Author of Be Ready for Anything and Bloom Where You’re Planted online course
Lots of people imagine a flurry of nonstop work when the power goes out for a longer period. Sometimes that’s the case, but at other times, due to a natural disaster, the safest course of action is to stay in your home. All of that idle time can wreak havoc on your mental state with boredom or your imagination running amok. So, before disaster ever strikes, it’s a good idea to think about what to do for entertainment when the power goes out.
In our tech-obsessed world, living without a constant barrage of entertainment and information can feel almost like withdrawal from a drug. Be sure to have some things on hand to keep your mind occupied. (If you have kiddos, here’s a list specifically for them.)
Here’s how to stay entertained when the electricity goes out.
I asked some folks on Facebook what they like to do when the power goes out and they gave me some great suggestions. Use this list to stock up on the right supplies to keep yourself entertained and pleasantly busy.
Keep in mind you’re going to need some lighting for many of these activities. I absolutely love my inexpensive LED headlamps at times like these.
As for me, I stocked up on yarn to get a jumpstart on the holiday gifts I’m making.
Karen:
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I read…. A lot. And I have candles and lanterns for light in the evenings.
Most of my daylight time would be spent taking care of animals, finishing pens for security, checking gardens and probably canning up anything in the freezer that is left. Since I have trouble being idle, I would be focusing on what I can do and getting as much done as possible.
Beth
I love Word Searches, Sudoku, Hidden Words, and lots of books to read help with boredom for me.
Angela
Crafts – simple things like friendship bracelets, bead necklaces, and teaching the kids to make things out of paracord. It’s also a hidden way to teach knot skills
Jennifer
Luckily I don’t need to worry about keeping kids amused and unafraid – it’s just me. Since I have so many candles, light sticks, and flashlights, and buy my batteries in boxes of 50, it’s not a problem to read and enjoy adult coloring and other things …More often though, I use the time to enjoy the lovely sacred space I have created but often get too busy to use. Light some beeswax candles, smudge, drum, do an angel card or medicine card reading, meditate, journal. And of course if it goes on a long time, I enjoy some nice indulgent snacks and a nice glass of wine, then have a long sleep.
Victoria
There’s always more downtime than you planned during a power outage. My hurricane supplies include coloring books and colored pencils/markers, decks of cards, travel games, yarn and crochet hooks, paperback books, spiral notebooks and pens, and dice. I’m always looking for portable entertainment at garage sales and thrift stores.
Shelia
Playing cards, horseshoes (if able to be outside), doing puzzles
Melonie
When we lived in typhoon (hurricane) country, I invested in board games. Even if we didn’t lose power, we could lose internet and cable, so lockdowns could get tedious.
Then there are our many books and craft projects. Hurricanes are a great excuse – er, reason – for a shiny new book! Audibooks on charged devices are handy too. When my kids were little, they listened to the Herb Fairies stories while playing with LEGOs and such; we all learned neat things about herbal medicine from those!
Tim
Cards of course; Dominoes. Scrabble, backgammon, and Trivial Pursuit. And not to be funny but you can sit around and practice knot tying give each kid a 3-foot piece of cord and teach them knots. When that becomes easy see if they can do it in the dark.
JoLyn
I have a variety of musical instruments. A recorder, drum, tambourine, lap harp and harmonica. No one plays much of any of those, although we all have a little bit of musical knowledge But it’s fun to sit around and see what sounds we can get out of them.
Dina
Knitting, spinning, and weaving
Linda
I bought a 15″ Cricket loom yesterday, so if the power goes out tonight, I will light a candle and figure out how to assemble it. 🙂
Susan
We’re a bunch of chatty Cathys here…we could sit around and talk to each other for hours!!!
Michael
Nothing different. More of the stuff we already enjoy. Musical instruments, knitting, and spinning, board games. Outside fun like archery and knife throwing. But I do have a 200 count box of crayons hidden away, just in case.
Linda
Scrabble, reading.
Marilyn
No kids to entertain but the dogs just want to hang out. For myself I probably have somewhere in the neighborhood of easily over 500 to 800 books plus a good reference library, not all read; piano, 3 ukuleles and a few percussion instruments; sewing, needlecrafts such as quilting, embroidery, etc; painting supplies with lots of blank canvases and the tools to stretch more; coloring books; various crafts; a 24 x 24 shed filled with furniture to refinish and repaint; clay and pottery wheel; and a full stained glass workshop.
I’m used to my own company and I doubt I will get bored being by myself as long as I can have pets. I’ve not lived my life by a clock for over four years now with the exception of the microwave and oven clocks or what I may see on my phone, so I doubt I will miss that.
If all else fails I can play jacks or volunteer to sit with the children of neighbors who need some time to themselves. I grew up as an only child of a busy working Mom and she taught me to learn to be able to entertain myself.
Mimi
Honestly, there’s so much extra work to do without any clear idea of how long the outage will last I relax as much as possible! And I read. Hubster does his leather work.
Sheila
Although we only have “adults” here we have plenty of board games, puzzles galore, acoustic guitars, drums, baritone horn, xylophone, my daughter and I both crochet, beading supplies, Sculpey clay.
