If the lights are turned off in the house: 15 ideas for what to do with children in the dark

Emergency shutdowns of the world in many cities of Ukraine - the first question of parents: what are the children's activities at this time? After all, adults can simply read by candlelight or discuss today's current news, but kids will definitely not want to be bored.

Source: freepik

If you turned off the lights in the house, do not rush to panic. Keep candles and lanterns in one convenient place, so that in such a situation you can immediately take them out of the closet and arrange for your family to have amazing leisure!

It will also be a plus if the children were left alone at home and suddenly turned off the light - then you can calm them down and tell them where to find a flashlight and offer ideas for what to do until you return.

CONTINUE THE DRAWING GAME

This game can be played by two children, a father and a child or a family, divided into pairs. For example, dad draws with his son, and mom draws with her daughter. On a blank sheet of paper, one person draws one detail, and the second person continues the drawing, adding something else. In the end, it turns out a very funny picture, sometimes completely incomprehensible, and sometimes very beautiful. It is possible to compete with teams whose overall drawing will turn out to be funnier.

And the most important thing is that bright light is not necessary for such drawing at all - you can play with candles, it will be even more fun!

Source: instagram@doodle_nest

THE BELIEVE-NOT-BELIEVE GAME

No, we are not talking about a complex card game where you need to calculate the opponent's bluff (although you can play it with teenagers). Everything is much simpler. True, in order for it to be interesting, at least 2 children should play, preferably schoolchildren.

The parent takes turns naming interesting, but not obvious facts for the child, and he must guess whether it is fiction or not. For example, the true fact "an octopus has 4 hearts", and the false one - "the slowest animal in the world is a turtle."

Two children compete with each other to guess more correct facts and score more points.

GAME "BROKEN PHONE"

A game known to all parents since childhood. If you turn off the lights at home, you can sit down with the whole family on the sofa and have fun, guessing the word that was first said in the ear of the first person in the chain.

The more people playing the game, the better! And the darkness gives this type of leisure a special charm.

LEGO BY CANDLES

Have you long wanted to collect Lego with your son and share his interests? An excellent opportunity to do this! Place a few lanterns or candles in closed candlesticks on the floor and start the fun construction!

Source: instagram@lego

GAME "GUESS THE MELODY"

If you have a musical instrument at home, even a children's one, you can use it in candlelit games. Sing well-known melodies to the child or play them on an instrument and ask him to guess the name (or at least the artist).

If the child does not guess for a long time, you can give easy hints, and to make it more interesting, organize a competition between family members who can guess more songs.

POEMS, READERS, RIDDLES

When there is no opportunity to watch cartoons and read, there is time to study poems and rhymes, which are so useful for the development of a child's speech.

With the smallest, you can learn easy couplets or the names of fingers in verse. But preschoolers and younger schoolchildren are introduced to professions by studying poems on this topic.

TWISTER

If you have a Twister at home, feel free to take it out of the closet when the lights are turned off at home. Children and adults will not only have to bend in different funny poses, but also do it by touch with a minimum of lighting - it's twice as fun!

Source: instagram@bonnie_durham

GAME "GUESS WHO"

This game will definitely be remembered by schoolchildren and can last for several hours! Its essence is that all participants must sit in a circle, and a sticker with the name of a famous character or hero is glued to each person's forehead. Only other family members can see the inscription on a person's forehead. The goal of the game is to guess your character with the help of questions.

It is necessary to ask questions according to the time arrow so that the answer is only "yes" or "no" and gives additional information about the name on your sticker. For example: "Am I a character from a cartoon?". If people in the circle say "yes", ask: "From Ukrainian?". If the participants again give a positive answer, continue asking. If the answer is negative, the next person in the circle asks about his character.

The winner is the one who guesses his character the fastest. So that the game does not take too long, choose only very famous characters from fairy tales and cartoons.

ACTIVATE

You will need special cards for this game, but you can make them yourself in 15 minutes. Participants should divide into 2 teams. Each team has 2 people. One person from the team picks up a deck of cards, each of which has a simple word written on it, for example, "chair", "hat", "doll". The player's task is to explain each word to his partner only with hints and allegories, but without ego description. After the 1st round, the players change places, and the one who guessed begins to explain the words.

The team that guessed the most words in a certain time wins.

With younger children who will not yet be able to show the speed of their reaction, you can play with cities or words in the classic version.

JENGA

This interesting game will attract both boys who like to build and girls. It is better to play Jenga with two or three so that there are more moves. Each player in turn places a wooden block so that it is possible to build a tower. Everyone's task is to build in such a way that it is difficult for the next player to place his block without breaking the structure.

If the tower is successfully built, everyone must take turns pulling out one block and try not to damage the stability of the structure, otherwise he will lose

Source: instagram@kosenkovairina248

STORIES

Darkness is a great occasion for telling scary stories with flashlights. And if such an extreme is not for you, invite the child to write his own story. Start telling the story, and then let each member of the family complete the story with their own sentence. It will be very fun and funny, we assure you!

SHADOW THEATER OR PUPPET THEATER

Armed with a large flashlight, you can arrange a shadow theater for your child on the wall, using your hands and handy objects. Or use a home theater that can be made out of the box, of course in advance.

Source: instagram@olya_ermolive

HIDE AND SEEK GAME

All children love to play hide-and-seek even at home, climbing into closets and under tables so that no one finds them. Join this children's adventure and play hide and seek together. So that the baby does not get lost in the search for a place to hide, put a few candles in the rooms or give the baby a flashlight.

DIVINATION BY CANDLES

If the lights are turned off at home, light candles and make joint funny predictions on paper.

Source: ppgad@pucrs.br_usa

CARTOONS ON A TABLET OR LAPTOP

And if you are lucky, and your laptop holds a charge for a long time without electricity, you can entertain the children with interesting films and cartoons.