hopscotch mat…hot glue!!!

Created On: July 18, 2011 | Updated: November 3, 2014 | 85 Comments

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This originally posted at the IDEA ROOM. I was so excited when amy asked me to guest post because the idea room was one of the first blogs that i followed.

anyways…..I wanted something big….and hot glue and came up with this:

(oh..and there are about 100 pictures. i kept emailing amy making sure that it was okay cause heaven forbid I edit.)

so it was spring break! whoopie. I thought I would send the kids outside and get some freaking peace some cleaning done.

it snowed.

and it was cold

and windy.

Idaho really sucks sometimes.

so I thought I had better think fast and come up with some outside games that could be done inside.

hopscotch.

classic.

I went to joanns (shoutout!) and bought me some white canvas stuff. (it was 6.99 a yard…but I had my 50% off coupon)

I acutally went to home depot first to find a drop cloth but the smallest I could find was a 5 ft by 5 ft (for about the same price) so if anyone is a mad 4 square player you could buy that and do it up right.

I was on the fence about whether to hot glue stuff to it or paint…..

but I finally went with hot glue…I mean I’ve got to live up to the name right? but for the record…paint would be easy to do (as long as your canvas is thick enough) or you could even sew fabric…but those methods require a bit more work.

I bought two yards and cut it in half….but that makes two mats….so you could just buy one yard and sew the ends together to make one long mat (does that make any sense at all? basically..you want one long piece of fabric…by any means necessary)

the easy peasy way is to get those felt sheets….(I think about 25cents a piece)

I have quite a collection of felt….so I cut whatever colors I needed to size

(sidenote: when working with felt…sharp scissors are your friend)

I had a “helper” lay them out (and try them out)

if you notice..she is on a different color for each picture…

Then I had another “helper” take off the stickers on the felt sheets

and then try it out

and then ANOTHER helper laid it out exactly how she wanted the colors to be…

see how desperate we are for some entertainment!!!!

back to the task at hand

I folded the mat in half and rounded the edges of the top part of the mat

then I “hemmed” the edges using my hot glue gun

I took my felt pieces and traced the numbers

and cut it out (you could use a stencil if needs be)

Then I just hot glued the pieces right onto the canvas (make sure all the edges are glued down nice and tight seeing how there is going to be a lot of jumping on it)

(see the vacuum cord? that is what I SHOULD have been doing!)

this is where you could STOP..

BUT..I had all these leftover scraps…and I hate letting things go to waste…so I started cutting circles..

and then I added them around my mat as a border

I dug some rocks out of the frozen tundra and had my little helpers paint them

{a wall also got painted purple. awesome.}

Then you just shove all your furniture against the wall

and go to town

the best part (other than getting your kids to leave you alone so you can blog)

it folds up nice and small..

now of course..I had a whole other blank side…

so I added a few more games on the back.

and a little bag to hold all the pieces:

the tic tac toe was just some strips of felt:

the tic tac toe pieces are just x and o’s on some squares

and the target is just some “pieces of pie” cut out and then I cut out some numbers

for the “bombs” (that is what my son calls them) I just cut out some asterisk shapes

fill with some beans

then I just hot glued the sides up

and wrapped a rubber band around it

and hot glued some felt around the rubber band

then I just snipped the pieces to make it poofy.

they just stand at the top of the mat and chuck them and if they land on a number…they can add them up and the one with the biggest number wins (did you see what I did there….I added some math…and the kids will have so much fun playing that they will NEVER KNOW…{insert evil laugh} it’s like when you grate carrots and put them in brownies! little things that make us feel like we are winning the parents vs kids game.

Then I made a hot glue felt bag to hold all the stuff in it ( I should have made it bigger to hold the mat too….you live and learn)

decorated the front

hot glued the sides together

and folded down the top edge

and added a string

all wrapped up…stored in a closet. ready for another cold blustery day!

Comments

Carissa says

July 18, 2011 at 8:26 am

So cute! My little one would LOVE this! What a fantastic idea!

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twilkerbug says

July 18, 2011 at 8:42 am

That is awesome! I love it! While I was looking at the kids playing hopscotch I said to myself, 'one could put some of that rubbermaid shelf liner stuff, to keep the game mat from slipping' (if that's an issue)

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Kristy says

July 18, 2011 at 9:35 am

Very fun! 🙂 I recently made a tic tac toe mat and my kids loved it and even mentioned a hopscotch version, so I might just have to do this! It turned out great btw!

