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Home > Arts and Crafts Projects > Games and Toys > Wooden Pocket Checkers Game
Children enjoy owning their own pocket games, which they can play with friends at odd moments of the day. Checkers is an old-time favorite game, and almost every child knows how to play it. This is a great first-timer woodworking project to do with a parent who can help you. This checkers set opens up and inside is where all the checkers are held. This is a very nice set and one that you can enjoy for a very long time to come. (You Might Also Like the Wooden Mini Chinese Checkers Craft)
awl
carpenter saw
coping saw
pencil
ruler
square
sandblock
garnet paper
thin wood or hardboard
3/8-inch dowel rod or stick
thin glove leather or vinyl
rubber band
hot glue
cement
shellac
paint
brushes
(Parental Supervision) For the board, cut two pieces of thin wood or hardboard 21/2 by 5 inches, for each game. Make sure the edges are square. For the shallow box sides, cut 1/4-inch-square strips and glue these to the under, or rough, side of the boards, to form a shallow box to hold checkers.
Cut a strip of thin glove leather 5 inches long and 1/2 inch wide, and hot glue it to the box side of the game for a hinge.
Lay the box right side up and draw 5/8 -inch squares, scoring the wood as you go. This will help in keeping the paint within bounds later. Shellac this, and then paint in the squares, starting with red and finishing with black.
For the checkers, cut 1/4-inch sections from a 3/s -inch stick or dowel. There are twelve men to a side, so allow a few extra and cut 27 pieces. Use a coping saw, since this tool will give a fairly smooth cut and thus cut sanding to a minimum. With so many pieces to prepare, this is important.
Paint half the checkers black, and leave the rest plain. The simplest way to paint a large number of small pieces is to thin the paint and dip each piece, and then dry on a surface like a discarded pie container, or some other non-absorbent surface.
Use a strong rubber band to keep the box shut.