

Let There Be Light

There’s many, many different ways of lighting a room when the power is out. At The Place, where we have no power to start with, we use both electric battery-powered lights as well as kerosene lanterns.

Of course there’s always oil lamps and candles, both of which should be in every prepper’s supplies at hand for power outages. 

With this out of the way, let’s get on with the fun… bring on the games.

Entertainment is part of our mission…

Our mission here at Beans, Bullets, Bandages & You is to help you thrive no matter what life brings. It’s kind of hard to thrive with unhappy kids, is it not?   It’s not thriving if you’ve nothing to do but sit about and worry, either.  For better or worse, people in general and kids in particular are getting a lot of their entertainment from electronic devices.  

Worse, from a prepping standpoint, is that a lot of that entertainment also requires real-time network access.  

During any sort of electrical emergency, the real-time access is likely to go away immediately and the clock is ticking (well, if it’s a wind-up watch it’s ticking) on power to run the devices themselves.  

Having interesting entertainment options on hand can help turn a ‘problem’ into an ‘adventure’.  Board games can still be found for cheap at resale shops such as the Salvation Army — the upside being that you can get a stack of choices for the same cash outlay as a single new game.  

Personally, I’d read the instructions before I put the games away, so I wouldn’t be having to struggle with not knowing what I was doing when it was time to pull them out.  I’d also save one or two good-looking options for special occasions (like power outages) because New can be Exciting.

Cards, anybody?

Cards aren’t just for gambling either; they’re a lot of fun for team games and can be a relaxing way to while away time in solitaire.  They work for both kids and adults.  For that matter, there are a lot of board games that are fun for adults.   I’d consider your lighting options though.  I know I’m old and all, but trying to read fine print off of cards to candlelight would not be terribly relaxing for me.

Creative and/or crafty projects are good for the spirit at any time, and most don’t need power.  Reusables such as Legos or slower projects like needlepoint don’t take much storage space for a lot of diversion.  Am I losing you with the talk of sewing?  Carving/whittling serves a similar purpose.  A butter knife and bar of Ivory soap was a treat when I was a kid; first I could have fun trying to carve myself a whale, then I could use the whale in the bath.

Books, of course…

And books. Always books. ‘Nuff said.  Puzzles, if you have the space and light to put them together – I find them very relaxing during a summer evening at The (electricity-free) Place.

It may seem like lightweight, unimportant stuff.  Surely, it’s not as important as keeping people safe, warm, fed.  Mental well-being is a big deal too though.  Emergency situations, and the disruptions of routine they bring, are stressful for people in general and kids in particular.  Having diversions to reduce that stress and add in some fun is worth the attention.

Board Games

Board games can be a lot of fun, they store forever and most games everybody already knows how to play. 

Spice’s family were huge board and card gamers, and her parents would play games nightly instead of watching television. Their personal favorites were games like Upwords, Scrabble and card games.

Spice & Salty like to play Battleship, and most recently Salty picked up the game Pandemic, a great game where the players work together against the spread of the disease, which promotes teamwork and bonding.

Memories that can last forever can be made around a lantern lit game table.

Salty’s parents were never much for games, but Spice’s family loved them, especially her parents.

We, as a couple, have many fond memories of nights spent at her parents house around the kitchen table playing cards with them. Even though they were absolutely devoted to each other and as mated as mates can be, they enjoyed playing against each other and we would nearly always play with Spice partnered with one parent and Salty the other.

Hours would slip away unnoticed as the games rolled on.

One of her parents favorite card games was Shanghai Low (also known as Shanghai Rummy), a game with the advantage that you can play it with any number of players you can get around the table (as long as you have enough decks of cards).

When we visited we played a lot of a game they called High Five, a trick taking game more commonly known as Cinch. The game was probably what they loved the most, and it was one they didn’t get to play all that often because it takes a bit of practice to become a skilled player at it, and it absolutely requires four players.

Remembering these games are actually a bit bittersweet because both sets of our parents have passed away, and Spice’s folks have been gone for quite a while now. They are good memories, though…

Salty’s note: I don’t care what the dictionary says, Sloan is a legit English non-noun word. This comment references a game of Upwords played in the late 1980’s, and yes, Salty won’t let it go even after all of these years. 

Why wait until the power goes out for a lights-out game night?

Salty & Spice have had many a lights-out game night, it’s fun to just turn everything off and play our favorite games.

We highly recommend it to all… if the power isn’t out, just turn out the lights, turn off the cell phones and make yourself some lasting memories.