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Laura says

July 18, 2011 at 9:38 am

Doesn't the fabric move around when the kids jump?

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Mrs. Ohtobe says

July 18, 2011 at 11:15 am

Ingenious! If you have issues with it slipping around put some puffy paint squiggles on the back side – that should do the trick!

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Lyss says

July 18, 2011 at 6:25 pm

I didn't know you could hem and 'sew' with hot glue! This opens a whole new world of possibilities. Hmmm…

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Shay says

July 18, 2011 at 7:01 pm

Best. Idea. Ever.

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Jamie Lynn says

July 18, 2011 at 3:53 pm

Love this! I'm a kindergarten teacher and this would be GREAT for indoor recess! Thanks for the great ideas.

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Aimee Steckowski says

July 19, 2011 at 7:50 am

i am in LOVE! saw this on nat's napsack…. will be following along now!!!

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Cami @ You Seriously Made That says

July 19, 2011 at 10:23 pm

This is adorable! I'm glad you did both the front and the back! It looks amazing. I especially love the bag to hold all of your pieces.

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[email protected] Daisy says

July 27, 2011 at 5:42 pm

Kimbo, you are my hero!! I love this!! Featured it on my blog today:

http://www.oopseydaisyblog.com/2011/07/wednesdays-wowzers-join-me-on-pinterest.html

Thanks for inspiring!
~Alison

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Artistic31Mama says

August 2, 2011 at 12:03 pm

Thank you so much for sharing this!! What a WONDERFUL gift idea as well as some great games for rainy days!! I think I may just make this for my nephews birthday at the end of this month!! This is going on my crafting "To-Do List" Wonderful idea!

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Kathie says

August 2, 2011 at 1:32 pm

Wow, wow, wow—this is pretty much amazing. I need to go to JoAnn's pronto! Thanks for sharing!!

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Courtney Adkins says

August 2, 2011 at 7:47 pm

I just posted about the mat I made for my daughter!
http://theadkinsfamily1.blogspot.com/2011/08/hop-scotch-mat-tutorial.html
So adorable! And pretty easy to make! Thanks SO much for a great idea!
Courtney

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Anna Disorganizzata says

August 3, 2011 at 5:13 am

Very very very nice!
I'll start to prepare it for the next automn play (during the raining days!!) Thank you very much

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Jennifer Dawn says

September 1, 2011 at 10:10 pm

Cute! I am going to have to make one of these mats. I pinned this idea on Pinterest.

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Laks Pravin says

January 19, 2012 at 2:47 pm

i loved it so much i made a valentine version of it ..Thanks kimbo for the idea.. My kids love the mat.You can see my mat at
http://laks365.blogspot.com/2012/01/valentine-hopscotch.html

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Sailing with bare feet says

February 7, 2012 at 1:56 pm

I love your makings !! Super fun idea's !!!!

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Kimbo West says

October 15, 2012 at 6:17 pm

i actually sold it….but the lady that bought it said that she loves it and would buy more for gifts if i wanted to make some more! so i'm going to assume it held up awesome!

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Karalyn Marzo says

October 15, 2012 at 4:03 pm

Hey I just found your cute hopscotch mat and was wondering how it's held up? Just deciding if I want to use felt or not? Thanks.

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Kimbo West says

November 8, 2012 at 10:57 am

not at all!!!!

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Michelle Asworth says

November 8, 2012 at 10:23 am

Such a great idea! I love it! I was wondering if the games on the back interfered with the hopscotch game (making it lumpy???)

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EMMA says

November 23, 2012 at 5:49 am

Brilliant!!! and no sewing. I will be 'finding' all the necessary supplies the next time I'm able to drive down to the 'big' town (can't buy anything here in Chamonix apart from skis and ice axes).

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Janette says

December 17, 2012 at 3:07 pm

This is so perfect! I can't tell you how much I love your ideas! You're saving me a ton of money this Christmas! You're a saint! 🙂

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o says

February 24, 2013 at 5:28 am

hi

thanks for the idea. what is the sheet’s length?

