Your BOYS will love this one

Don't be fooled GIRL'S also love Marbles. I was the marble champ of my block.
I know my older grandsons will love it and so will their Dads. I'm not sure who will have more fun!

a project for bored little kids




For this project, you'll need a shoebox (you won't need the lid), paints & paintbrushes, a pencil, gesso, contact paper, scissors, and marbles. (Kids, you'll need your parents' help for the cutting part)

Begin by painting the entire outside of the box with a layer gesso

Next, on the paper liner of the contact paper draw house shapes. When you're drawing the opening, use a marble as a guide to know how big to make the opening. You'll want to make some of the openings close to the size of the marbles (difficult shots, more points) and some openings a bit larger than the size of the marbles (easy shots, less points).

Cut the houses out of the contact paper (cut out the doors) and place on the side of the shoebox to check size. If necessary, make adjustments to the height and/or width of the houses so that the whole neighborhood will fit on one side of the shoebox.

Peel off the paper lining and position the houses on the side of the box as desired.
Paint the entire side of the box, painting directly over the contact paper.
Carefully peel off the contact paper to reveal the house shapes underneath, white and fresh and ready to detail.
Paint the house, following the outline. Add details such as a scalloped roof, windows, shutters, polka dots, whatever strikes your fancy.

Using a pencil, draw the outline of the score for that house in the middle of the house shape. Carefully fill the number in with paint using a fine brush. (Alternatively, you can find numbers in magazines and collage them on!)
Keep going until you detail and number all of the houses...see example for inspiration.



Decorate the other sides of the box for extra fun...
Using sharp scissors, carefully cut out the doors of the houses. If the cardboard is too stiff, you may need to use an x-acto knife for this. (Kiddos, please ask your parents to do this part for you...)
Ready for round one? Take turns shooting marbles until you reach 100. After you shoot the marble, keep it in place and then try knocking it with your shooter (big marble) into the door. Don't know how to shoot marbles? As your grandpa...he'll be so happy to show you! And he'll probably beat you at this game!