Home-made Top Trumps
We had a delightful family stay in our gite (holiday cottage) a couple of summers ago and their son had brought along his own set of home-made top trump cards, a set of Monster Top Trump cards. Mr 7 and this lovely 9 year old had lots of fun playing against each other during the course of our guests’ stay. Mr 7 thought this was a wonderful idea and set off to make his own set. A year or so later, his set has become a little tatty and dog-eared, and I decided it would be fun to start over again with a fresh set. It’s so easy to set up and create – here is a quick rundown of the steps required to make your own set of homemade top trumps!
Step 1:
Get a piece of thick paper and trace around a card from another card game to create a new set. Trace as many card shapes as you like.
Create a card template
Step 2:
Set up the activity: all you’ll need are some biros, felt-tip pens, a ruler and some templates to customise. Depending on your children’s age, get them to cut out the card shapes themselves. It’s great for their fine motor skill practise.
Top Trumps set up
Step 3:
Decide on a name/theme for your top trump set as well as the categories you would like to include in your cards. Mr 8 opted for another set of Monster Top Trumps and chose the following categories :
- Speed
- Ugliness
- Strength
Mr 8 was happy to cut the cards out himself
Step 4:
Encourage your kids to get to work and create some gruesome monsters! Once, they’re finished, laminate the cards and hey presto, you’ll be ready to play! Mr 8 has had lots of fun playing with them against his Dad.
Oops, looks like Mr 8 forgot to use the ruler!
Your kids will get a real thrill out of playing with their *own* customised top trumps. They would also be a really fun present to make for another sibling or young relative. You could create sets in lots of different themes – cars, princesses, aliens, etc. They are also great for practising numeracy, writing and spelling skills – not to mention getting those creative juices flowing! They are also fun to play on long travel journeys.
TIP: If you’re looking for other ideas to keep your kids busy during travel journeys, be sure to check out our photo scavenger hunt post
P.S. Click on this link if you would like instructions on how to play the game.
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