Make Your Own New Year's Board Game

A Fun Way to Celebrate New Year's with Your Family

by Carolyn Moir

Here's a fun way to remember and reminisce about the past year, even if you didn't take any pictures: make your own New Year's board game. This is something that your kids could do alone, too, if they're old enough, and then the whole family can play the finished product.

First, gather some supplies. Get a piece of poster-board or cardboard that has a white side. Get some markers to draw on it with. Maybe get some index cards and some clay.

On the cardboard, draw a path made of wide double lines. Then draw lines across to create a path of little box shapes. At the end of the path draw a picture of some event to look forward to around New Year's. Is there a great family party that everyone looks forward to? Draw a picture to represent that. Is there a special treat for the kids on New Year's, such as glasses of sparkling cider? Draw a picture to represent that. Then you can draw other events along the way on the board, if you would like. Next, you'll need tokens. I suggest molding them out of clay, making characters for each of your family members (either trying to make it look like mom, or making it in the shape of a broom, because she never stops cleaning). If you do use clay, make sure it's a kind you can bake, so the pieces are hardened. You can also use small objects like coins or buttons for tokens.

Decide how your pieces will move down the path. My suggestion is to write event-cards. Then in order to move, the players draw the top card and do what it says. What do I mean by event-card? The point of the card will be to give an action, like "Go back two spaces", but what makes the game fun is if there is a reason. So you write the story that goes with the action, such as "You grimaced at the sweater Aunt May gave you for Christmas; go back two steps." That way you can personalize the game to your own family, and write events and stories based on all the things that happened in the past year.

Get creative with it and think about other board games you've played. Can you have the path intersect itself and players that hit it the crossroad at the same time, have to interact in some way? Can some of your event-cards be dares, or actions that have to be performed?

Another kind of game you could make is Holiday Pictionary. As with above, you'll need a small board, some colored markers, and index cards. You create a path on the board and color in each section. Then use something for a token, and find a timer: from the kitchen, or from a game you already own.

Decide what category each color will be. For example: purple is noises, brown is food, green is gifts, red is all-play. Then take the index cards and draw a line of each color on one side and write a word that fits the category above each line. Make these words directly relate to your own family's celebration of the holidays. If your uncle always falls asleep while watching the football game at Thanksgiving, then "snore" can be a word under "noises." If your grandmother is famous for always making a chocolate pound cake for Christmas, then "chocolate pound cake" can be under "food." If it's a family joke that your aunt always gives the kids a $25 check and tells them to pick out their own Christmas presents, then "$25" or "check" can be under the "presents" category.

Making your own games is more fun because they are based on inside jokes and family stories, so they can be bonding experiences that can solidify your memory of a hectic, but wonderful, year.