If it’s daylight the guys have all their garage toys – I mean tools – to tinker with, knock hockey, multiple decks of cards, adult coloring books, word search and crossword puzzles, daily readings with meditations, play with the cat and her favorite string, a battery-powered DVD player, my daughter likes to paint, and once when my kids were little and it was a long rainy day they made their own version of “I Spy” by collecting things around the house and setting them up on the hutch in the dining room, then each one would pick something they put in there and we had to search for it, it was a lot of fun and really passed the time.
Yancy
I read two of my favorite books last time…..took advantage of not wanting to keep charging our electronics! Nice to hold a real book again.
But yes, have a supply of games, Yahtzee, cards, Scrabble…
Sarah
Practice instruments and singing; we read books; play outside; art projects; board games and card games; work on a hobby or learn a new one (anything from crochet to whittling); cleaning projects inside the house and yardwork/gardening outside; tell stories; try out a new recipe over the fire; set the kids free to use their imagination to entertain us.
Lynda
Books, games and all kinds of needle work and basket making materials.
Mary
Besides all these great ideas (love Scrabble), I try to catch up on sleep. Without power, I am more tuned in to the rhythms of the sun.
Polly
Visiting with nearby family. Reading, especially books that have been sitting on the shelf for a while. Long walks if the weather permits. Napping. Chores. Adventures in cooking.
Jim
Sculpty clay! And other craft items. Card games. Books.
Jon
Reading paperback. Cards.
Bryan
If it’s dry, drink by a campfire. If it’s a wet drink by the fireplace. Either way, the wife and I’ll have a great time.
If it’s an EMP, we’ll drink at the bug out location.
Stella
Use glow bracelets and necklaces from the 99 cent store to make a ring toss game for the kids 🙂
Blackouts are not as scary with glow sticks and glow jewelry
Linda
I read or listen to audio books. Play with the cats.
Sara
Books! I love books! I don’t often re-read books, but save (or, hoard, as my husband calls it) them anyways… I’d reread them if I got bored! The rest of my family hasn’t read anywhere close to all of them so it’d entertain them.
Board games, card games…
Sewing materials…Art supplies (for the kids)
Word searches
Amanda
UNO!
Donna
Books, board games, art supplies – paper, markers, crayons, watercolor paints
Card games, play dough.
Put play sand in empty coffee cans or plant pots. Bring in garden solar lights and add to containers. If using a camp light or solar light, place it in front of a mirror, the room will be much brighter. Let the kids or grandkids make s’mores for snacks. Melt the marshmallow on a skewer over a candle. I keep extra chocolate bars in the freezer for this – hidden of course 🙂
Virginia
Since it’s just the two of us, I usually do crocheting if in the evening or during the day normal things that don’t require electricity.
Ron
Lost power during a wind storm and caught up on reading. Made S’mores with my GF in the fire that night. I actually Miss being stuck in the dark…
Alyssa
I always have small wooden crafts on hand for my kids to put together. They are just little kits from the dollar store, so very inexpensive. We used them for bad weather days. I let the kids color them with markers, then we house them together.
Brandy
Besides reading, games, singing storytelling et cetera, if you have kids then build a fort where you can pretend that you’re on a great adventure in the wilderness and let them be little Preppers to tell you how they should set up camp LOL. Use it as a learning experience make it fun so it’s not so scary. Have them help you make meals that way they learn also.
Thaddeus
Cribbage!
Julie
My kids love to play board and card games so we would get the games out, do puzzles, play with Legos, color, read books etc. We would pretty much do the same things we usually do for no TV time. I like the above idea of setting up a fort in the living room. I might also get our camping tent and bring that inside so we can ‘camp’ inside the house.
Scott My wife is expecting my 8th child. What do you think I would do during a power outage? ????
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What do you do for fun during a blackout?
What about you? Share how you pass the time when the electricity goes out for a while.
Let’s talk about it in the comments section.
10 Responses
I have puzzles, books, my iPad (fully charged) has games on it, adult coloring books, Uzzle game, uno card game, if oven works the we are baking bread, brownies and I have soup in the freezer!
Light candles or fat candles ( lard or veg oil fuel ) if it is dark outside. Do the same if it is winter time, any time.
Turn off UPS’s that supply backup power to computers and internet communications.
Turn off all lights except for 2. Kitchen and night light in bedroom.
Unplug electronics, sometimes. Depends on the reason for the power outage.
Turn on VHF radio and listen to 145.290 ( a local repeaters output ), battery powered.
Turn on AM radio to 660, battery powered.
Bundle up.
Listen to the radio or go to bed.
Have not had to cook meals in these conditions so far.
Cold chicken or coldcut sandwiches, with cranberry sauce, salt and pepper
Peanut butter with honey sandwiches too.
Cold cereal with milk.
Drink lots of diet coke! If refrigeration is not an option, place pop cans in a snow bank for 30 minutes.
Pop cans explode at low temps when contents frozen.
Shovel snow too.
