If there is an event that causes any type of situation where we are without electricity for a sustained period (EMP, mass die off causing the loss of skilled workers to operate the grid etc..) there are going to be a lot of bored people who haven't given entertainment too much thought. Also if you have younger children (below 10 or so - older children will be more mature & can help with the running of the home), you will want to insulate them a little bit from the reality that exists after an event.
Now I strongly believe that in the 1st few weeks/months you are probably going to be too busy doing household security, hunting, collecting firewood etc.. rather than chilling out. But what about after that timeframe, once things return to a relatively calm state?
How much thought have people given to the time where you're finished your daily tasks but not yet ready to sleep? What ideas did you come up with?
Books? You can only read them a couple of times at the most if you're lucky (except reference books, I can only read a book once). What about once you have read them all? Unless you have a home library of many thousands of books, it won't take that long if its all you have.
Deck of cards perhaps? It will help, but over time of constant handling, shuffling etc.. they will become dog-eared & not much use.
Ive often seen people say "I have solar/wind up charger for my iPod/kindle/laptop" or whatever other device you may have. This is great & will help. But what happens when the internal battery eventually goes? They can only be charged so many times before they stop functioning.
How many other preppers have thought about more traditional things like table tennis, darts, indoor skittles, chess set etc..? If you think about it, these things will provide hours, weeks, months & years of entertainment.
A dart board will cost you between £20 & £50 new depending on what you go for (in a case, different brands) with a couple of sets of darts. A check on gumtree or eBay might bring you something cheaper.
Table tennis. A few quid for a couple of racquets & ping pong balls. You don't even need a full size table to play it. A normal dining table could be used. If you have 1 lying around, put a sheet of 8x4 or 6x3 plywood down. Improvise a net of some sort (paracord with something draped over) & you're away.
Skittles. You can get sets that range from £5 upwards. A long passage way will do as your bowling alley.
Got kids? How about one of the multi game tables (table football, hockey, basketball etc..). You can buy none electrical versions & again it gives multiple choice to relieve boredom.
Good old fashioned board games. Monopoly, cluedo, snakes & ladders, chess, jigsaws. Local charity shops & freecycle groups often have these available.
Crossword & word search books are available from the pound shops & will do for a few hours/days. Same for sudoku.
For the musically minded, you might want to buy a few cheap instruments to put away.
1 last thing I would suggest is plenty of pens/pencils & lined paper. A way of coping with whatever the future holds may be to put your thoughts down onto paper. I'm sure we will all face some pretty grim events & putting down your thoughts maybe the thing that gets you through the other side (if you happen to write anything about experiencing "long pig", ensure you burn these BEFORE showing anyone else
)
All of these things will be useful in an electricity free environment to keep the mind sharp & boredom at bay.
Oh yeah, almost forgot. S13, you already told us what you're planning for entertainment. I'm planning on lots of that aswell
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