Bugs and Crosses

This cute Bugs and Crosses board game was easy to make with the help of a friendly child.

You Need

• A wooden disc/log slice (look on Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree, or ask a tree feller).
• 10 smooth pebbles (from a garden centre or a river).
• Interior wood sealer (we used Woodoc 5) Rust-Oleum spray-paint in red and yellow (it has a built-in primer).
• Black acrylic paint.
• Clear lacquer spray paint.

Tools: Sander, ruler, soldering iron, paintbrush, thin artist’s paintbrush, pencil.

Steps

1. Sand the log disc until smooth. Carefully sand the edges to remove loose bark but don’t take it all off. The sanding might take a while and will make a lot of sawdust!
2. Mark the disc with two equally spaced parallel lines, then turn the disc 90° and draw another two parallel lines, perpendicular to the first two. You will have created a grid of nine segments. 
3. Heat up the soldering iron and then burn along the lines to make them stand out. 
4. Seal the log slice. Two coats will do if you’re going to keep this indoors but three are always recommended. 
5. Put the 10 pebbles onto a piece of cardboard and spray-paint five red and five yellow. (Follow the instructions on the can. Do as many coats as you think you need to make them look good.)
6. Paint black heads and dots on the red pebbles (ladybirds) and black heads and stripes on the yellow ones (bees). When the paint is dry, seal with a coat of clear spray-paint to preserve the finish.

Tip

If you don’t like the bugs you can always go with a natural finish. Use two different kinds of pebbles and seal them with clear lacquer to make the colours pop and to help keep them clean.

READ MORE: DIY toys to keep dogs entertained!