Ah....October!

And it begins...the beginning of the end.  Of the year, that is!  So much flurry and fun seems to get crammed into these last three months of the year.  And we are already deep in it.  Last week the boy came to me and said he wanted to play the Halloween game.  "What game is that? " I asked.  "The one you are going to make", he replied.  Clever boy, he knows all the right things to say!  So of course Momma set out to make us our very own Halloween board game.  What the boy didn't seem to take into account is that this would be a several DAYS not a several MINUTES kind of undertaking.  Ah well, it was worth it in the end.  Allow me to present our joint project...

 

The game board and the marker figures were drawn onto basic white cardstock, colored and lamanated with clear adhesive sheets.  My son has severe fine motor delays, so I did the drawing and he helped me color (one day I would love to make another of these featuring HIS drawings).  Once the pages were lamanated, I taped them together with black electrical tape, leaving the bottom middle seam tape-free so that the whole board folds up neatly for storage.

     A wooden die was painted with colors to correspond to the squares on the game board (this was one of the fun, messy parts of the project).  Markers were made using old wooden spools that were painted around their middles and then an appropriate Halloween icon was placed in a groove cut into the tops (the boy was very clear about which characters these would be).  The fun began when we started coming up with topics for the "action cards" [You ate all the Halloween candy, go back three spaces; Too many extension cords blows a fuse, go back to the nearest store; Your front porch light blows, go back to the nearest store; You dropped your pumpkin smashing it to smithereens, go back to the pumpkin patch.]

The "goal" of the game is to be the first person to get to the haunted house in time for the big Halloween party.  You roll the die and then move to the next spot featuring that color (think "Candyland").  If you land on a spot with the candy corn on it, you pick up an action card and follow the directions.  As you go along the board you see pictures depicting the process for getting ready for the party (getting a pumpkin, decorating and making the refreshments, getting your costume ready). This allows us to make up our own story about getting ready for a party, talk about process, etc...so we are sneaking in a little education without it showing *grin*   To make it a little more interesting (read "challenging" for Momma!), some of the cards will send you backwards as far back as the pumpkin patch.  After two tries, I have already lost twice to the boy, who never seems to land on those gol' dern action card spaces.  I am forever getting sent back to the store or the pumpkin patch *grin* (wait, that sounds like my REAL life).

We are looking forward to the first chance we can play with Daddy.  We are even thinking of setting it up during our neighborhood Halloween party for the kids to try out.  It was a great project to make, and I enjoyed all the parts of the process that allowed the boy to help out as well.  It really was a joint effort and something I think we are going to enjoy for quite some time to come.  We already have plans for the Christmas edition.

If I can figure out how it is done, I might be able to post my orginals as pdf files so that you can make your own version.  Leave me a comment if this is something you might be interested in.

*Edited to add*  SouleMama had this great post the other day about homemade games, too.  It has inspired a few more ideas that are still abrewin'.

Happy October!

*Edited again!*  I did it! (Thanks for your help, Cassi!) Here are the PDF files for each of the parts of our game.  Please feel free to use them for personal use only.

Download playing_pieces.pdf

Download game_board_section_1.pdf

Download game_board_section_2.pdf

Download game_board_section_3.pdf

Download board_game_section_4.pdf

Download action_cards.pdf

 Download action_cards_II.pdf

Download action_cards_backs.pdf

When you print off the game board sections, you will need to trim about a 1/4 inch off of some of the sides...you'll know which ones when you see the space between the drawn lines and the edge of the paper.  Once these are trimmed off, your board will fit together perfectly.  This was my first attempt at doing this sort of download thing, so it isn't as picture perfect as the ones made by the Whizzes out there, but hey, we hope you'll enjoy it anyway!

Comments

[Mrs Holter-Hovind]

We have made and played(and played...)this today and love it. Thank you SOOO much for sharing. Gill.
PS. We just coloured the candycorn squares along with all the others.

[Fernanda]

Hi there,

I got here through the Crafty crow, admiring your Halloween stuff.
Am a Portuguese blogger and on the 30th October I will be participating in a Portuguese language group post about Halloween.
On my survey about the issue, I would like to ask you this simple question: - Why do you like Halloween so much?

Would you be that kind to email me your answer to this email: mohini4@portugalmail.pt
Or simply leave a comment on my blog: http://fernanda-e-filhos.blogspot.com

Thank you very much and have a fun Halloween!

[Michelle]

I love your game. Thank you for sharing. I printed it out to play with my 4 year old daughter.

[carin.c]

This really is such a fabulous idea. I thought so when you first posted it. I may just have to print it out to play with my 4 YO ds. Kids just love it when we make special things up for them and what a wonderful example you've given yours of what you can do with your own mind!

[sarah]

This is such a cute idea! My 6 year old loves games and this one would be just his speed. I do have one question...this may be totally obviuos, but how do you land on the candy corn squares? Is the dice marked with a candy corn image on one side?

[Mrs B.]

Hi! I'm having a month-long Halloween celebration on my blog. I was wondering if you might let me put this awesome game on my blog as sort of a "guest blogger" type thing? With, of course, links back to this blog.

Please shoot me an email if you are interested :O)

mrsbbradley AT hotmail DOT com

[Nydia]

I loved this idea!!! So cute! My five-yea-old son will love it too, thanks for sharing the downloads!

Kisses from a Brazilian blogger.

[Heidi Woodruff]

How creative! Very cool!

I finally got my Somerset issue and saw your article! LOVE IT!!! Congrats!!!!!

*Heidi*

(blog drawing on my new blog:
Everyday-cookies.blogspot.com
with a hyphen!)

[Kari McKnight-Holbrook]

Dawn this just ROcks! You are a blessing and I'm so happy for your kids that they got such a clever creative Mommy!

[Lisa B]

Dawn,
I ran across your wonderful piece in the latest Somerset Holiday & Celebrations. While flipping through the magazine, your pictures caught my eye. I have my first grandbaby who is 9 months old and such a joy and delight. When I saw your work I knew I had to try it. Couldn't wait to go to the store and buy the paints, canvas and get to work. Your directions were so easy to read and follow. I'm usually such a visual person. I was thrilled with my piece. I started small, 5x5 canvas, plus I wanted to "practice" before I jumped in on the 8x10. I had so much fun and am so ready to try more images and more colors. Just wanted to thank you so much for sharing your talent God has blessed you with. Keep on "creatin" - you have it!!! Thanks again, Lisa B

[Laume]

Oh, the lovely memories you made!!! What a great mom.

[Kimberly Miller]

Leave it to you girlfriend, to make such a clever game. You're a rockin' mom, but I always knew you would be, since you're a rockin' friend.

Love,
Kimberly