Saturday, August 27, 2011

Storm Games


Every parent knows the agony of keeping the kids busy on a stormy or snowy day. Of course, when a hurricane comes to town, it's worse. Even adults get antsy as they wait for the storm to actually arrive, pass, and move on.

So here are some ideas to pass that time...

1) Clean out the refrigerator/freezer. While there's still time to toss stuff in the trash and clean all those empty containers. Then consolidate everything so stuff stays cold longer if you lose power.

2) Carry all that trash out to the dumpster. Really. Who wants to smell stinky garbage during a storm?

3) Watch the repeating loop on the weather channel. It's sort of hypnotizing. If all else fails you can just zone out.

4) Rearrange all the bookshelves. After all, you have plenty of time. And who knows--you might find something to read?

5) Read. Read those books you've been putting off because you're too busy. Well. You're not busy now. 

6) Bake a cake. You'll need something to snack on when the wind is howling around the corners of the building. 

7) Sort through your old pictures. Put the piles in big Ziploc bags so you can scan them into the computer after the storm. Our box of pictures is huge. It should keep us busy for a couple days.

8) Play Go Fish. Any number of players and any age can be accommodated by this old appropriate game.

9) When everyone is sick of each other play Solitaire. One deck of cards. It's harder to play with real cards as opposed to the computer game.

10) Cook. Make a big pot of chili. Or some chocolate chip cookies. Or a pot of pea soup. 

11) Clean your dresser drawers. Pack up clothes to take to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. 

12) If you have younger children, play dress-up. Kids love to dress up in old clothes.

13) Pray. I know it's considered old-fashioned, but I find comfort in prayer. 

14) Take a nap. Sleep is good...

anny

4 comments:

  1. I was going to say...rearrange all your books! That's what my kids always did - for hours!

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  2. We aren't into rain or any of that wet stuff. But during the bushfires I had the fire alert warnings scrolling across the bottom of my computer screen so I knew what was going on. I expect that's the equivalent of your weather channel.
    Keep safe
    Helen

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  3. I'm glad everyone is weathering the storm with their sense of humor intact. I need to build my little guy a dress-up box. He loves grabbing Mommy's shoes...except he tosses them in the dog's water bowl when he's done walking around in them.

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