Make Your Own “Tumble” Game

October 9, 2014June 5, 2015 | Allison

There is this game called “Tumble” or “Kerplunk”, and one day I decided to make my own version, with a few tweaks to the original game. It’s fairly easy to make and it’s very customizable. This game could also make a cute gift for a child of any age.

To start with you will need the following: •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

♥ Some sort of cardboard roll (I used the roll from a roll of curling ribbon this time, but I’ve also used a toilet paper roll)

♥ Some sort of wooden stick that is longer than your cardboard roll (such as bamboo skewers or toothpicks)

♥ A hole-punch (a small punch works best)

♥ Marbles (or any small, round ball)

♥ Something to decorate your tube with (I used pretty tape)

♥ Markers (you can also use paint)

♥ Scissors (no parentheses needed, except I just used them…)

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1. Make sure both ends of the cardboard tube are open.

2. Decorate it however your heart desires! 3. This is the hardest part. Punch holes in the top of the tube, making sure to stagger their placement. (See the picture below.) If you make all the holes the same distance away from the top of the tube, the sticks will bump into each other and will block each other from fitting into the holes. Also make sure there are enough holes for the sticks.4. To make the sticks, color or paint the ends of all but one of them. It works best to have a lot of sticks divided into three or four colors. Make one stick stand out by coloring it all one color, making it a different color, whatever you like.5. Optional step: Cut semi-circles from the bottom of the tube to use as doors for the marbles.

6. Another optional step: You can make balls out of polymer clay to use instead of marbles if you like.

6. Play the game!

To set up, put all the sticks randomly into the holes, then sprinkle the marbles on top. If the marbles fall through, it means you need to add more sticks to fill up the gaps where the marbles fell. Punch some more holes for the sticks if necessary.

Here are the rules: Each color of stick is worth a different amount of points. The one that is different from all the rest can be the special stick. Make it give you, say, 10 points plus another turn, or something like that. Here’s a scoring chart that you can change to fit your game:

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Green-tip: 40 points

Blue tip: 30 points

Pink-tip: 20 points

Blue stick: 15 points + another turn

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Each player takes turns pulling out a stick, one at a time (unless it’s the stick that gives you another turn). If, while pulling out a stick, you make a marble fall, you lose 20 points, and you don’t get the points from the stick you just pulled out. Whoever has the most points after all the sticks are pulled out, wins the game!

Have fun!

***Allison***

6 Ways to Make Work More Fun

September 6, 2014June 5, 2015 | Allison

Everything is more fun when its… fun! Here are some ideas that help make work more fun, whether it’s washing dishes or shelling beans. I hope it helps!

1. Listen to an audio-book – If you like curling up with a book, but your hands are occupied, try audio-books. We have several at our library, and some of our favorites are Freddy the Pig, and Hank the Cowdog. (These are also available in book form.)

2. Play a game – Just because your hands are busy doesn’t mean you can’t use your brain! Try these classics:

20 Questions – Choose one player to think of something in one of the following categories: Animal, Plant, Mineral, and Other. The other players take turns asking questions to try and figure out what the “it” person is thinking of. If it is guessed within 20 questions, whoever guessed it gets to be “it.” If they don’t get it within 20 questions, the person who stumped them gets to be “it” again.

I Packed My Grandfather’s Suitcase – Choose one player to start. He says “I packed my grandfather’s suitcase, and in it there was ___.” He fills in the blank with something that starts with the letter “a.” Go around in a circle, each person starting with “I packed my grandfather’s suitcase.” When it’s the second player’s turn, he repeats what the first player says, making sure to include whatever the first player chose for “a,” and he also adds something starting with “b”. Keep going like this until you either reach the end of the alphabet, or everyone is out but one person. Someone can get out by saying the wrong thing, forgetting what he was supposed to say, or skipping a letter. One variation to this game is to have a certain category that the items have to be in, such as “food.”

3. Listen to music. – This one is simple, but it does make things more fun when you’re humming along to your favorite tunes.

