Entertainment In A Breakdown

What?  No TV?!?!?!

Or, no internet, no Kindle, no iPod, etc...  Whether from a solar flare, an EMP attack, or maybe just an ice storm knocking out power for three weeks, a good percentage of SHTF scenarios include a loss of power and utilities.  As fun as it sounds, you probably won't spend all your time running patrols, sitting in the observation post, or putting the family through intruder drills.  You're going to have down time and will need to fill it.  Not to mention, your spouse, kids, and anyone else you have around will need to fill that time too.

Books

Naturally, books are a fine way to fill time.  Have a wide variety for all age levels that might be there with you.  Have different genres.  A great way to build a breakdown library is through thrift stores, yard sales, and library sales, where you can usually get paperbacks and hard covers for pennies on the dollar.  It's not uncommon near the end of a yard sale to walk away with a whole box of books for 25 cents or a dollar.  You can always pass on the ones that are completely out of your interests.

Journaling

All right, it's just a fancy word for a diary, but it can be a good way to occupy time, as well as a learning tool.  All the great thinkers in history kept journals.  Thomas Jefferson's gardening journal is a treasure trove of information.  All you need is a notebook, and a bunch of pencils or pens.

Games

Games can be great for all ages, but especially for younger children.  Get some classic board games like Monopoly, Risk, Battleship, Yahtzee and Uno.  There's a lot of newer games out these days too that are loads of fun.  One we particularly enjoy is Apples to Apples.  If you have very young children, get a couple like Chutes & Ladders and Sorry.  It's also good to learn some games that you don't need to buy, but can make up right in your living room.  Things like charades, Pictionary, Eye Spy.  Of course, have a couple of decks of cards around too.

Grown Up Fun

Of course, if it is just you and the spouse, or you have a place for privacy, there's the oldest fun around.  Why do you think families were so much bigger back in the olden times?  Sure, they needed extra farm hands, but also there just wasn't anything else to do after night fall...

These days, we don't really need the large families for a labor force, and if your SHTF is due to economic collapse, you probably don't need any extra mouths to feed, so if you have not been "fixed," you really ought to stock up on prophylactics.  That ought to raise some eyebrows when you wheel a cart full of Trojans up to the register at the Sam's Club.

Other Suggestions

What non-electric games or other activities that your family enjoys that you could suggest to folks on here?  Do you have a scheduled family game night already?  Even without a breakdown, it's great to turn off the idiot box and spend time interacting with the family.