Monday, July 23, 2012

Game Time!

Hi! It's Scott from Brick by Brick. I love to repurpose materials—use materials in ways different from their intended purpose. I also love to make resources for kids to use.

Kids love to play games. You can make games with low cost and no cost items. 

This is one of our favorite games to play. I used a large piece of paper and some paper scraps to create the trail. For game pieces, we use foam beads.

gameboard

To move around the board, kids spin a spinner. (They love to spin the spinner!) I cut a paper circle and glued on some paper scrap strips. I taped the circle to a lazy Susan (from a dollar store or your kitchen cabinet). I cut an arrow from paper and tape it to the table or floor, pointing toward the spinner.  Kids spin and move to the color indicated.

spinner

We play this game all the time. The kids sometimes create alternate rules but still enjoy playing.

Playing a board game

Cindy made this game. It's a game where the bears compete rather than the kids. Cindy drew a grid on a piece of poster board and put a sticker in each space - one color in each column. She used tape to bind the edges.

Teddy Bear Game

She marked numbers (1, 2, 3) on the sides of one blank die and colored tape on the sides of the other blank die. If you don't have blank dice, repurpose dice from an old board game. You can cover the sides of a die with colored tape, too.

homemade dice

A child rolls the dice. The colored die shows which bear (or bears) to move. The numbered die shows the number of spaces to move. Each child moves whichever bears are indicated by the dice...so everyone is working together to move them to the end.

teddy bear game

You can make games from old board games. Cover the boards with colored contact plastic. Add colored scraps, small sticky notes, or paint chips for spaces. Or just draw the track you want on the board.

Keep dice from old games. Repurpose them for your own games.

dice

Game pieces can be just about anything. Repurpose game pieces from old games; use wooden squares from a craft store; use Lego pieces; cover lids with colored tape; add stickers to pennies or washers.

game pieces

What things have you used to make board games and accessories? 

3 comments:

  1. I LOVE making games for young children! The lazy susan spinner is a great idea. One could make a HUGE spinner that way....what fun. Hmmmmm....wish I hadn't sold that old lazy susan at my garage sale. I often make a homemade die from a square block, but honestly never thought of taping over a regular die....another great idea. Thanks!

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  2. The lazy susan spinner is my favorite idea in this post! Regular spinners always seem to get bent and don't work well after awhile. Gotta hunt down a lazy susan now! I'm thinking with a little velcro I can make interchangeable tops for it. :)

    -Carol
    Mrs. Cobb's Kinder Sprouts

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  3. Great ideas, Scott! I love the lazy Susan spinner, and it's wonderful that the kids work together to move the bears in the teddy bears game. I pinned your post to my DIY Sensorial Extensions Board at http://pinterest.com/debchitwood/diy-sensorial-extensions/

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