Chess for Kids

Fair warning...I even surprised myself with this one.

I taught my sweet 7 year old how to play chess the other day.  He's a natural and we've played many rounds in the last couple of weeks.  Being a fan of the first Harry Potter movie he calls it Wizard's Chess and basically pounces on the pieces he's capturing.  That's what makes Wizard's Chess so fun!  Well, that also brought about casualties on our breakable chess set.

:(

I started trying to think of a way to save our pieces but still allow him his wizardy fun.  I also needed something more travel friendly.  (We're moving to another country in three days.  I know!)

Enter the peg person.  Now, these guys are no strangers around here.  We use them for all sorts of fun.  Game pieces, calendars, our gnome tree house, etc.  You can pretty much find one in any direction you look at our house. 

I have quite the stash of peg people so I dug around and actually had enough on hand to create one side of the chess set.  (I just got the other side finished last night)  I also had wool felt and all the necessary stuff to sew up little chess themed hats.  Since this is a kids set we chose their favorite colors and set to work.

It's so cute I can't stand it.

The purple side King and Queen have
purple stitching around their crowns.

 

 

Green side = green stitching

Now to tell you about our board.  I was inspired here by this book from my childhood.  (My mom let us borrow it on our last visit.)

yes it IS from the early 80's.

It has some really fun ideas in it but I especially remembered this one.

We have a HUGE supply of bandanas on hand.  I just grabbed one we had that went with our colors and used a paint pen and some acrylic paint to make the squares.  Now full disclosure here, if I had it to do over I would use a fat tipped sharpie (or the paint pen) and NOT the thinned acrylic paint.  It's a little too stiff but it works.  (and I may redo it one day)

When you are finished playing you just tie the whole thing up and toss it in your suitcase.  (or just put it on your shelf)

Cute. as. pie.  These would make a great Christmas gift for the young chess player in your life.

Kristin


p.s.  as I mentioned earlier we're moving soon so my posting here will be more sporadic as we get settled in.  See you on the flip side!

A Present for the Bug

My sweet little nephew Bug turned two a few weeks ago.  I wanted to make him a little something his mom (my sister) could toss into her purse to occupy him when he needed occupying.  Do you remember the memory game I made for my kids last year?  Well, I decided to make Bug his own version. 

Please excuse the less than ideal lighting. 
My house was NOT designed with lighting in mind.

I went with simple shapes and colors wood burned and painted with watered down acrylic paint.  I also finished them with my homemade beeswax polish.

He loved the game!  He's been over to play twice now since receiving his game and has apparently insisted on bringing it each time.

And here's a little sneak peek at one I'm working on for my sweet kids.

I'm loving it so far!

A Quick Game

My parents sent my children sweet Valentine cards in the mail.  My son's card had a cute little alien tic-tac-toe game inside.  It was a game board to cut out and removable stickers. 

We decided we'd like it to be a little more long term than the stickers would likely allow. 

Here's what you'll need to make your own:

- Valentine card with tic-tac-toe game OR just make/print off your own.  Here is a cute hamster one.

- 10-12 wooden 1 1/2 inch circles.  I get mine at Michaels.  $2.99 for a pack of 22

- glue if you aren't using stickers.

- optional: clear contact paper to make the game board really sturdy.  **an especially good idea if using the printable option**

Okay, here's where it gets really tricky...

Step one:  Apply stickers to wooden circles.  Just kidding, it's not really tricky at all.  You'll need to glue them if using the printable sheet.

Step two:  This one is optional.  For an extra sturdy game board you'll want to carefully cover both sides in clear contact paper and trim the edges.  You'll want to do this as smoothly as possible so you're not left with air bubbles.  (Poke tiny pin holes in the bubbles if you need to.)

Step three:  Play.

Thanks Mom and Dad for thinking of the kids and inspiring a craft!