I love a good board game and always have ever since I was little. It does bring out my competitive side but that’s all part of the fun. As Anya is getting older, she is getting more and more in to board games and so we often spend an entire afternoon playing game after game. Our latest obsession is this DIY game of checkers created by Marie-Laure of La Maison de Loulou especially for my readers. If you’ve ever wondered how to make a board game, read on. It’s quite simple and so pretty.
I’m delighted to be working with Marie-Laure as she is really creative and has many more beautiful DIY projects on her site. Marie-Laure made one and sent it for Anya and at first I thought at 5 years Anya may be a bit young for a strategic game like checkers but I was so wrong. Even though she does often lose (and yes cries!) she still wants to play all the time. We must’ve already played over 30 times and we’ve only had the game a few days! If you want to make your own checkers board game, here’s how.
What you’ll need:
12 x 12 square plywood board
24 wooden stars (available at most craft stores)
masking tape
paint (at least 3 colours but more if you want 2 toned stars like these)
brushes
ruler
pencil
a small drawstring pouch or similar to store the stars
Step 1: using your ruler and pencil, draw 64 equal squares on the plywood board to make your basic checkers board outline. Leave a small border as seen in the picture as this gives a nicer finish.
Step 2: use your masking tape to mask the squares and paint alternate squares in white (or the colour of your choice). The masking tape isn’t essential but it gives a very clean finish.
Step 3: now paint the stars – 12 in one colour and the other 12 in another colour.
Step 4: allow everything to dry well.
Step 5: play!
And that’s it. You’ve got a great board game that is fun to make and will last ages. A big thank you to La Maison de Loulou for creating this DIY especially for my readers and if you want more DIY inspiration, check out Marie-Laure’s blog where you’ll find lots of ideas.
P.S. If you’d like to see some more DIY’s take a look at our dotty elephant gift tags, DIY water xylophone, and DIY fruity diaries.
{all photos by La Maison de Loulou for your DIY family}
Truly beautiful, adore this post and Oliver has recently really become captivated with board games and annoying keeps beating me at Snakes and Ladders x
Anya is very much the Snakes & Ladders queen in this house so I’ve decided to stop playing. Kidding! But since this Checkers game has arrived we’ve had a much needed break from Snakes & Ladders!
How absolutely gorgeous. Ezra actually taught me how to play checkers, we’re nuts about board games. So clever to make a set yourself! I’m so non-crafty but these instructions look really straightforwards.
And where do you get those adorable polar bears from? Babe Papa’s favourite animal, the entire package would make a nice gift for him!
It is easy, you just need a little patience and attention to detail. The set is lovely though and would make a great gift as you say. I’m wondering who wins at checkers – you or the babe? 🙂
Just stunning! We have never played checkers with Isabelle, maybe time to start.
Thank you. I would definitely recommend it – Anya loves it.
Beautiful game darling, just so chic, in fact it would look great in Alexander’s room-matching games to decor (I like it). Thanks for linking up to #brillblogposts
I love this, How much did the project cost? I think I’ll make mine dark blue and white, with red around the outside just to keep the patriotic vibe going! Thanks for the simple and totally “doable” project.
Thanks! Not sure how much it cost as it was a long time ago but it wasn’t a lot! Nice idea to go patriotic – send me a pic once it’s made 🙂