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Children's Games to Play When the Electricity Is Off

Entertaining children can be a bit trickier when the power is off, especially when it gets dark outside. Without movies and video games many children will have to rely on games that they normally wouldn’t play otherwise, whether they are board games or active games around the house. When it gets dark, games that don’t require a lot of movement are a good idea to prevent children from tripping and hurting themselves.

Flashlight Scavenger Hunt
- A flashlight scavenger hunt is a resourceful game that will keep children entertained with limited resources from parents. The game itself only requires a flashlight and a list of objects for children to find, which can be as simple or extravagant as desired based on children’s ages and attention spans. Lists can include simple items like toys or everyday objects to more obscure items that will require more effort from the children. Alternatively, parents can list clues and riddles rather than objects to extend the game; though it will likely result in children constantly checking in for more clues to solve the riddles.
Hide and Go Seek
- Hide and go seek may seem like a mundane game for older children who have tired of the game, but that’s only until they play it in a fully dark house or neighborhood with a flashlight. Parents should discourage running if the game is played indoors as children could hurt themselves tripping over objects. If played outdoors, players can use a home base to combine hide and go seek with tag. In this version, players attempt to make their way back to the home base without getting tagged by the player who is “it.” If a player is tagged, they become it, or else the last player to tag the home base will become it the next round.
Cards
- A deck of cards is a wonderful resource for power outages simply because there are endless games that can be played either as a group or alone. For older children, a game of solitaire is a fun way to pass the time, or parents can sift out cards and set up a game of memory where children have to find matching cards laid out upside down, turning over sets one by one. For groups, games like go fish are suitable for younger children, while older children can usually keep up with whatever game the adults are playing. If children don’t want to play a card game, they can always construct a house of cards, stacking them one on top of another to build a structure. Parents can assist and even allow children to use a few pieces of tape to make the game a little easier.

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