Canvas Painter's Drop Cloth, Life-size Game Board

Here is  life-sized board game "Faith Journey" that we made out of two canvas painter's drop cloths (we found at Home Depot -- 12X15 feet).

Here is another game board made on a drop cloth:

The three boys in front are creating something from Play-doh as a part of a Cranium-like game.

Here's how we made our canvas game board:

I purchased two canvas dropcloths and sewed them together (this was the hardest part because it was so large!). Next I drew out a twisty, windy path on the drop cloth and divided it into sections. (I used a yard stick to help me keep the path even) I added three symbols: Cross, Questions and a Firecraker to some of the spaces. I used latex paint to paint the path and the symbols and the title of the game.

To play kids move through the game board as a team (adds to the fun that you have to squeeze a bunch of kids on one space)after rolling a large foam dice (purchased on-line).

When they land on a question, cross, or firecracker space, they draw a card from a pile (we created a space on the board for this). The cards reflect a variety of things.

• Cross questions reflect situations where kids choose to do the right thing and they get to move ahead one space. (ex: you spent the night with a friend and stayed up late, but you made it to church on time).
• Questions cards ask questions that help review the lesson.
• Firecracker or explosion cards show situations where kids made the wrong choice (ex. you gossiped about the new kid in your class) and they have to move back a space or even go back to Start.

To make it more fun we also include lots of hands-on activities -- like going to the white board and writing the memory verse, finding a location on the wall map, building an altar from stones, digging in a bucket of sand for something, etc. Kids LOVE this game and ask to play it all the time! Finished size is about 15 X 24 feet so it takes up a lot of space. To store, we got an empty carpet roll and just roll it up and push to the edge of the room.

I'm the games lady at my church! GAMES RULE!!!!

Jaymie

Directions attached for making Jaymie's canvas drop cloth game board.