Game Night DIY
—Jennifer Noonan
If you love to use tools as much as you love to play games, then you’re not alone: Scores of handymen and women have used wood to create their own personal versions of timeless amusements. Indeed, playing a DIY wood game that you’ve made yourself may be the only activity that is more fun than actually putting the game together!
Photo: aestheticoutburst.blogspot.com
1. DOMINOES
Make a set of oversize dominoes out of commonly available 1 x 3 plywood boards. For each domino, cut a 5 1/2-inch piece away from the board (do this 28 times for a double-six set, 55 times for a double-nine set). Paint a line across the center of each domino, dabbing on the appropriate number of dots. Kids of all ages are sure to enjoy this DIY wood game, whose larger-than-normal pieces are ideal for playing on the floor, or in the driveway, even more than on a tabletop.
Related: 15 DIY Storage Ideas to Help Corral Your Kids’ Clutter
Photo: makezine.com
2. BLOCK PUZZLE
With wooden blocks—whether you buy them at a crafts store or fashion them out of scrap wood—it’s easy to make a DIY wood game especially for a pint-size puzzle-lover. Onto each individual block, paint a small section of a larger figure, one that takes shape only when the blocks are correctly arranged. Another way of accomplishing the same goal is to cut a photograph into equal-size fragments, gluing each piece onto one face of a wooden block so that the complete photo emerges when the blocks are assembled properly.
Related: 10 Surprisingly Simple Woodworking Projects for Beginners
Photo: amazon.com
3. GIANT JENGA
Supersize the fun of Jenga: Construct a colossal version of this classic tower-building game, perfect for setup in the backyard. Start out with a trip to the lumberyard, where it should be easy to buy four 2 x 4 x 16 pieces of wood. Cut the pieces at intervals of 10 1/2 inches, and you should end up with 72 blocks total. Sand each one and buff them all smooth, not only to reduce friction for the sake of gameplay, but also to prevent players young and old from getting any nasty splinters.
Related: 10 DIY Lawn Games to Bring the Amusement Park Home
Photo: alwayschasinglife.blogspot.com
4. CHECKERS
Of all the DIY wood games discussed here, checkers may be the most widely enjoyed. If you love it, why not devise your own board, painting squares of alternating colors over a plywood surface? Choose the traditional black-and-white combination or opt for an alternative color scheme, one that involves your two favorite hues. For the pieces, either use a store-bought set or hand-make your own by painting wood circles in colors that match those that you chose for your board.
Related: 8 New Things You Can Do with Old Board Games
Photo: dawanda.com
5. MEMORY
Divide 1 x 3 lengths of wood into pieces of equal length to create this adorable memory game, which is much sturdier than the playing card version. Once you’ve cut the pieces, glue on differently patterned wrapping paper or wallpaper, glossing them over with two or three layers of decoupage medium. Voilà! Let the games begin.
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