If you looking for ways to make the work go faster, while still having fun, try some of these:

4. Have a race. Who can finish shelling their bowl of beans first?

5. Beat your record. Keep track of the time you spent each time you did a certain job. Try to beat your record, but be careful that no dishes are broken in the process!

6. Set up a timed reward system. – If they get done with their jobs in a certain amount of time, they get computer time, etc. Make the time limit challenging, but not impossible.

So that’s it! Hopefully these will make chore-time a little bit more fun. I’ll go now, so you can get to work!

***Allison***

Fun with Dry-Erase Markers

August 24, 2014June 11, 2016 | Allison

There are lots of fun things to do with dry-erase markers besides draw on a whiteboard. These things make good boredom-busters, and are good things to do on a rainy day. Some of these things are good for parties too.

The first two things are “painting” your nails, and drawing your own temporary tattoos.

Drawing on your fingernails with dry-erase markers is fun for those who love to paint their nails, or those who aren’t ready for “the real thing” yet. When your ready to “paint” a new design, just wipe off the marker with your finger or the whiteboard eraser.

To completely clean off your nails, wash them with soap and water, and, if you need to, a damp washcloth.

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Now for the temporary tattoos: Just draw anything you like onto your skin. (My nails are “painted” with dry erase marker in this picture, and I have a dry-erase marker “tattoo”)

Just wash skin like you did for your nails, and voila! a clean slate.

This can be used as a party or group game. Draw or print out several sets of doodles beforehand. Give each player a paper with the same doodle on it. Each player makes it into a drawing, then compares it to the other players’ drawings. Every drawing will turn out differently.

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The last thing to do with dry-erase markers is fun and simple: just draw with the markers on a mirror or window. It wipes off easily with a damp paper towel.

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Note: Test out your markers in a small spot before you try any of these activities, in case the markers don’t erase for some reason.

I hope you try some of these ideas out, and have fun!

***Allison***

Game Time!

June 26, 2014February 14, 2016 | Allison

We were having fun the other day with a little game I made up. You basically try to get the other person to draw exactly the picture you drew, but by only describing it in words. There’s an example of the game below. You can try playing it too, and compare your finished drawing to the picture farther down the page.

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I drew a simple picture for Megan, then I described it in steps for her.

“Draw a small circle in the middle of the paper.

Then draw a half-circle below that circle. Make sure that it’s touching the circle and the bottom of the page.

Inside the half-circle, draw 8 small circles.

In the middle of the circle that you drew at the beginning, draw a small triangle with the point facing down.

Above the triangle, draw two dots, spaced apart.

Coming out from the top of the circle, make three squiggly lines.

On top of each line, draw a small circle.

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Now compare mine and Megan’s:

Mine:

Megan’s:

I guess I should have told her to draw an arch instead of a half-circle, huh? Anyway it’s fun to see how they turn out. Sometimes they’re practically the same, and sometimes they’re totally different. Oh, and there are a couple of rules for this game. Of course, you can make up your own version, but I think it works best if you use these rules:

1. No questions- if somebody says,”Draw a triangle,” you can’t ask the size, its position, etc. It’s up to the person telling you how to draw it to give you the details.

2. You’re not allowed to look at anybody else’s paper until the end of the game.

3. You can’t erase anything-make sure the person who’s giving you instructions is finished before you draw!

4. If you’re going to draw, say, a window, you can’t just say, “Draw a window,” you have to say something like, “Draw a square with a plus sign inside it.”

So there you have it! I hope you enjoy playing this game. We’ve also found a website that has lots of fun printable games like Sudoku, word searches, crossword puzzles, and mazes. You can customize most if not all of them. For instance, in the word search, you can type your own words to use in the wordsearch, change the fonts, and other good stuff. If you’re interested, here’s the link: theteacherscorner.net

Have fun!

***Allison***

I am writing this secret note almost two years later. This is the ONLY secret note I have ever done on my blog thus far! If you find it, CONGRATULATIONS! I am heartily surprised. X D !