I enjoy playing a variety of board games, but it can be quite expensive buying them all. So, a few years ago I made these board games myself. I had visions of teaching my children how to play, but having no time to make the boards, so I got ready early... I love how there are so many different strategies to learn in so many different games. What may appear simple, might turn out to be a little more complicated than you originally thought.
Nine Men's Morris
Alquerque
Brandub
You can find the rules for all these games and many others on the Masters Traditional Games website.
Out of these three, my favourite is Nine Men's Morris, but I had the most fun making the Brandub board.
Making your own board games is a great way to up-cycle old place mats. I chose ones with black or gold edging. You can buy plain MDF place mats from craft shops, but they are way more expensive than ones you can find in an op shop, and lack such imagination fueling features. For the Nine Men's Morris and Alquerque boards, I printed the board directly onto scrap-booking paper which I cut down to size to fit into my printer. The Brandub board has a scrap-booking paper background, but the squares are made from vinyl scraps. I used gold scrap-booking stickers to embellish the Alquerque board. Everything got stuck down with a couple of layers of Mod Podge. For the counters I used glass pebbles.
I am currently working on a not-really-quilted game board, so here's hoping it works out OK so I can share that with you too!
Tahlia surprised me the other day when we played a game of Carcassone with a friend. She did really well, and was able to participate (with a bit of help of course). So I'm looking forward to introducing her to these when the time comes.
Materials needed to create the Easy Peasy Pocket Page for an 8"x8" material quiet book:
an old shirt with a chest pocket, preferably one that has a closure
a piece of paper to make an 8"x8" template
Make an 8"x8" template by marking 8" from the same edge at the top and bottom of a piece of paper. Line up your ruler and tear along it. Turn your paper onto the next edge to the left or right and do it again.
Place your template over a shirt pocket, lining it up so the pocket is in the center. Pin and cut it our. Don't worry if your piece has a small section of sleeve in one corner as this will get covered by binding when you sew the quiet book together. This is why your quiet book size can't be bigger than 8"x8", otherwise it might be difficult for you to find a shirt big enough. Although I guess you could add a border around the edge to make it wide enough to fit a bigger page size.
That's it!
I found a heap of old shirts at my local dump, where they give away clothes. It's also a great way to get interesting buttons and beads for free.
You can probably find a variety of pockets all with different closures, and make an entire book out of pockets recycled from old clothing.
Now, to fill them with fun activities....
tetris shapes made from stiffened felt
a prism to catch the sunlight like this idea by Anne from Left Brain Craft Brain
a bead and fabric scrap dolly from the $2 shop
toy cars
a mirror
toy skateboard
coloured cellophane lolly wrappers to use as light filters to look through - don't get them wet though, or the colour will run and ruin your book
Simple puzzles using iron on transfers by Amy from Serving pink lemonade, or just print and laminate them
velcro cord ties from the harware section of a $2 shop to make a link chain with
The pocket on the left with pink edging came from one of my husband's old shirts that he wore a lot when we first met. It was my favourite, and I fixed it when it got a massive rip in the back and my husband kept wearing it! When he put it in the chuck out pile recently, I quickly saved it for this project.
Although he is not named, Psalm 9 was probably written to remember the victory over Goliath. Here is a David and Goliath quiet book page I made from a printable I found online. David's arm swings his sling, the stone sails through the air, and when it hits Goliath, he can fall over:
Memory Verse: "Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done." Psalm 9:10,11.
Materials needed to make the David and Unnamed Goliath Quiet Book Page:
A4 felt background sheet, we used red.
thick white felt big enough to iron the bushes scene on to
white stiffened felt to iron David's arm, Goliath, and the stone on to
three split pins
white thread
iron on transfer paper suitable for your printer
the printable illustration by Carol Stevens at www.lds.org
Print out the image onto iron on transfer paper. If you want David and Goliath to appear on the same sides as they do in the illustration, make sure you flip the image first because it will get flipped back again when you iron it onto the transfer paper.
Cut out the David and bushes scene from the transfer paper. Try to use as many rounded edges as you can to minimize the chance of the transfer paper peeling off in the future. Iron it onto thick white felt, following the instructions of your transfer paper. You may not be able to use as high a setting on the iron as recommended if you are using acrylic felt as it might get burned. My image still stuck to the felt on a lower setting.
Cut out the David and bushes scene again, this time leaving a border of white felt. Fold the felt where the A, B, and C markings are, and cut two angled slits to make a small hole at each point.
Cut out David's arm, Goliath, and the stone as one section from the transfer paper and iron onto the stiffened felt following the instructions of your transfer paper. Again, use a lower setting so as not to burn the felt if it's acrylic.
Cut out David's arm, Goliath, and the stone from the stiffened felt but do not leave a border this time. Fold the stiffened felt where the A, B, and C markings are, and cut two angled slits to make a small hole at each point.
Line up the corresponding holes: A, B, and C. Make sure David's arm and Goliath are sitting on top of the bushes and the arm of the stone is behind the bushes. Insert a split pin in each hole and bend the splits at the back so they can't come out but allow the pieces to move fairly freely.
Sew the bushes scene onto the background sheet along the sides and bottom, ensuring you do not catch any of the pieces along the way.
