Kid-friendly DIY Rummoli board
My handy husband and I played Rummoli a few times at our friends’ house and decided we needed a board of our own. Our friend had built his own board so we knew we could, too. Except somewhere along the way, our clubs turned into “clovers” and our spades turned into “shovels” — dirt and all!
It started out looking like a regular Rummoli board. I squared off a piece of plywood and drew an octagon. Not all of the wedges were exactly the same size (I’m still not sure what I did wrong) but they were close enough. While I was doing that, my handy husband was out buying cups to set into the board. I couldn’t believe it when he came back NOT with plastic dishes, but with ... nine terracotta pots.
“Why did you get those?” I yelped. “The nickels are going to be so loud every time they’re tossed into those things!”
He insisted the Dollar Store hadn’t had any small plastic containers — uh-huh, a likely story — so he’d picked up the pots instead. He’d already bought the circular drill bit to match their diameter, so we were stuck with them. I sighed and made a mental note to wear earplugs while playing Rummoli.
Once he’d cut the nine holes to fit the pots, it was time for the fun part: painting the board!
I printed out the words I’d need to paint — like Poker, Ace and King — as well as some of the symbols.
To transfer them to the plywood, I did my usual trick of scribbling pencil over the back of the paper and then tracing them (HARD!) with a sharper pencil.
When I finished penciling the first wedge, it had a neatlytransferred heart and the word “KING”.
It looked like any boring old Rummoli board.
What was the point in making my own? I paused. Slowly, I freehanded a second heart. Then a third.
By the time I’d worked my way around the board with a pencil and some acrylic paint, it looked nothing like a traditional Rummoli board!
I’d scrapped the standard red diamonds for three-dimensional, sparkly-looking blue ones. I’d turned the black spades into little shovels digging up dirt to grow daisies. I’d painted the clubs in different shades of green, like St. Patrick’s Day clovers.
I finished off the board by outlining everything with black Sharpie — for a crisper look — and I do plan to seal it, once I’m positive there’s nothing more I’ll add. The terracotta pots fit neatly into place, and my husband raised the board up with a bit of wood underneath so the pots are suspended.
We’re not sure how quickly our six-year-old and eight-yearold will catch onto Rummoli, but they’re very interested in the fact that you play for nickels. Perhaps we’ll have to start giving them their allowance in nickels ... and then winning it back! ;)