How to Make a Child Board Game

Decide on the basics for your game. There needs to be an object to it, victory conditions to work towards, and a means of gauging each player's progress. The easiest method is to simply design a board with a certain number of spaces. Players move tokens across the board by rolling dice or drawing cards and the first one to reach the finish line wins. Alternately, the spaces can be designed in a circle, and as the players travel around it they earn a certain number of points until a victory threshold is reached. Set up the basic parameters for winning, then determine what kind of rules are required to make it function.

Determine specific embellishments to make the game more interesting; this can include spots on the board where players suffer penalties or earn rewards, cards which can be drawn at certain points and which have an effect on game play, spins on a wheel to move tokens backwards and forwards, or anything else you have in mind. Embellishments allow for a certain amount of strategy and keep the game from becoming too static.

Set up a turn sequence and decide how the players will move around on the board; do they roll dice, draw cards which tell them how many spaces to travel, or spin a wheel? Dice are the quickest and simplest method, but if you have a numbered spinning wheel, then that can work as well.

Decide on an overall theme for your game. With the basics of game play set up, you can then add some imagination to the equation. Why are the players trying to reach the finish line? Are they superheroes racing to their secret hideout to save the day? Maybe the children are playing versions of themselves and have to earn a number of points by doing chores and good deeds as they move around the board.

Sketch out your game board on a piece of poster board, then color it in using pens and magic markers. Make the board spaces as clear and easy to identify as you can, and include a symbol to mark any special spaces (with obstacles or rewards for example). Draw pictures or glue photos into the white space on the poster board to give it a little flair.

Take a set of 3-by-5 inch index cards and cut them in half. Write the text for any cards the game requires on each of the individual pieces. Make sure no one can read what the cards say when they are laid face down, then shuffle them in anticipation of play. (If your game design doesn't include cards, you can skip this step.)

Formalize any existing rules by writing them down. Include a description of the turn sequence, how you decide who goes first, and what all of the victory conditions are; this prevents arguments from springing up during game play.

Collect 5 or 6 small objects to use as tokens; these can be bottle caps, pennies, miniature figurines or anything that fits on the board you have drawn. Each token should be distinct from all the others in order to prevent confusion about which player is where on the board.

Lay your board on a household table and start playing.