Keeping Kids Entertained ... With NO ELECTRIC!

10 Retro Games You Loved As A Kid
https://directwestmediagroup.com/10-retro-games-you-loved-as-a-kid/

Remember those hours of jumping rope, shooting marbles, and one-footing it through a hopscotch grid? Today’s kids are a lot less likely to experience these pastimes. In fact, they’re less likely to do much of anything that doesn’t involve electronics. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), our grandchildren are four times less active than we were as kids.
Some other troubling stats:

   The average child gets more than seven hours of “screen time” daily. (The AAP recommends one to two hours)
   Just one in three U.S. children is physically active every day.
   One of every three U.S. kids is overweight or obese.

What’s a grandparent to do? Play! Get your grandkids up and moving by teaching them pastimes from your childhood.   ---CONTINUED---

5 Pencil and Paper Games to Do When You’re Bored
https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/5-pencil-and-paper-games-that-arent-tic-tac-toe/

In a time before people could cure their boredom by looking down at their phone and immediately retreating into an individual silo of entertainment, slaying its specter was often a cooperative exercise, requiring nothing more than a pencil and paper.

Even though pen and paper games have been supplanted by phone toggling when it comes to passing the time, it’s still handy to keep a few of them in the back pocket of your brain. These “analog” games come in handy for times when your phone’s out of charge, or when you want to entertain a kid without resorting to handing them a device. Their discreet-ness also makes them useful for work or church meetings where you’re bored out of your skull, but not supposed to be on your phone. Pencil and paper games are an all-around great source of impromptu entertainment, as you’ll almost always have all the supplies needed for their play on hand.   ---CONTINUED---

The Manly History of Cribbage and How to Play the Game
https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/the-manly-history-of-cribbage-and-how-to-play-the-game/

How to Make a Cribbage Board
https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/how-to-make-a-cribbage-board/

(Snip) ...I started reading up on Cribbage rules and found a lot of custom-made boards on the web. I decided on a “classic style” board that follows a design I found on other woodworking sites, and it’s perfect for a moderately skilled woodworker like myself. The board has enough holes to play a 61 point game, as opposed to a 121 point game.

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Here's another site with instructions:

Make a cribbage board
https://canadianhomeworkshop.com/2447/project-plans/make-a-cribbage-board

How to Make a Rope Swing and Fly Like Tarzan: An Illustrated Guide
https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/how-to-make-a-rope-swing-and-fly-like-tarzan-an-illustrated-guide/

Summer is swiftly coming to an end. One of the ways to enjoy the last of the warm weather weekends is to take an afternoon by the lake or river and make a rope swing. Safety is paramount, and close behind is gaining maximum height and velocity. We show you how to do both. See you at the ol’ swimming hole!   ---CONTINUED--- with illustrated Guide

How to Skip a Stone: An Illustrated Guide
https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/how-to-skip-a-stone-an-illustrated-guide/

Skipping a stone is a fun way to wile away the time on a camping trip or picnic. It’s something every uncle and dad should know how to teach and pass on to the kiddos. If you never learned how, here’s your tutorial.   ---CONTINUED--- with illustrated guide

How to Keep Kids Entertained When the Power Goes Out
http://www.askaprepper.com/how-to-keep-kids-entertained-when-the-power-goes-out-2/

  Let the wind blow, let the snow fall, let the power go out. You’ve got it under control. You have your water, your off-grid heating method and enough fuel to see you through until spring, your food that can easily be prepared without electricity, your candles and fully charged solar lanterns. You are set to weather this storm for however long it wants to assault your area.

Except.

The kids.

They are… DRIVING. YOU. INSANE.

In all of your preps, if it didn’t occur to you to put aside some activities that don’t require power or a lot of light, you may be in for a bumpy ride in the event of a power failure.    ---CONtiNUED---

“I’m bored”: 30 Ways to Keep Kids Entertained When the Power Goes Out
https://www.theorganicprepper.com/im-bored-30-ways-to-keep-kids-entertained-when-the-power-goes-out/

(SNIP) ... In all of your preps, if it didn’t occur to you to put aside some activities that don’t require power or a lot of light, you may be in for a bumpy ride in the event of a power failure. Your children, since they are warm and fed, don’t understand (or care) that you had to prepare in advance to keep them warm and fed. All they care about is… ---CONTINUED---

Make Spinning Tops with Cardboard and Marbles
https://frugalfun4boys.com/make-spinning-tops/

 

Here’s a fun spinning top toy that can be made with items from around the house! These tops are well-balanced and spin for a really long time. Kids will have fun coloring patterns on their tops and then playing with them.   ---CONTINUED---

Ping Pong Ball Shooters
https://frugalfun4boys.com/ping-pong-ball-shooters/

  (SNIP) ... This easy activity is perfect for fun on a rainy day.

(SNIP) ...  It’s a great way to be active indoors, and yet the ping pong balls won’t damage anything or hurt anyone.   ---CONTINUED---

20 Card Games that are Perfect for Your Next Family Game Night
https://frugalfun4boys.com/card-games-for-kids-families/

 

Here’s a collection of more than 20 fun family card games! These are games to play with a deck of cards that kids can learn and families can play together.

These card games are perfect for family gatherings, camping trips, holidays, and more.

One thing to keep in mind about card games is that many games are called by several different names. So you may get partway through the rules on any of these and realize that you know that game by another name. It’s just kind of how it goes with card games!   ---CONTINUED---

Straw Weaving (Weaving on Drinking Straws)
https://happyhooligans.ca/straw-weaving/

 Here’s another cool weaving craft for your older kids to try. Straw Weaving! All you need is a few drinking straws, tape and yarn, and your kids can make bracelets, necklaces, headbands and bookmarks for themselves or to trade with friends. ---CONTINUED---

Super Easy Pipe Cleaner Bubble Wands
https://myhomebasedlife.com/super-easy-pipe-cleaner-bubble-wands/

  These bubble wands literally take minutes to make and the kids can make them whatever colors they want. Heck, they can make one for each hand if they want to.   ---CONTINUED---

25 Creative and Fun Backyard Game Ideas
https://1millionideas.com/25-creative-and-fun-backyard-game-ideas

 ... They are not only a blast to play, but the whole family can get in on the DIY game-making action. From tic-tac-toe with sweet summery painted rocks as game pieces to a football toss, a giant lawn matching game, or miniature golf with a full course, let’s check them out!   ---CONTINUED---

We keep board game ,dice and cards here. Wife says its a start

These are all wonderful ideas! We may have one of the nephews and his family coming to live next door in the summer. They have 3 kids under age 10. I will keep these in mind.

Another good source of games that are easy to play is in an old Girl Scout handbook. They had a variety of indoor and outdoor games that helped my girls earn their badges back in the day. Not sure if a new handbook will have them, but if you find an old one from about 30 years ago, they probably will.