Have You Ever Wondered How To Make Your Own...

This is such a fun activity to make for Family Night. A great way to have fun. Making a simple board game is one of the easiest and fun things you can do on a rainy afternoon or for a family night activity.

You will need:
4 PIECES OF DIFFERENT COLOR COPY PAPER
1 LARGE SHEET POSTER PAPER (cut the size you want your board for your game)
Felt tip pens
Glue stick
Glue
Dice
Large buttons of various colors (don't purchase them, go to a thrift store and ask if they have clothes they are going to be throwing away-they will most likely give you the buttons)
Clear Contact paper (optional)

1. Cut a strip off the length of each piece of paper about one inch wide. Cut each of these strips into small squares.

They don't have to be all the same size , in fact it's better if there are a few smaller pieces as well as a bunch of bigger squares.

Draw a line around the piece of poster board which will be the track of your game play. A Capital "N" with rounded corners work super. However any shape will do just fine. Experiment with different shapes to make totally different games. Make a start and finish square at each end:

Now simply glue all of the little squares side by side along the line,until the entire line is covered. It's best if you mix up the colors so that not too many of the same color are sitting next to one another.

Make a couple of "short cut" places to give the game a bit of interest: Making the two parts of the N look like 2 Capital A's. This is so easy to do no matter what shape you drew you line for the game. Just use some imagination.

Decorate any way your want. Remember, this is your game. You could number the squares or even put words on them. You could just keep repeating the color they land on to teach colors. Don't think this game is just for kids though. Adults too love to play games.

Take the remaining colored paper and cut each sheet into uniformly sized rectangles. This works best if you do use the clear contact paper to make them heavier so the kids can pick up only one at a time or even use some poster board for these cards as well.

On the backs of these write your game playing instructions such as "Miss a turn", "Move forward three spaces". It is more fun to elaborate a little so that they say things like "Win American Idol! or "You Won A Beauty Pagent". Move forward two spaces" or "Slip on a banana peel, go back one space" etc. You and your child may want to come up with the card ideas together - so they are all familiar concepts to your child- "You need a has a nap, miss a turn", "Green Ham and Eggs for dinner! Move ahead three spaces," Add some crazy ones such as "Meet a crocodile who eats your lunch! Go back five spaces". You might want to add "Stay where you are" cards just so that the game play doesn't go too quickly.

The large buttons like are on coats and such are great to use as the game pieces. They are big enough for little hands to grab and move. Yet they are easy to replace if one is lost.

For teens you could ask questions on the card along with directions as to how to move on the board.

You could make a family themed game with pictures of relatives copied and put on the board. Since the election is on eveyones mind, it is a great time to make a Presidents board. You could come up with all kinds of different themes and looks. You could use a haunted house and all the instructions were spooky for Halloween. How about pirates, Wiggles, dragons and castles, care bears and make the game board and card instructions fit in. No rules for these games and the possibilities are endless.

Kids love to draw so why not let them draw on the squares of the board.

One of my favorite ideas on the theme is a family tree. Using photos of family members several generations back to the present. Add fun facts on the cards about their ancestors. The kids have fun and learn about their family at the same time.

Roll the dice to see who goes first she or he rolls the dice and moves the number of spaces shown. She picks up a card of the corresponding color to the place she has landed on and follows the instructions. If she is told to move ahead or back she does so, and her turn ends without picking up another card. Move to the next player.

The older the child the more complicated you might like to make the rules. If you land on a square occupied by another counter, you have to do 20 star jumps or maybe if you land on a square marked with a star get a special star card which you can use to avoid squares marked with aliens (and alien marked squares might mean you have to change counters with another player or something) - really, there is no limit to how wild it could get. Make your game fun for any age.

Clear Contact paper is great to cover your game cards and game board with. It keeps it clean and tear free. You will also need a few sandwich bags to keep your game cards and buttons in. Add all the smaller ziploc bags in a larger one with the directions to you new game added. Great Frugal gifts for the kids to make. Great Family Night Activity. This project could be the start of a family tradition. It is a great way to pull the family together. Have fun and never purchase commercial games again.