Last week my kids were invited to a birthday party, so we bought a fun Find It Hidden Object game to give as a gift. After purchasing the game, I realized how easy and fun it would make to make a DIY version of the game. After all, we have enough tiny items in our junk drawer to make one hundred different versions of this game.
The idea is to fill a container with rice and tiny objects, and challenge the kids to move and shake the container to find all the hidden objects inside. Naturally, every item will twist and turn until hopefully all of the hidden objects are discovered. My kids love it! It’s a great summer boredom buster, and also a fantastic rainy-day indoor game, which makes it great for year-round entertainment.
Here’s how to make a fun DIY game for kids at home in less than 30 minutes.
DIY Hidden Object Game For Kids
Materials:
- Water bottle with rubber wrap or recycled plastic bottle
- Rice
- Hidden items such as beads, lego pieces, rubber bands, paper clips, tiny letters, pom poms, animals, etc
- Super glue (optional)
- Funnel
Directions:
Step 1: Find items around the house for to put inside the bottle. Look in drawers, the kids desks and under couches. You will be amazed by all the tiny items you will find under, above or in objects around the house. You can make themed bottles based on movies, legos, books or even seasons. Or, if your like me, anything random and tiny works great! Be sure to take a photo or write a list of all the items in the bottle, so it’s a correct key for kids playing the game (and you don’t forget what you put in). I took a photo on my phone, and printed it. The kids liked crossing each item off as they found it.
Step 2: Find the best bottle for your DIY game. I planned to use an empty, large V8 plastic bottle (with a wider lid), and spray paint the sides to create a “window” in the center of the bottle. But, while shopping for groceries at the store, I found a water bottle with a colorful rubber around it, with the perfect pre-made “windows” to peak inside the bottle. It was $7, so it was too hard to resist. But, you can do this project without going to the store at all. You can recycle an old bottle in the recycling bin, or around the house, and it will work just fine.
Step 3: Place a funnel on top of the bottle and begin to pour in the rice and small items. If the items don’t fit in the funnel, just add them randomly with the rice. Once the container is almost full (leave a little room at the top so the rice can move), add the lid. If you have little ones, and don’t want them to open the lid of this game (or you don’t want to pick up the hundreds of grains of rice that will pour out if opened), add super glue around the brim of the top, and then twist on the the lid.
Step 4: Play and have fun!
