Homemade Checkers Game from Duct Tape!

I've been wanting to introduce my kids to the game of Checkers, so I created this homemade version with a mat made out of colored duct tape (Duck tape brand) which turned out totally cute!  When my husband went to the hardware store to buy some black duct tape to 'fix' our chairs, I asked him to also pick up a roll in a different color or pattern, and he came back with purple Duck tape.  (If you're wondering about the chairs - since the kids have been using them, all our leather chairs have ripped, and the black duct tape solution was the best we could think of without spending tons of money on new furniture for the kids to destroy - thank goodness we never have guests!)  Anyway, with my black and purple rolls of duct tape, I set off to make a checkerboard mat...

I sort of figured this out as I went along.  Since this was a gift for my 3-year-olds, I knew it didn't have to be perfect.  If I were to do it again, I'd probably measure things and be a bit more precise, but here's what I did.. First I folded the tape in half and made eight long strips of each color.  I taped them to the table with scotch tape, and then started to weave them into a checkerboard pattern..

The side facing me was going to be the back of the mat, so I covered it in purple tape..

Then I flipped it over and trimmed the edges (leaving approximately an inch or so on each side.

Then I put a strip of purple tape around each edge of the mat and folded it over to secure it (this trim would look really nice in a 3rd color, too).  The final mat looks like this (back and front):

 

I was originally planning on making the checkers out of plastic lids or getting little wooden circles to paint, but then I found some little round wooden game pieces as part of a tic-tac-toe game in the $1 section of Target.  You could also use mini-erasers, candies, and miscellaneous other objects instead of checkers.

 

I added a little tin (also from the $1 section) to put the game pieces in.  The duct tape mat is really durable and can be wiped off.  It can be rolled up of folded for easy storage.  I really love how this little homemade game turned out, and I can't wait to begin playing checkers with my kiddos!

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