Cover it Up {5-in-a-Row Geometry Game}

This clever game is inspired by travel BINGO. I played it as a kid and absolutely loved it. Since my oldest son shares my love of games, I figured he'd feel the same.

I was right.

Supplies

Sticker paper (or office paper and a glue stick)

Plastic 8 1/2 x 11-inch sheet protector

Empty cereal box

Office paper

Cardstock

Stapler

Craft knife

Scissors

Straight Edge (i.e. ruler)

Die and game card templates (click here to download them free)

How I made the game

Print the game card onto sticker paper. Adhere to one of the large sides of an empty cereal box. Cut the card out, trimming off the excess paper and cardboard. Using a craft knife and a straight edge, carefully cut along the lines, so the flaps to each starred square can be opened like french doors. I put a cutting board underneath to prevent scratching my countertops or table.

To make bending the flaps open easier, score the folds by using a straight edge to guide the back end of a butter knife along the dotted lines. Gentle pressure will form an indent that will make your creases look straight.

With all the flaps cut, grab your plastic sheet protector. Place the game card in one corner, so two of its sides align with the folded or seamed sides. Once aligned, use the card as a guide and drag your craft knife along two sides of the card to make the sheet protector smaller.

Now one of the long ends of the sheet protector has been cut open. Use a stapler to adhere the sheet protector envelope and the game card, effectively closing that open side. Staple along the bottom of the card as well to hold the sheet protector in place.

Make sure one side of the sheet protector remains open.

Now cut the shape card inserts. Depending on how far away from the top and bottom edges of your card that you stapled, you'll need to trim the shapes card inserts so they can be slid into the plastic sheet protector and lined up properly.

Lastly, print, cut, glue and fold the dice. It works best to print the die templates onto heavyweight cardstock. Once glued, use a rubberband to loosely hold the sides together until glue has dried.

There are two levels of play; the most basic shapes have a grey background both on the shape card insert and the die.

Two die should be rolled with every turn: the color die and the shapes die (make sure you're using the correct shapes die with the shape card insert you're playing on).

How to Play

The player rolls the shapes and colors die, locates the square on their game card that pictures the shape being described by the die, and closes the flaps to cover it up.

Once you've gotten five squares in a row (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal), you're done!

Both of my boys had a blast with this and I was especially surprised at how long our 4-year-old played before growing tired of it. This was a wonderful geometry review for my oldest son and a simple shapes and color review for our youngest boy!

NOTE: The PDF I've created includes a blank template so you can use the Cover it Up game board to practice any number of skills - letter recognition, division problems, Spanish vocabulary, etc. By using the plastic sheet protector sleeve, you can easily swap out the cards for different skills.