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- Kimbo says
  
  February 24, 2013 at 11:59 am
  
  the hopscotch is about 30 inches wide by 72 inches long…..
  
  Reply
  - o says
    
    February 25, 2013 at 4:51 am
    
    thanks
    
    Reply
Peggy says

March 5, 2013 at 12:56 am

Nana will make one for the Grandchildren. Thank you for sharing,

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Kristin says

September 17, 2013 at 12:44 pm

I am working on making this mat right now!! Did you wash and dry your fabric before starting? I was thinking it would be a good idea but I suck at crafts so this would for sure be something I would screw up haha!!! Thanks!

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- Kimbo says
  
  September 17, 2013 at 1:09 pm
  
  i didn’t…but if its a fabric that can shrink you might want to prewash!
  
  Reply
Uzma Nabeel says

November 12, 2013 at 8:03 am

Wow what a fab idea! I will make one of these for my lil one too, thank u for the inspiration x

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Allison says

December 18, 2013 at 12:47 pm

On the hopscotch mat. Awesome idea!! I’m definitely doing this and on the vacuum cord, never ‘should’ on yourself!!! You are doing lovely things for your children AND sharing your ideas with the world!! Who cares about a little dirt 😉
Thank you!!

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kathy says

January 12, 2014 at 12:15 am

I love this idea especially after you pot the games on the back. I was a little worried about the kids throwing rocks inside so we’ll use the birdies you designed for the bullseye Thank you

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kathy says

January 12, 2014 at 12:15 am

[email protected] after you pot the games on the back. I was a little worried about the kids throwing rocks inside so we’ll use the birdies you designed for the bullseye game
Thank you

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bubbaboy9 says

February 23, 2014 at 8:23 pm

THIS IS A FANTASTIC IDEA. I made it and made a large bag to hold all the extras. It did take some time but well worth it. My niece loved it. Thanks for the idea.

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Amanda says

June 30, 2014 at 5:30 am

Hey girlfriend! 🙂 Just wanted to let you know I shared this on Facebook, it’s so FUN! https://www.facebook.com/CraftsbyAmanda/photos/a.353593675216.349539.323548680216/10154334164050217/?type=1

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Maureen says

July 4, 2014 at 5:05 pm

I am a teacher and a crafter, Love your idea especially that it is two sided. I have some suggestions.

1) use the things you use for the toss game for the hopscotch. You can put the beans in a snack size ziplock in case the felt springs a leak.
2) use 1 or more “mats” that go under rugs to keep from slipping.
3) you can “slip” in all kinds of math add you own points, subtract one or more “other” player points, could do teams
4) you could have a small bag for parts and use ties to attach the rolled up board.

I plan on trying your two sided games and I thought of doing this on those floor tiles that connect like puzzle pieces (they don’t slide). Wonder if you could make different games by assembling the puzzle differently??? Guess ‘ll see. 🙂

Thank you for the ideas.

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- Kimbo says
  
  July 5, 2014 at 10:11 pm
  
  so many great ideas!!!! thanks! let me know how yours turns out!!!
  
  Reply
Jessica says

November 2, 2014 at 2:36 pm

I love this!! What a great idea! I was already sold and then I saw that it was two sided! Amazing!
I’m putting together a round up of DIY crafts on my blog and wondered if you’d be willing to let me use a picture with your link. Thanks!!

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- Kimbo says
  
  November 3, 2014 at 8:44 pm
  
  of course!!! and thanks!
  
  Reply
  - Jessica says
    
    November 3, 2014 at 8:49 pm
    
    Thank you!
    
    Reply
Jessica says

November 29, 2014 at 6:10 pm

Hi! I just found this via pinterest. Such an awesome idea!! I’ve got a twister mat that I’m going to do this on the back side of. Thanks for the inspiration!!

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- Kimbo says
  
  November 30, 2014 at 8:57 pm
  
  awesome! love the upcycle idea!
  
  Reply
Susan Chaya says

April 1, 2016 at 11:03 am

I realize that this post is from a few years ago but I am wondering if you can answer some questions. I am looking for approximate sizes of the squares for hopscotch, and the bulls eye pieces
. I hope you can help.

Reply
- Kimbo says
  
  May 15, 2016 at 3:43 pm
  
  the hopscotch squares are about 8 x 11 and the bulls eyes is 18 inches!
  
  Reply

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