What about entertainment - books, board games, etc.?

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I'm not sure this fits in here, so if it doesn't would the sysops please delete.

This was on the other forum several months ago. I realize that at first everyone will be busy just trying to survive, but kids will need to be entertained and there will be those moments of quiet. What about stocking up on books, board games, cards, etc?

For my grandkids, I have crayons, color books, paper, etc. For myself, I have enough yarn to do the afghans I have been wanting to do. I have books stocked up that I want to read sometime and plenty of books for all ages.

What is everyone else doing?

-- Beckie (sunshine_horses@yahoo.com), July 10, 1999

Answers

Beckie,

Will the TV be on? Maybe... maybe not.

Will the electric be on to watch the TV? Maybe... maybe not.

But we won't care, because we don't watch the thing anyways. Instead, our kids love old time radio programs. We get a lot of these off the Internet (search for "old time radio"). They listen to a diff. show every night. Favorites: The Shadow, Burns & Allen, Jack Benny, Great Gildersleeve. Better than TV -- uses the imagination and all the filth and sex and violence is still 50 years in the future (on the tube).

Here's what I did for post-Y2K, if the net is down, electric is off. Went to Audio Book Club.com and joined. 4 "audio books" for 1 penny. Got big 60 hour sets of old CBS radio shows, Smithsonian Museum series of comedy, drama, etc. Use a battery operated tape player. Ration them one an evening -- the whole family, gathered around the radio, er, tape player & hearth, munching popcorn, just like ma and pa way back when. So much for the entertainment, now bring on a board game or two, then off to bed with you! Works for us!

Jack Benny

-- Jack Benny (listening@the.radio), July 10, 1999.


Start making the garage/yard sales....they have lots and lots of cheap kids books and games....and you will spend dimes instead of dollars.

-- rb (ronbanks_2000@yahoo.com), July 10, 1999.

We are stocking up on homeschooling materials, arts and crafts stuff, books for kids and adults same for board games, cards and lots of puzzles for kids and adults.

-- Homeschooling Grandma (mlaymon@glenn-co.k12.ca.us), July 10, 1999.

Be sure to stock up on paper and pencils, for keeping score in those games that need it.

-- Dian (bdp@accessunited.com), July 11, 1999.

i have a very active 9 yr old son. he really enjoys playing with actionfigures so i have been picking up the inexpensive ones at the local dollar stores and putting them away. when he is bored next year a new little man will spark his creative play. Also he loves to make things so i have a large box in the kitchen...into to it goes empty egg cartons, paper towel rolls, toothpicks,fabric scraps, milk bottle caps, and any other small thing he might be able to 'invent' with. his box is always a favorite way to pass many quiet hours.

-- kitten (kitten@vcn.net), July 14, 1999.


Do you think starving Ethiopians are concerned about how they'll be entertaining themselves and their children? Only in America are we so soft that we find time to concern ourselves with "leisure time" in the face of a severe crisis. Children used to (less than 150 years ago) marry by 13 or 14. Humans can find ways to entertain themselves, if indeed there is time for entertainment. I'm sorry, but it seems pretty happy-crappy to me to think of such piddly things. My major concerns? food, shelter, defense. In that order. Happier note: afghan knitting is a very useful endeavor. Good idea on several levels. S'pose the kids could play tag, or hide and seek, or climb trees; of course all after daily chores. It's been round bout 70 years since we (America) has seen anything close to the potential of the millenium bug. How many of us can relate to conditions of bloated stomach starvation? Killing bandits to protect loved ones? What is "entertainment" in a situation such as this?

-- frmn.v.c.stegeman (y2k@artao.findhere.com), July 19, 1999.

VC,

Sorry I seemed to raise your hackles, but people need to prepare not only for a 10 but anything less.

Obviously you don't have children or you would be thinking about ways to keep them from getting on your nerves. Yes, today's kids (and many adults) are spoiled and I would be the first to admit that mine are too in many ways. It is very hard to keep your wits about you if the kids are whining and fussing.

Getting things together for the kids to do is a sanity saver besides being entertainment. Yes, we could think of things to do later, but why not do it now while we have the time and energy??

-- Beckie (sunshine_horses@yahoo.com), July 19, 1999.


VC,

My stepdad earned the purple heart in the Pacific theater during WWII. I didn't know that fact for 30 years, he keeps it stuffed in the bottom of a drawer.

What I do know about him from that time is the love that he developed for the game of chess. It probably helped him maintain his sanity,in an insane situation. No doubt, it gave the guys a positive outlet. Remember the value of R&R?

I like to recommend chess, a complex game which can be enjoyed by simple folk.

-- flora (***@__._), July 19, 1999.


Checkers were another old- time favorite, I think because the board and checkers could easily be made of "recycled" materials. I've seen many games played on boards made from cardboard with bottle caps for checkers, for example. Ditto for chess, though the pieces take more work.

Don't forget several decks of cards, and a copy of one of Hoyle's rule books to learn some new games with.

Scrabble is a good board game, a great vocabulary builder, and the best incentive I've ever seen to teach spelling and dictionary skills to competitive kids. So have a good dictionary on hand too, OK?

Develop your skills as a story reader or, if you have the bent, as a story teller. There are lots of books of folk tales geared as very subtle teaching tools. Put them to work for you and your kids too. Just think- YOU could be as popular as teevee is now! Heck, you might be able to turn it off BEFORE the end of the year, if you handle it right.

People are apt to be very busy doing necessary chores if rollover goes sour. Kids, especially older ones, will have plenty to do too. Simple inexpensive games and amusements are not out of place even if this is the case, because kids need to be tended and taught and some relief from day-to-day labor is necessary for everyone. Good games develop closeness among players as well as many useful skills, and are a worthwhile consideration no matter what happens in the future.

-- Lee (lplapin@hotmail.com), July 19, 1999.


Freddie the Freeloader started a thread on this topic- something about a perfect y2k boardgame {Upwords}, just before this one lit up. We forgot to sprinkle 'Hartz Troll-Off' on it, unfortunately it died a premature death. I tried searching for it, to no avail.

Hoyle is a must, the used bookstores are overflowing with them.

Educators are all-a-quiver with the concept that kids learn at play -duh!

We oldsters enjoy them too.

For homeschoolers- UC Berkeley Lawrence Hall of Science put out a great resource called " Family Math". It is a full curriculum built around homemade games. Check for it in your public library.

-- flora (***@__._), July 19, 1999.



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