How to Make a Checker Board

Make your own checker board so you can play whenever you want.

Board games are inexpensive and can be a way to spend time together as a family with the television off. You don't have to spend a lot of money on store-bought board games to have a successful family game night. Make your own checker board to use in a rousing game of checkers. Have the members of your family take turns playing each other or create your own family checkers tournament.

Things You'll Need

• 12-inch-square piece of stiff cardboard
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Red and black acrylic paint
• Paintbrush

Instructions

1. Measure and mark off a grid of 1.5-inch squares on your piece of cardboard. Use a ruler and pencil. Make the grid take up the entire piece of cardboard and be eight squares wide and eight squares long.

2. Paint every other square in each row red. Alternate which squares you paint red in every other row. Paint the first square red in the first row and every other square thereafter red. Skip the first square on the second row and then start the every-other pattern with the second square.

3. Let the red paint dry completely. Paint all the squares that aren't red black. Let the black paint dry completely.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a piece of plywood instead of cardboard to make a more sturdy checkerboard.

• Make the board in two colors other than red and black for a less-traditional checker board.

• Paint bottle caps or small wooden shapes (smaller than 1.5-inch square) to match the board to create checkers. You need 12 of each color.