Finished!
Difficulty Level = Easy
This page involves very little sewing, and if you wanted too, you could hot glue that small section.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Psalm 9 - This page tells the story of Psalm 9, where David praises God for the victory given against Goliath, the unnamed Champion, and inadvertently, the victory He gives through the death of the son, Jesus, symbolized by the red felt background.
Rotation - the circular movement of an object around a fixed point, like David's arm, the stone, and Goliath
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
As I already have a David and Goliath quiet book page for 1 Samuel 17, I thought I might be able to find a Psalm commemorating the victory to use this page for. It is so cute, I couldn't resist doing it whether I could find something or not. I was very surprised that Goliath is not really mentioned by name anywhere else but in 1 Samuel 17, where the story of David and Goliath takes place, although his sword, his brother and his sons are mentioned. As a side note, there is an apocryphal Psalm, Psalm 151, which mentions Goliath by name. Click here to read about it on Wikipedia.
Nevertheless, Jewish tradition and Christian scholars both assert Psalm 9 was written to remember the victory over Goliath. It was probably written later in David's life when he was king in Jerusalem since Jerusalem is mentioned and before David conquered it, it was a Jebusite city.
Read Psalm 9 and see which sections you can identify with the story. I noticed:
verse 1 - I will tell of all your wonderful deeds... i.e. helping me kill Goliath
verse 3 - David mentions his enemies falling, just as Goliath did
verse 5 - God has destroyed the wicked and blotted out their name, and this psalm, although about the victory over Goliath, refuses to mention his name!
verse 10 - those who know God's name will put their trust in Him, just like David did when he went out as a child to meet a giant without any armor, sword, or the backing of his people
verse 11 - declare God's deeds among His people, just as David is doing in this Psalm
verse 16 - the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands, as Goliath brought about his own death by setting himself up as a poster boy against God
verse 20 - asking God to help people realize that they are but men, Goliath may have been a giant and champion warrior, but he was still mortal
The title of Psalm 9 says it is to be sung to the tune "The Death of the Son". This phrase is interestingly explained in the book The Titles of the Psalms, published in 1904, and written by James William Thirtle.
I read on page 71 that it can also be translated to mean "death of a champion" ie Goliath, and that it was interpreted into Aramaic by Jewish scholars as the death of "a man who stood between the two" (ie army camps) when Aramaic became the common language.
When I read about the death of "a man who stood between the two" I knew Psalm 9 had a double meaning referring to Jesus - the man who stood between Heaven and Earth.
Read Psalm 9 again with this context in mind and see what you find. I noticed:
verse 1 - I will tell of all your wonderful deeds... i.e. the death of the son, the man who stood between the two realms mediating for man before God.
verse 10 - those who know your name, Jesus, trust in you
verse 11- proclaim among the nations what He has done. How the son loved us so much that He was willing to die in our place and take the punishment for our sin.
verse 13,14 - lift me up from the gates of death (resurrect me) that I may declare your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion {(New) Jerusalem} and rejoice in your salvation, salvation being the meaning of the name Jesus! Jesus is the only one who is able to give life to those deserving of death, and proved that it is possible by His resurrection.
verse 16 - the wicked are ensnared by the works of their own hands, as we all would be except we accept the covering of God's grace, Jesus.
If you notice things I have missed, please share and comment below!
Since it is Hanukkah right now, I decided to make a felt board play set and share with my readers how to do it. So here it is: how to make a menorah felt board play set for Hanukkah!
Menorah Felt Board Play Set
Felt sticks to itself, so you can make movable pictures for kids to play with and rearrange repeatedly. Normally I double my felt to make it strong, but not for this project as I didn't want it to be too heavy and fall off the felt board.
Hanukkah celebrates a miracle which occurred during the time in between the writing of the old and new testaments.
Basically, the temple had been defiled by the Greeks who were ruling over the Jews at the time. They were being massacred and reading the scriptures was outlawed. The Jews ran a successful revolt, and rededicated the temple to God even though they only had enough undefiled olive oil to last one day in the temple seven-branched candlestick. It was never supposed to go out, and one day's supply of oil miraculously lasted eight days - enough time to secure an ongoing supply. To read a more detailed story click here.
So, why are there nine candles on the Hanukkah menorah when the oil only lasted eight days? I believe the taller candle called the Shamash, or servant, represents Jesus, see Isaiah 53:11 and John 8:12. It is used to light all the others. Of course this is not the meaning attributed to it by Judaism. Click here for their explanation.
John records that Jesus went to the temple at the time of Hanukkah, John 10:22-23. Since it celebrates being set free from earthly oppressors, the Pharisees used it as another opportunity to chide Jesus about whether He was really the Messiah... and He responded that they didn't recognise Him because they didn't know His voice. As this is the only place where the Good Shepherd is mentioned, I cannot leave that out and will not be focusing on Hanukkah in that chapter of the Bible quiet book project. I think :)
The candles are lit from right to left in the same way that Hebrew is read from right to left. Ascension Ministries have a heap of good ideas on how to celebrate Hanukkah in a New Testament way!
Find a free template of the Hanukkah menorah felt board play set I made here!
