THIS WEEKEND IN CHICAGO – DO IT YOURSELF GAMES!

It’s becoming somewhat tricky finding ways to enjoy our weekends as we’re still under a stay-at-home order here in Chicago. But I came across some DIY games that the entire family can get involved with creating, building, and enjoying them! You can probably make some of these into adult version games as well!!

Most kids growing up in the Midwest dreamed of playing the Grand Prize Game on WGN-TV’s The Bozo Show. Needless to say, I was one of them who never got a chance to play and win the grand prize. Well, here’s your chance to build your own Bozo-themed Grand Prize Game. Just click the link above and don’t forget to have prizes handy. Remember, the cash prize for Bucket #6 is a progressive jackpot growing by one silver dollar each day until someone wins them all. For an adult version, add more buckets!

Another classic game that takes very little to make is Ball Toss. If you enjoy ski ball, you’ll love this idea as well. Just place point amounts on different bins and then toss a ball into one of the bins to see how many points you can get. Again, have some prizes handy for the winners who rack up the most points. For an adult version, use different sized bins from large to small to increase the level of difficulty!

Keep your older kids entertained with a Marble Run as the littler ones may put the marbles in their mouths. Just use a basic cardboard box and make a few DIY obstacles for the marbles that land in paper cups at the bottom of the track. To make it more fun, add coin/dollar amounts to the cups as a prize for each player. Plus, marble runs make great engineering challenges for kids, and I’m sure adults as well!

What better way to bring out your kids’ competitive nature than with Racing PomPom Balls. This is a super simple activity that can easily be put together in just a few minutes and made to suit your child’s skill level. Just add a taped track to the floor, or better yet, put it on a board for ease of setting up and putting away. The purpose of this challenge is for your kid(s) to use a straw and blow a pompom ball along the tape from one end to the other. In fact, it can be turned into races by creating more similar tracks and some rules!

Who doesn’t like golf, right? Well, here are two DIY choices. First, there’s Target Golf. Just take a cardboard box and place numbers over each entry hole that you create. Then have your child hit a golf ball into one of the holes. Whoever scores the most wins! Secondly, there’s Mini Golf. You can turn your basement or backyard into a unique and personalized mini-golf course. Click the link above for instructions on how to create a course that can easily be modified to be more difficult! Fore!!

Enjoy Your DIY Weekend!

Sue Moss and Dean’s Team Chicago