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Health & Fitness

Power Outage Blues

Pinwheel Books shares some tips on how to entertain a family during a power outage.

This article was previously published by TwinLife Magazine, the sister company to Pinwheel Books. It was written by patch blogger, and blogger for both Pinwheel and TwinLife Magazine, Nicole:

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the millions of victims still without power from Hurricane Sandy. In Boston, Mass, TwinLife Magazine was safely indoors riding out the storm all day Monday. Things were safe enough for us today to go back to work. But for many, especially those in New York, New Jersey, and Long Island, the power is out, and won’t be coming back soon.

So what do you do? We’ve got some ideas, and have provided links below.

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Our advice? Think simple, and cover the basics for all ages: 

  • For young twins or multiples, try and keep them occupied with something time consuming. A few puzzles, some play dough, drawing, are all great daytime activities that require no electricity. If there is anywhere in your house that allows them to run around a little bit, try letting them exert a little energy. It will at least tire them out for a little while before they move on to the next activity. Heck, even older kids, teens, and adults might to exert a little energy to keep calm and stay relaxed.
  • Have an array of books on hand that you can either read as a family, or read individually. This is a great time to crack open that new book you’ve been meaning to read, introduce some new subjects to your families, or rereading a classic. Reading aloud is a great way to keep a crowd busy. Taking turns reading passages from books keeps everyone entertained, especially if the readers get really animated and dramatic. Along with books, having any drawing materials on hand is always an option.
  • Games, games, games. Your closets may still be busting with old-fashioned game boards, and family game time can be just what you need to pass the time. There’s also a good chance you have a deck of cards lying around, opening up even more games for kids or adults.
  • Music! If you stocked up on batteries, and still have that portable stereo in your house, you can put on the radio. Catch up on the news, put on some background music, and stay connected. When you are stranded indoors for awhile, keeping abreast of what’s going on in the outside world can be extremely helpful.

There are some resources online with more game ideas to keep your families occupied, including:

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  • Squidoo’s list of Power-Outage Activities. They include some classic faves like hand shadow puppets, charades, and more.
  • Suite 101 also has a list of children’s activities for when the power goes out. They include another great tip to stay entertained – invite people over! It’s always more fun to wait out a power outage when you’re surrounded by friends or family
  • iVillage has just updated their power outage activity list to reflect the impact of Hurricane Sandy, and they thought of ways to do arts and crafts without all the mess! Here’s one of our favorite crafts for tots:

    Arts and crafts are a no-brainer when you’re stuck inside with no electricity, but we have to give major ingenuity props to this twist on finger-painting. While definitely fun, tiny hands mixed with paint can equal a major mess. Instead, Feeling Lovesome recommends squeezing a couple blobs of washable finger paint into a zip-top bag, pressing the air out of it and sealing it with clear packing tape. Little ones can then move the paint all around — without actually touching it. No muss, no fuss? Why didn’t we think of this one sooner?

  • And Groovy Green Living has updated their blog with 10 more power outage tips.

All of this is meaningless if the power is already out. If you are reading this via 3G, then we hope this inspires you!. But if you have power and know someone without it, send along these ideas to them if you can!

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