Nothing brightens a kitchen more than a beautiful table, but when its time to change those old place mats, dont throw them away - make some new games for the kids. Theyre cheap, theyre easy to make, and your kids will have years of fun with them.
Cloth place mats are best for making game boards. They can be decorated any way you want, and when the kids are finished playing, you can simply fold them up and put them away. It doesnt take a lot of money to make the game boards and there are several different games you can easily create.
One quick game is tic-tac-toe. Use fabric paints, rubber stamping, or other craft supplies to make the board. You can even cut lengths of roping and glue or stitch them onto the place mat. The creative touches are all yours! Look around a craft store to get lots of ideas on what you can use to embellish or create your game boards. There are any number of things you can use as the game pieces for your board. Dollar theme stores generally carry things like bags of checkers or bags of cheap chess pieces. Youll find all sorts of things you can use for game pieces. At home youll also find things you could use for pieces. Bottle cap lids, small character novelties, or even things from the bottom of the toy box. Make a checker board by using square stamps youve purchased or made. A simple square of cardboard can be used to create the stamp. Bend a chenille stick at the end, about an inch up, to make a handle for the stamp. Glue or tape the small portion of the chenille stick onto the back of the cardboard square. Use this to dip the square into the paint and to position it on the mat. Press down on the cardboard square with one hand to make sure the ink or paint transfers completely. Make a cardboard square - complete with handle - for each color. Use chalk and various size bowls to make a ball-toss game kids will love. Draw around a large bowl, onto the place mat, then make another circle inside that one using a slightly smaller bowl. Continue using smaller and smaller bowls until your place mat has a small circle in the center and larger ones all around it. You dont necessarily have to use bowls, most any circular objects will do. Write point scores between the rings. Use a piece of adhesive velcro, cut into small strips, to cover a ping-pong ball. Hang the finished game on a door or wall. Kids throw the velcro ball at the cloth place mat and it sticks. They can add up their points to find out who the winner is. Make extra balls - painted different colors - so other kids can play at the same time. Cut a piece of magnetic sheeting to almost the size of the place mat. Position the sheeting, sticky side down, on the place mat. Cut letters and numbers out of cloth and place a small magnetic strip on the back of each one. Kids can use the place mat as a spelling mat. They can stick the letters to the place mat to spell out their name, spelling words or their own sentences. Theyll have hours of fun with this game. If you want to make a temporary game for the kids use tape or chalk. You can draw the lines and other designs on the game then throw the place mat in the laundry when the kids are done. Do the same with colored tape. Tear strips of tape to make the sections of the board then remove the tape when finished. Wash as usual. Old cloth place mats dont have to be stuffed in a closet just because you got new ones. Use the old ones to make a variety of games for your kids, and when they get bored, whip out one or all of the games. Theyll have lots of fun and hold on to the games for years.
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