Rainy Day Craft : Bongo Boards

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Today, my boys and I have this super fun indoor project to share with you. It's wonderful for those rainy weekend days when the kiddos have lots of extra energy to burn!

We found this project in the Family Fun Magazine (it was in the February issue). My boys were so excited, we ran out to Lowes right away!  These bongo boards are fun balancing toys that are easy to use inside or out. The idea is to balance on the board with both ends in the air, centered on the PVC tube.

To make one bongo board, you'll need:

Pencil and ruler

a board (10"- 12" wide by 36" long)

Duct tape (colors or patterns are wonderful)

a pool noodle (left over from summer is fine)

glue gun and glue sticks

PVC pipe (2" or 3" around and 36" long) with matching end caps

PVC glue (optional)

Your first step is to glue the end caps onto the PVC pipe and let them dry.

Next, apply the duct tape to the board. Leave a 1 1/2" of each end without tape... this will make it easier to attach the padded ends to the board. Stripes are easy enough to do, but you could make patterns or other designs too. You could hand paint stripes or patterns too, but as my 7 year-old says, "Duct tape is better 'cause you can play right away and not wait for the paint to dry!"

Cut a pool noodle to fit the end of your board. Use hot glue to attach it. The pool noodle is used to protect your floor when the bongo board is being used. See the next picture for more details:

First cut the pool noodle to length and then split it down the side. This is how it'll look. Glue the long ends of the pool noodle that touch the board.

Okay, by now you have the basic bongo board. If your crafty family is anything like mine, you're not done yet!! My boys and I used my Cricut and vinyl to customize the boards. We had a BLAST on this step!

Here is my 9 year-old, Bryce's board. He cut lots of white stars and scattered them all over. His name is 2" cut from Life's a Party.

My 7-year-old went with a rockstar look!! We cut the guitar out in two pieces (a total size of 24") and cut his  name out too (2"). All cuts are from Life's a Party. He used some left over white stars to finish off his bongo board. He loves that it doubles as a play guitar! :)

And here are the Bongo Boards in action!! 

Don't they look like they are having a BLAST!

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