Activity: Invent a New Board Game Together

Perfect for: Indoors (living room, kitchen table, or classroom)

Best for: Kids aged 6+ (younger kids can help with drawing and naming)

Activity Description:

Work together to invent a brand-new board game from scratch! Kids create the rules, the board, the characters, and the challenges, then play it as a family. It’s an amazing blend of creativity, problem-solving, and storytelling, and the game can evolve every time you play.

How to Do It:

1. Gather Game-Making Materials

• Large sheet of cardboard, paper, or poster board (for the board)
• Markers, crayons, and stickers
• Dice, buttons, beads, or paper scraps (for game pieces)
• Optional: Reuse parts from old games (spinners, cards, timers)

2. Decide on a Theme

Let kids pick something exciting, like:

• Treasure Island Adventure
• Escape the Haunted Castle
• Dragon Quest
• Space Zoo Rescue
• Pizza Delivery Race

3. Create the Board and Rules

• Draw a path with spaces, loops, or branching trails
• Add “action spots” with challenges:
  
  • Lose a turn
  • Move forward 3
  • Answer a riddle
  • Perform a funny dare
• Make simple cards with events or surprises:
  
  • “You slipped on dragon slime!”
  • “You found a golden key!”

4. Play the Game Together

• Take turns, test the rules, and change anything that doesn’t work
• Encourage laughing at wild events, pretending, and storytelling
• Add levels, traps, magic cards, or team vs. team mode

5. Decorate and Save It

• Color in the board and give it an official name
• Keep it in a folder or box so you can play it again or evolve it later
• Let kids make an ad poster: “Come play The Mystery of Cloud Mountain—the most fun game in the universe!”

Bonus Tip:

Make a “Game Inventor’s Logbook” where kids record ideas for expansion packs, character powers, or new challenges.

This fun and creative activity builds imagination, decision-making, and collaboration—and gives you a totally original game to play again and again. Type n when you’re ready for the next idea!