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How to Build Your Own Train Games

Preschool children are at the age where they need to be learning kindergarten readiness skills. Counting and sight identification of the numbers 0 through 10 are important skills that you can teach kids between the ages of 4 and 5. The way to help your child want to learn is to teach in a fun way. You can build a train game for your preschool age child that will be both fun and educational. The game is like a memory game, but at the same time the game will teach your child sight identification of the numbers along with counting of the numbers, with your guidance.

Things You'll Need

½ sheet of luan, 1/8 or 1/4 inch thick Yardstick Circular saw Fine tooth wood cutting blade Eye protection Spray paint, 1 color Various sized train stickers, ¼ inch to 1 inch wide Black permanent marker Polyurethane Small paintbrush

Instructions

- 1
  Lay ½ sheet of 1/8- or 1/4-inch wood down on a flat, large work surface. Measure 2 inches over from the side edge of the wood, vertically down the edge, to make a 2-inch wide strip. Mark the 2-inch point for the entire length of the wood then use the yardstick as a straight edge, keeping the edge of it straight and on all of the marks. Make a line by running the pencil along the straight edge of the yardstick a few times. Measure 2 inches over from the line you made and make another.
- 2
  Turn the sheet of wood so the lines you made are now running horizontally. Measure and mark every 2 inches, making 2-inch-by-2-inch boxes across the 2-inch wide strips.
- 3
  Cut along the lines vertically with a circular saw with a fine tooth blade, then turn the board to cut the lines that run horizontally. Work slowly to avoid crooked lines. Count out 22 blocks.
- 4
  Sand all of the edges of each block with a fine-grit sanding block.
- 5
  Lay the 22 blocks down on newspaper, on your work surface. Hold a can of nontoxic spray paint 10 inches above the blocks and spray them all using the same color. Do this so all of the blocks match and your child learns the numbers rather than knowing which blocks match by color. Allow the paint ½ hour to dry, then flip the blocks over to apply the paint to their backsides and edges. Apply a second coat to both sides if desired. Allow the blocks 1 hour to dry.
- 6
  Get the train stickers and sort them by size. Set aside two of the blocks as there will be no stickers on the blocks which are labeled 0. Apply one large sticker to two blocks, two stickers to two blocks, three to two blocks, four stickers on two blocks, etc., using the smaller stickers for the higher numbers until you have made two matching blocks for all of the numbers 1 through 10.
- 7
  Use a black permanent marker to label the side of each block that does not have the sticker on it according to how many stickers are on the front side of the block. Make the numbers large, in the center of each block, including the blocks that have zero stickers on them.
- 8
  Apply a coat of polyurethane to each block with a small paintbrush, on both sides, allowing the first side to dry for 1 hour before flipping the blocks over to do their opposite sides. Allow the polyurethane 12 hours to dry before playing the train game with your child.

Kids Games