How do I Build a Peg Game Board?

There are dozens of varieties of peg games.

Peg board games have stumped and delighted children of all ages for generations. The simplicity of jumping one peg over another makes these games accessible to almost any age, but winning them requires enough forward thinking to challenge most adults. The most familiar peg board game involves a triangular board with 15 holes holding 14 pegs. The goal is to jump pegs to eliminate them, one after the next, until only one peg remains. The board allows multiple peg layouts, and starting with the empty hole in different places makes each game unique.

Things You'll Need

• One piece of one-inch thick board at least five inches tall by six inches wide
• Fourteen golf tees
• Pencil
• Jig saw
• Power drill
• Sandpaper (optional)
• Paint and paint brushes (optional)

Instructions

1. Cut your one inch board to a width of six inches and a height of five inches. Measure to the mid-point along the top edge, and mark the middle point with a dot (should appear at three inches from either side).

2. Draw a line from each of the bottom corners of the wood to the middle-point you've marked at the top, and cut the board along these lines, leaving you with a triangle that's six inches wide at its base and five inches high at its point.

3. Measure up one-quarter inch from the bottom of the triangle on each side, mark the edges and draw a light pencil line across them. Then, starting one half inch in from either side of the base, draw a dot on the line. Measure out four more dots along the line, each one inch apart.

4. Make a second light line across the triangle one inch above the lower one. Measure one half inch inward (toward the middle of the triangle) from the first dot you drew, and add a dot to the new line. Add three more dots, each one inch from the next.

5. Make a third light line across the triangle, one inch above the last. Measure one half inch inward from the first dot on the line before and place a dot. Then place two more dots on the line, each one inch apart.

6. Draw another light line across the wood one inch above the last one, measure one half inch inward from the first dot on the line below and mark a dot. Mark a second dot on the line one inch away. Then measure up one inch from that line and one half inch inward from the two dots below and make a final mark near the tip of the triangle.

7. Drill a hole approximately 1/2 inch into the triangle at each point you've marked on the board using a 3/16th inch drill bit. Once the holes are drilled, erase the light guide lines you made across the triangle and any other visible marks.

8. Insert the golf tees into 14 of the board's 15 holes and play. You may also want to sand the edges of the triangle smooth and paint it.

References

• Hobby Lobby: How to make a wooden peg board game
• Do It Like A Woman: How to make a peg board game