Spin the World Game

"Mama., I want to make a game for my friend, for his birthday. It has a Spinner that you spin to go around the world, to the planets and outer space. Actually, the Spinner is a rocket ship", came the excited words mostly in one breath one fine weekend morning.

"O...kayyy. What shape should we make the game? Circle? Square?", I casually indulged not knowing the impending...

"It is a triangle game, Mama. And it has 2 sides. One side is night and it is blue. The other side is day and it is yellow. The Day side has animals in it and the Night side has the planets and outer space", was the prompt and confident response.

With still no inkling of what is in store, I automatically quizzed, "Does it have a name?What is this game called?"

"We can call it Spin the World, Mama. Because we spin the rocket ship to go to outer space. Can you help me make it now?" hit me like a ton of bricks. I rocked on my heels while scrambling the eggs for the morning's nourishment.

"Sure. Let's see if we can find all the materials we need", I suggested noncommittally.

Thus started this wild adventure one weekend, directed (and micromanaged) by Og and executed by me, with close supervision (and the inevitable artistic tantrums) from Og, and complete aloofness from Ana.

Materials used:

Blue and yellow Matte card stock paper for the triangular game board and the spinner rocket ship
White card stock paper for the essential "Instructions" to accompany the game
Regular colorful markers, pen, pencil etc.
textured papers for making the 8 planets and the sun
Animal stickers
Plastic washer and paper fastener to make the spinner rocket ship spin
Glue and scissors
Clear contact sheet for laminating the game board

When this original game was built and ready to be tested, all laminated, with the spinner mechanism in place and working gloriously thanks to Papa's handy-ness, Og insisted that it was still incomplete: the instructions! How else will we know how to play this mind-blowing game?!

Writing the instructions was the most fun for me. I tried to make it as bizarre and vague as possible, much like the instructions we've found in some packages that were possibly written/translated by non-native English speakers. Tried is the key.

Also, the much needed picture of the game that does not quite match the actual game was the extra touch. And the arbitrary age range for who can play this game.

And the generic "Manufactured at a local plant"...

Og and I were feeding off of each others' wild energy that day, getting exasperated and excited alternately, but ended up creating something quite satisfying and novel. To us, anyway.

And, we did wrap it up and give it to his friend for his birthday. I hope his parents got a good laugh out of it and the little kiddo was suitably enthusiastic about playing the game. Over and over. Till it falls apart. Which might happen before his interest wanes (if it exists at all), considering the sturdiness of the materials used...