Over the Kitchen Counter: Angie's Place for Cooking and Crafts: Creative Kids

I have to brag share what my kids did for their dad's birthday. None of them had ideas what to get him for a gift so I suggested that he would cherish a gift they had made or would love an outing they could experience together (eg. go for a bike ride to the local ice cream shop for a root beer float).

What they came up with made me so proud - and a little envious! They created DADOPOLY: a completely, fully functional, and accurate rendition of Monopoly...customized to a 'this is your life' version for their father.

The kids came up with all the ideas first: 'coloured properties' in chronological order (parents, siblings, wife, in-laws, kids, teams, pets), as well as workplaces for the 'utilities' and cities of residence for the 'railroads'. The Community Chest and Chance cards were named with means of communication (local newspaper & Blackberry messages), and had funny references to his personal life experiences (best composter, win $15, run a marathon, collect $100, etc.). The taxes were related as well: "Don's run, pay $X.XX" (ie. McDonald's) and "You're Late, pay $x.xx (as hubby is ALWAYS tardy!) Jail was replaced with an auto shop, (where their dear father spent some time this year after not once, but twice, hitting poor raccoons!). They were all meaningful and funny and specific to their dad.

The crafty and creative part came in when assembling the board. They prepared all the cards, hand-coloured in the borders, photo-shopped all the icons, laminated everything (with my laminator!!!) and decorated the box with photos. It turned out SO well and was a real hoot to play! (I won, after I got tired and hubby took over for me). It was a great gift idea and meant so much. I think we had as much fun creating the game and thinking of all the funny references to his life. The kids did so well making Dadopoly and it was really fun to watch them team up and get it done on time. It actually took quite a few hours of work and they sat in my workshop, cutting and pasting, colouring and laminating (son even learned about using a BRAYER!!!).