Fun Toddler Activities for Power Outage Time

With the soaring summer heat, power outages are a common occurrence in our part of the world. While the apartment building where we live does have a power back up system, there are many, many times when the said backup fails to deliver. However, we’ve found that even though the heat may seem unbearable, having fun rather than crib and complain makes it easier to sweat it out.  ***laughing***

 Here is some of the fun stuff that we do during a power outage (especially during the evenings) to keep our toddler and ourselves happy and occupied.

 Chasing the Light Game. This is a silly but fun game that our daughter loves to play. Power outages during the evening mean using torches and she has a ton of fun trying to “catch” the light. We simply wave the torch around and she runs around trying to catch the pool of light that it throws.

 Candlelight Meals. Of course, no electricity means having our dinner or lunch in the glow of the candlelight. It is so much fun and I tend to forget about the hot kitchen that I just worked in or the lack of the fan as we open up the windows and bask in the candlelight. Our daughter thinks that we’re celebrating someone’s birthday since there are candles and so usually starts her meal by singing “Happy Birthday!” ***smiling***

 Candlelight Splash Time. The heat and the darkness in the evenings makes it perfect for our daughter to spend time splashing in the tub in full candlelit glory. However, this is always under complete supervision since water, candles and toddlers don’t really mix well if left alone.

 Outdoor Time. Finally, a power outage is a great time to get outside and stay there. Unless it is very late in the night, we enjoy taking advantage of a power outage to head out to the neighborhood park, play on the swings or even go to one of the malls nearby for some cool ice-cream. And if it is too late to venture out, we just go out on to our balcony and do some star-gazing till the time the power comes back on.

 Doing simple yet enjoyable activities like these make a potentially difficult situation fun and actually, enjoyable. Our daughter no longer thinks of a power cut as “bad” or tough. In fact, she very matter-of-factly states, “Light gone to Timbuktu!” and gets ready to have some fun.  

So, what do you do when the power or water goes off? What activities do you use to make an uncomfortable situation fun for your kids? I’d love to hear and learn, do share!

Photo Credit:Ctd 2005