{make} diy cardboard games

We recently watched Caine's Arcade as part of Journal Jam (Jennifer Fischer of Think Ten Media Group wrote an amazing prompt build around it). 

I was unprepared for the response! My kids tinker and build a lot but something about Caine's story touched and inspired them to start building immediately and with a focus I have not seen for a while. 

Thankfully we are in the middle of a move, so had plenty or cardboard around. 

They built a skee ball game with elaborate rules and elements of chance. a pom pom shooting game and  a giant, two person ball maze. 

They are all 

iends to make their own games so that a bigger arcade party can be held this fall. 

One kid ended up having to get stitches midway through the day-long building session. But that did not stop him! We had dinner, took some Advil and he was back at work (minus the use of one thumb). 

This is the perfect activity if you have a long day stretched out in front of you. Especially, if it is too hot to play outside. We score extra cardboard at a Sam's and found a variety of balls and other accouterments at the Dollar Store. 

There is no tutorial for this because your kids already know how to do it all! Just give them the space and materials. But don't skip out on the fun! Parents need to build and create along side their kids. They were so happy that we were cutting and gluing and dreaming up new games next to them. A great, great family activity, full of art, science, imagination, laughter, and connection. 

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