The reason I
named this post Bits and Pieces is that it is the whole idea of collecting and
storing all the bits and pieces that we will surely need if things go South in
the future. I was reading a blog on the
net and found someone talking about collecting games, cards and other things
for entertainment in the worst case scenario.
I realized that even though I have collected these things, I haven’t
discussed it on here. So let’s break it
down into a few different categories.
Let’s start with entertainment. I will post other articles under “Bits and
Pieces” later concerning other subjects.
Entertainment
With no
power what would you like to do on long winter days shut indoors? Play cards?
Play board games? Put puzzles
together? Draw or Paint artwork? Do you play and instrument? These are all good
things to do but do you have the games, puzzles, cards, paints and art
materials, puzzle books? If not the
Dollar Tree have many treasures for your
chest of sanity saving simple games such as checkers, chess, dice, cards, children’s
card games, puzzles, puzzle books, and even some art supplies. Check it out and pick up some for your
future. Check online and buy a book of
card games and rules. Hoyle makes one
that is good. For the kids don’t forget
marbles, jacks, pickup sticks, baseballs and bats, basketballs and hoops, badminton
sets, croquet sets, soccer balls, and any other game paraphernalia that you
family is interested in. If you need to
be quiet you might consider the indoor games.
Older people might be interested in horseshoes and croquet or holey
board (which is easy to make yourself). Buy a roll of the banquet table paper
that comes in approx. a hundred foot roll.
The kids can draw for a very long time on this paper and use it to make
holiday decorations and adults can play Pictionary with it as well. Just have an adult cut it into smaller sheet
size pieces. It will save you a
bundle! Get recipes for play dough,
sidewalk chalk, goop, silly putty, etc. on the net. Print it out and put it in a binder reserved
for entertainment ideas. Make sure you buy the items to make some of
the items above such as salt in bulk, flour, plaster, etc. I will post the links to some of these items
I have listed in this article at the bottom of each section. Children will drive adults crazy if you don’t
have a way to keep them occupied. Noisy
kids playing and having fun is much easier to cope with than noisy kids saying “I’m
bored” or being fussy and crying because they are tired of sitting around or
just doing chores and no play.
I have set
up a wooden box that is like a small footlocker with a padlock on it which is
filled with lots of interesting things like small magic sets from the Dollar
Tree, string for making different things like we did as kids by making a circle
of string or a roll of butchers twine and making shapes, yoyo’s, domino’s, children’s
puzzles, match game cards, old maid cards, jacks, pickup sticks, Nerf balls,
army men, small dinosaur sets, farm sets, marbles, hot wheel cars, Noah Ark
sets, chalk boards and chalk, crayons and coloring books, building blocks,
etc. Find the stuff as inexpensively as
possible. I have gotten many things from
unlikely places. Stop at a new construction
site and ask if you can pick up the throw away pieces of 2 X 4’s which are not pressure treated!
Take them home and spend an hour or two sanding the edges and ends with
a belt or orbital sander to make them safe, these will make the very best building
blocks! Go to a craft store and buy
marbles which are meant for crafts and flower vases. If you can’t buy different colors then buy
some glass paint pens and paint them a few different colors to keep kids happy
knowing which ones are theirs. Make your own chalk with plaster of paris, don’t
throw away broken crayons! Put them into a box for later melting and making new
ones in rainbow colors that will thrill your kids!
I have lots of construction paper in my box
as well as brads, stapler and staples, also lots of pencils, #2 and colored
pencils. I am not a big fan of markers
because they dry up and the kids can destroy their clothes and your walls and
furniture with them. You will have to choose what you want to store for your
own kids, grandkids and other children who may be in your home. The one thing I would like to suggest is to get extra games that have a lot of pieces because they will invariably get lost. I have a couple of Monopoly games and Clue games for that reason. I do not ever let my grandkids know what is
in my “Treasure Chest” that way if they
are good and I know that they are going to be stuck for a long time indoors I
can pull it out and pick out something that is new and exciting even if it was
cheap and ordinary in the old days. Don’t
forget printing out the instructions for playing – Statues, Mother May I, Simon
Says, Red Light-Green Light, Tag, Hide and Seek, Hula Hoops, Frisbee, and many
other games children played in the “Old Days” when I was a kid. Kids used to be able to occupy themselves and
taught each other these games. My whole
neighborhood got together and had foot races, baseball games, marble tournaments,
Hop Scotch, Jump Rope and we performed in our own “Circus” for the parents and
we just had a ball playing and being creative.
The kids today don’t know that kind of creativity any longer. They think drawing in a computer program is ‘drawing’
and they think playing a game is playing it on a game system.
Maybe if we
had an “Old Days” family night and taught the kids a few of the old time games
and interacted with them they would be more receptive to these things when that
is all they will have after a disaster happens. Think back to your childhood,
what did you play with? What were your
favorite toys? What were your favorite
games? Of course I mean those that didn’t
require electricity or batteries. Think
about it. Go to some yard sales, thrift
stores, craft stores, and dollar stores and come up with your own ideas. The internet is a great place for ideas if
you type the right thing in you will be surprised how many ideas you will
get. Good luck!
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