Homemade Monopoly board game, so much fun playing together as a family

The things you’ll need are~ (see the picture below)

1. Paper
2. Colored pens
3. Craft knife
4. Name card stock
5. Laminating film (I didn’t end up using this; I originally wanted to laminate the whole thing~ but my laziness kicked in again)
6. Old advertisement flyers
7. Glue or glue stick
8. Toy coins (available at hardware stores or bookstores)
~~~~Ready to start making it now~~~~

I started with the cards first? Because they’re simpler. I divided them into 4 types of cards, each represented by a different color, using 10 of each.

1. Chance cards
2. Fate cards
3. Action cards
4. Shopping cards
The themes vary, so the content is different too~ (like the next two photos). First, let’s look at the “Chance cards.” Since it’s “Chance”~ my idea was to give Nana the choice herself~ I picked out some toy ads from the flyers, cut out the toys~ I had Nana do the cutting herself!! (She loves cutting—it trains her little hand muscles. I let her use the safety scissors I’ve used since I was little, plus I bought the red children’s scissors from Alex, but even adults find them really hard to cut with, and though it’s just paper~ I didn’t want her to feel frustrated from not being able to cut smoothly~ so she ended up cutting clay instead~ works super well). Nana focused intently and cut slowly~ afraid of cutting into the toys. After cutting, it’s time to glue them on~ She really likes using glue~ because it makes a cool sound~ then sticking them onto the back of the “Chance cards.” Let’s take a look at the whole set~

Next up is the back of the “Fate cards,” along with the “Action cards” (these are mainly physical movements~ well, duh~), and lastly the “Shopping cards”~ (In the old Monopoly, you buy houses or land~ I made it buying countries~ haha~ mainly to help her recognize country flags~ the flag flashcards I made before weren’t being used~ because I’m lazy). This time I intentionally wrote the numbers in pencil~ thinking that when she’s older, I can replace them with bigger numbers (you can do the same for the other cards too).

Then design the main character~ the Monopoly player~ I wanted to use Doraemon as the main character~ because Nana knows him~ and I happen to have their little figurines (not really figurines~ just game pieces~ let’s call them that). I first sketched on the middle of the paper~ (as shown in the photo~ please ignore the messy desk), colored it in (for white I used crayon~ because the tip is too thick~ so~) and also designed the placement for the 4 types of cards. The surrounding areas of the paper are designed as shown in the picture below (pay attention to the quantity and placement configuration of the shopping cards). All the cards, coins, and game pieces are placed on now~~

Getting ready to set off~ ready~ go~~~~ Nana tried playing it first~ super cute. All done~~ o~ya~~

~~~~Added~~~~

The other day, something totally unexpected made me think that the original concept for the Monopoly game was meant to be played “with the whole family,” which means using family member figurines too!! The impatient me immediately printed out photos and made copies~ but it took me a week to actually start making them~ The materials for the “whole family” figurines are shown in the picture below, (along with thick double-sided tape). But it turned out that when I was making them today, I realized I made myself too small~~

Method:

1. First stick the character onto thick cardboard (you can also use a cardboard box instead), then cover the surface with laminating film.
2. Cut out the characters separately (I left the base slightly longer on purpose so it can be glued to the stand)
3. Stick thick double-sided tape on the back
4. Glue it onto another piece of thick cardboard to create a “thicker” feel~ adding weight (if using a cardboard box, you might not need this step).
5. For the base, honestly, I think mine came out a bit rough. I cut strips of thick cardboard the same width as the figurine but slightly longer, then folded the sides inward (as shown in the photo), and added more thick cardboard to the bottom to increase the weight, so the figurine wouldn’t tip over easily. (Another idea~ I think you could also use clay or air-dry clay to make the base. Leave the same length of the cardboard under the figurine to insert into the clay, and once the clay dries, it will hold it firmly~ just an idea, haven’t actually tried it~ starting to talk nonsense again)
5. Base Honestly, I think I made it a bit roughly. I cut thick cardboard strips that were the same width as the figure but slightly longer in length, then folded both the left and right sides inward (as shown in the photo). I also attached extra thick cardboard at the bottom to add weight, so the figure wouldn’t tip over easily. (Another idea – I think you could also use clay or air-dry clay for the base. Leave enough length of the cardboard under the figure to insert into the clay. Once the clay dries, it will hold it in place too – just an idea, I haven’t actually tried it – starting to ramble again).
All done~~~(It doesn’t look very refined though~ If I manage to improve it next time, I’ll share again!)

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