I decided on a green filefolder to set off the colors of the pictures. The large bee and the pretty tulips were cut from papers I bought at a scrapbooking store. But I bought extras of these pages as I knew these would make a darling gameboard someday. I was right. They just sat here waiting though. Then the package from Lindsay arrived. The 20 wooden bees she sent me reminded me I had these papers.
I cut the pictures and fastened them to the gameboard using a glue stick. The tulips were placed in a pattern representing a tic tac toe grid. I debated actually drawing the grid, but decided it was prettier without it. I added the pretty pink circle stickers and wrote the numbers on them. Then the gameboard was covered with clear Contact paper to protect the pictures.
The Spinner:
I drew a circle spinner on green heavy weight paper. The spinner has ten segments. The numbers 1-9 are written in a random order. The last segment has a tulip in it. The added piece will have a hole punched in the point. A matching hole will be punched in the filefolder near an edge. Using a brad paper fastener, I will attach the spinner to the folder. This keeps the spinner from being lost, and allows it to just be turned to be used during the game without detaching it.
Cards:
This is a GENERIC gameboard, so ANY skill cards may be used to play. Children may drill their spelling words, work math facts, define words, answer unit review questions, or translate foreign phrases.
Bees:
Lindsay, a friend from England, sent me 20 darling wooden bees. You will note the three of the bees on the gameboard. Ten of the bees she gave me were yellow, and ten were orange.
To Play:
The game is designed to be played with two players. Each player chooses one color of the bees as his playing pieces. In turn, players draw a skill card and give their response. If it is correct, they spin the spinner and place one of their bees on the the appropriate space on the the playing board. If another player's bee already occupies that space, they may remove it and replace it with their own. The object is to be the first player to get three bees in a row, vertically, horizontally, or diagonally.
NOTE: RULE ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN! If you don't like the rules I give, make your own. This game could be played without the spinner. Players choosing where to place their bees. However, I like the "luck" of the spin as this evens out the play when players have different abilities or for young children who would not understand the strategy of the game. Also, some young players can't handle their game piece being removed. SO...change this rule. Maybe the removal of a piece only applies to the adult playing with a young child...to help even out their greater knowledge.
TIP: Any theme could be used for this game...and any kinds of things (coins, buttons, chips, etc) could be used as the playing pieces.
ANOTHER TIP: Especially when playing with young children, you might want to put a small piece of "sticky tack" on the back of each game piece. This helps keep the game pieces from getting moved by an accidental bump.
