How to Make Pickup Sticks

Use bright colors to paint the sticks.

Pickup sticks is an easy game in which points are earned by taking colors sticks from a pile without moving any other sticks. Black stickes earn 25 points; red sticks are 10 points; blue, 5 points; green, 2 points, and yellow, 1 point.



Thirty sticks are shaken in a pile onto a flat surface. Each player picks up a stick in turn, taking care not to move any of the other sticks in the pile. Should one of the other sticks move play passes to the next player.



Play continues until someone reaches a score of 200.

Things You'll Need

• Newspaper
• Skewers
• Marker
• Handsaw
• Sandpaper
• Paint in black, red, blue and green
• Paintbrush
• Wax paper

Instructions

Trimming, sanding and painting

1. 

   Trim the sticks to 8 inches

   Spread the newspaper over the work area to keep the surface safe from paint splashes.

2. Mark the bamboo skewers to a length of 8 inches and trim with the handsaw. Sand the ends until they are smooth.

   Set aside six of the bamboo skewers and divide the remaining skewers into groups of eight.

3. Paint one group of eight skewers blue, one group of eight green and one group of eight yellow using the paint brush. Paint the whole skewer or simple stripes if preferred.

   Put the painted skewers on the wax paper to dry; the wax will prevent them sticking.

4. Paint one of the bamboo skewer black and the remaining five red.

5. Add the skewers to the others to dry on the wax paper, rolling all of them once to ensure they are completely dry all over. Allow a couple of hours drying time.

6. Spray all the painted skewers with a light coating of spray varnish to seal the paint and protect from chipping.

Tips & Warnings

• The sticks may be stored in a large, clean empty coffee jar or they can make a colorful addition to a toy room bookshelf arranged in a brightly colored plastic beaker.

• Do not allow children to use a handsaw except under strict supervision.

References

• Chicaandjo.com: Make Your Own Pick Up Sticks Game
• Oldfashionedliving.com: Making and Playing Pick Up Sticks