When we recently celebrated Braeden’s birthday, I was keen for it to be a day where everyone joined in on games Braeden could play. It’s definitely a challenge at gatherings for someone who is non-verbal to participate, so I wanted a game that was fun for everyone. Braeden has a few favourite YouTubers he watches including Faze Rug and one of the games Faze and the others play is a giant board game where the people become the game pieces. Braeden always enjoys these videos so I wanted to recreate it for his birthday lunch celebration. It was a hit and everyone could play so I thought I’d share how you can make a giant accessible board game for your next celebration.
How to make a giant accessible board game
We have a wonderful local Facebook group which is all about paying it forward, repurposing and recycling items. People place items in the group that they no longer want and the best bit is they are free. One person’s rubbish is another person’s treasure and all of that. Sometimes people also put requests in the group and that’s what I did for the foam puzzle pieces for the giant board game. In my mind they seem like something people would buy, use for a while and then they’d just sit creating clutter. I had someone immediately respond that they had a set they no longer used and they were happy to pass them along to us for free. That gave me the base for the game.
The alphabet pieces within the puzzle were easily pushed out though so the letters needed to be taped in.
I then asked one of our support workers if she could come up with game instructions that would appeal to Braeden. So she went with all Braeden’s favourite characters, printed out the instructions and laminated them. I’m sure this will be a game that comes out again and again so the laminated instructions will ensure it lasts. Not every foam square needs to have something on it. In fact, I recommend you leave several blank.
A giant blow up dice meant Braeden could easily toss it and the outcome was easy for everyone to see. The blow up dice also added an element of fun because being lightweight it would easily roll, sometimes with a thrilling outcome and at other times disappointing the person throwing it.
We played it on the grass but it would be much easier on concrete or indoors for a wheelchair user. It’s tough going on the grass – or it is in our backyard anyway.
When getting together with family and friends we’ve always tried to take a proactive approach by taking a game or something that will ensure Braeden isn’t left out or bored. This game is a bit bulky to take on a picnic or to a get together (unless you have a big car like us) but it’s sure to be a winner. It could be themed to the occasion, to a person’s interests and it would even make a good home-made gift.
You can read more about Braeden’s birthday surprise in this post.
I also have a list of accessible stay at home fun ideas in this post.