73
Power went out last night at 2am. Was restored at 730 am. We have all been at each other’s throats since 2 hours into the storm on Saturday. My husband is drinking tons of nyquil, my son is in his room , my daughter n I r reading, and we’re binge watching netflix. and I’m literally going to take a sleeping pill the dr gave me a few years ago and sleep until tomorrow. Cats refuse to stay in shed with heater, water n food n I’ve given my dogs treats with pet cbd. I also called off work. Going to sleep until tomorrow. Those tips are great but don’t work for my family because we can’t stand each other. 😂 yall stay safe n warm.
We have farm animals to take care of that require fresh water and feed that keeps us busy. But when they’re taken care of, I play my piano and am learning how to play dulcimer. When my fingers get too tender, I switch to sudoku, mahjong and at last resort…. house cleaning! Currently our rainwater catch system in the kitchen and laundry room has frozen so I have to get water from a different storage tank, heat it up on the stove and do dishes. I will probably take a week for everything to return to normal. It’s unusually cold right now, otherwise the water system doesn’t usually freeze. There’s no public water available and wells in our area are difficult. The rainwater catch has worked for us for the last 30 yrs
I have old time radio shows saved on my computer (you can get them on Cd’s too). Some neighbors over, a fire in the fire pit and some old time radio shows, good time.
I was fortunate enough to have a 20 kW natural gas generator installed. As long as I have natural gas, no issues. Sorry that most of us aren’t in my position.
My “Plan C” involves my two favorite indoor activities are reading (of course) and listening to shortwave radio on my battery / AC radio. Yes the Internet has replaced SW in many areas, but there are still many countries (and private organizations) that do S/W broadcasts. Also many HAM (amateur) radio operators out there. English and Spanish are the predominant languages I hear.
I forgot to mention, you can charge your phone from the battery in a laptop. USB cable from computer to your machine is all that’s needed/
If the power goes out and it’s daylight and decent out I go on a wood cutting spree.
At night I have hundreds of hours of audiobooks.
Then there is the dreaded cleaning.
Checking on and feeding the animals here.
Tractor maintenance..
changing the car engine oil.
Cleaning, oiling my peashooters.
walking my dog
There is so much to do rather than waste it on board games.
Just because it’s dark (typically when power is lost) does not mean everything else has to stop.
If it matters I have a hefty powerbank for my phone, my main use for the cellphone is audiobooks.
I have crafts, sewing – restored treadle sewing machine-, knitting, crocheting, unread books, target practice for many different styles of things, a bit of embroidery to finish on a project, and some ideas kicking around in my head that need to be put on paper.
I was raised as an only child so I’ve never been board or without projects. I have enough art supplies for oils, acrylic, and watercolors to keep a class busy for a few months. I hauled home a cabinet shops drawers, drawer runners, and pulls, that filled my pickup truck. I could take measurements and design some storage cabinets or a good work table with under drawers. I have 4’x8’ sheets of 1/4” oak plywood that would enclose them beautifully. And I’d bet I could design some nice doors for shelves to go alongside the drawers. lol.
I have far more stuff than actual time for big projects. I usually fit small ones in between other stuff. Art work can rest a few days between frenzied afternoons. My sewing is done in odd minutes between meals, meetings, church services, and necessary projects. A power outage would be welcome sometimes. I’ve lived without power enough that heat, meals, and seeing, are all well covered.
Last week someone gave me 3 shopping bags of bell peppers and greenhouse zucchini. I added onions and ground beef and a gallon can of crushed tomatoes someone gave me two weeks ago. I cooked 3 cups of rice to add in. We had three meals of stir fry, three meals of stuffed bell peppers and I canned 18 quarts of stuffed bell peppers. If I cut up the peppers in a jar and reheat it, we can have a complete meal in about 5 minutes. By cutting them and using all the liquid we have a thick meat/ veggie/ rice soup. Heat on propane or a small wood fire in my camp heating stove.
Canning is one of my favorite cooking pastimes. I even can my dry beans so heat and eat is often the order of the day. I’ve canned excess milk and butter also. Today I brought home lots of milk in 1/2 pt containers that was going past date. Our senior center was giving it away. I now have farmers cheese with garlic, dried chives, and a bit of salt that is draining. It can be frozen if we don’t finish it up quick.
I can charge small water pumps for the garden drip systems, our phone batteries, my computers batteries, a collection of small yard lights and more with several smaller solar panels or the lights just set in the sun. I have larger solar panels with charge controllers, batteries, and inverters for power tools where I haven’t run main power. I have a 1,000w windmill that can also charge batteries. We have 1,500 gallons of propane refilled every summer with several others we make a huge order and save a lot per gallon each year. The cook stove is propane top over electric oven. Heat is baseboard water heated in a propane boiler. No electric involved. We have several house power size gas, diesel, and propane generators. So no worries for house or well. Wood heaters and a coal stove are still here and a good stack of wood.
I make candles to sell so there are always “seconds” to burn. If I don’t want candles a handful of the yard lights in a vase light a room quite well. My planters by the gates outside have solar lights bright enough to read by. One brought in would last over 6 hours. The hanging shed lights are powered by small solar panels hung by the doors. They have on and off switches and can last nearly 8 hours. They also have USB plug ins for charging other things.
About the only thing I couldn’t do is use my wire feed welder or the wood lathe.