When your kids have a greater age difference between them it can be hard to find games and toys that will work for everyone. There is a five year gap between our youngest and our oldest but, bless their hearts, they still want to play together. The oldest does a great job of including his younger brother (and sister) when he plays but often gets frustrated when they can’t understand or have the patience for big kid games like Monopoly. (Let’s be fair, I’m a grown woman and sometimes I don’t have the patience for Monopoly.) With all 3 at home during the days this summer, I wanted to create a game that they could all enjoy together but that could easily be made more challenging when just the big kids are playing. While perusing the dollar store, I suddenly had an idea. This DIY dollar store eraser toss game is easy to make and does that does just that!

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[bctt tweet=”This dollar store eraser toss game is an instant summer boredom buster for kids! #kids #activities” username=”diyadulation”]

 

Materials

** This looks like a lot of materials but you will likely have most of them. If you buy the items with locations denoted below, it will cost about $5 with tons of leftover materials for another craft later.

• Plastic Plate (dollar store)
• 3 Packs of Shot Glasses in Different Colors (dollar store)
• Decorative Duct Tape (dollar store)
• Assortment of Pencil Top Erasers (dollar store)
• Small Dry Erase Clipboard (Dollar Spot at Target)
• 3 Sticker Labels
• Sharpie Markers
• Hole Punch
• Ruler or Straight Edge
• Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
• Curling Ribbon

 

Step 1

Remove all tags and packaging from your materials but save back one of the bags that your shot glasses came in. You will use this later.

 

Step 2

Add 3 labels to your plate. Start at the edge and work towards the center. (See picture for reference.)

 

Step 3

Using a black Sharpie, write the point values on your labels. Starting with the outermost label and working towards the center, the values are: 10, 20, and 50.

 

Step 4

Hot glue your shot glasses to your plate one color at a time starting with a single color to form the outer ring. The second ring should be a different color and is the next one you add. Glue one shot glass in the third color to the center.

 

Step 5

With a box cutter cut a small hole in the plate in the gap in the shot rings as pictured above.

 

Step 6

Carefully widen the hole with a phillips head screwdriver.

Note:

Take your time because if you try to force it you can split your plate.

 

Step 7

Cut a length of ribbon 24 inches long. Gather the loose ends together and tie them into a single knot.

 

Step 8

Thread the ribbon knotted end first through the hole.

 

Step 9

Pull the folded end through the knotted end and pull tight.

 

Step 10

Punch two holes in the top, lipped edge of your plate. (I used the smaller setting on my Crop-o-Dile to punch mine.)

Tip:

The holes should reside on either side of your outermost label. Once hanging, this will be the top of the target.

 

Step 11

Cut another length of ribbon that is 10-12 inches long and thread through each hole from the front of the plate toward the back of the plate.

 

Step 12

Double knot the ends of the ribbons and pull taut. This becomes the hanger for the game when needed.

 

Step 13

Set your plate to the side for now. Grab the bag from one of your shot glasses packages.

 

Step 14

Cut off the top of the bag being sure to leave the connected part. See the picture above for reference.

 

Step 15

Carefully strengthen each side of the bag with decorative duct tape.

 

Step 16

Add all of your erasers and a dry erase marker to the bag.

 

Step 17

Prepare your clipboard and materials. These are the:

• Sharpie Markers
• 12 inch Ruler of Straightedge

 

Step 18

Draw a large “t” using your ruler centered on the clipboard. Next, label each side with “Team 1” and “Team 2”. Use the photo above as a placement guide.

 

 

Step 19

Bring your plate back over and tie your clipboard using the ribbon you attached to your plate earlier. Make sure it is a slipknot because it is simply used for storage. You will want to untie the clipboard when your kids play.

 

Step 20

Clip your bag to the clipboard to keep all of the game components together when not in use.

 

Rules of the Game

• Divide players into two teams.
• Each team member gets 3 erasers.
• Teams then take turns throwing their erasers from 2, 4, and 6 feet away from the target.
• Record the scores from each team in the appropriate columns.
• The team with the most points at the end of all 3 rounds is the winner.

** For younger children, lay the target flat on a table. For older children, hang the target from a hook or a tree branch.

 

 

Kids will love playing this colorful game. You will love how much cheaper it is than the games in the store. If you play this outdoors change up the difficulty by hanging from a branch away from the tree so it spins. The giggles when the erasers bounce all over the place will be heard all up and down the street! When the weather makes outdoor play impossible, hang it on the back of a bedroom door for an instant boredom buster. Find more summer boredom busters, like this Summer Memory Book, on our Summer Holidays Page!

See where I’m linking up!