How to Make Your Own Animal Game

Plan the game theme. Will it need information cards? Is it going to be a simple board game that only requires counting spaces? How many people can play at one time? What skill set (if any) do you wish children to learn from playing the game?

Write out the rules for the game. Make sure you include things like how the players will move, the objective of the game, and what happens if two players land on the same square. If trivia cards or direction cards are to be included, create rules for when they will be drawn and how many a player should have at one time. Don't worry if they change a little bit as you create and play test the game. This is normal.

Draw the game board. Use a No. 2 pencil to lightly sketch a trail that winds around on the poster board. Make the trail at least one inch wide; a little wider may be better. Mark it off into square spaces. Mark "Home," the starting place where all the markers will originate; and mark the goal or ending spot. Name these appropriately for the game theme.

Draw a circle using a protractor on a piece of tag board. Divide the circle into at least eight section by drawing lines that go from edge to edge, intersecting at the center point of the circle. The finished lines should resemble pie wedges. Number the sections. If you wish, label one or two of them things like: "Go back to start" or "Free spin". For very young children, you can color the wedges in bright colors that will correspond to colors on the game path. Draw an arrow that is long enough to reach all the way across the circle you just made. It should be at least 1/2-inch wide, but an inch may be better. Cut the arrow out, and cover it on both sides with a small piece of clear shelf paper.

Cut out and glue the circle to a small block of wood. Cover the wood block and circle with a piece of clear adhesive shelf paper. Center the arrow so that its middle is on top of the point where all the sections come to a point in the center of the circle. Drive the picture-hanging nail through the layers of cardboard into the wood. Leave a little bit of the nail exposed. Players will spin the arrow and move according to the space the pointing end lands on.

Make 3-inch-by-2-inch cards by drawing a grid on a piece of tag board and then cutting them out. Type or hand write directions to be glued onto the cards. Add pictures cut from magazines, printed with your computer printer or hand drawn as desired. The directions given will depend on your game design and what information you wish the children to know. For example: If you were designing a teaching game about food webs you might put on a card, "Mouse ate the seeds you were saving for dinner. Lose one turn."

Glue pictures of animals to the tag board. (These will not be the cards. These will be the markers.) Draw two 3-inch strips out to the side of each animal. Cut out the animal with the strips attached. About 1/4-inch from the loose end, make a 1 1/2-inch cut from the bottom of one strip and from the top of the other. Curve the strips around, and fit one cut over the top of the other. Now you have a stand-up marker piece.

Test the game. Your own children, students, Sunday school children or other family members all make good play testers. If you tell them this is a work in progress, most will be happy to tell you what they like about the game, what is too hard or too easy, and suggest changes. They may even want to make a game of their own.