After my husband made the sensory tables and the window easel, he had two left-over rectangular shaped pieces of plywood left over. They were the “holes” that were cut out of the sensory table. I decided to try my own hand at some construction and made my very own geoboards…
I sanded the rough edges first then painted the first side of both boards…
Then I flipped the boards over so I could add the nails. I used drywall nails because that is all my husband had handy. My husband is a home builder by trade but i noticed he hardly keeps any tools here at home. The hammer I found to use must be over 20 years old…
Before adding the nails, I used a pen to mark where the nails should go. I figured since the point of the geoboard is to make geometrical shapes, I should try to make the nails line up nicely. I really tried to do this using a ruler but in the end, I just guessed at where to put the nails until they all looked lined up to me…
The tricky part for me was making sure I didn’t hit the nails all the way through the board but still put the nails in far enough so they stayed firmly in place. In the end, I had a few poking through just a bit and had to turn the board over and hammer them back the other way….
I then painted the board and the nails all white. I wanted white so the colorful rubber bands would show up nicely. I chose to paint the nails too because they looked better painted…
I am very proud of my carpentry skills here!
These are extra large rubber bands that you can get at most office supply stores. I purchased a set of large bands and a set of smaller rubber bands from staples…
The total cost for me was just the price of the rubber bands since the wood, paint, and nails were all left-over materials in my husband’s garage!
thanks for sharing! i recently found an 11×11 geoboard on amazon for only $3.49. See https://www.amazon.com/11-x-Pin-Geoboard/dp/1564516113/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1311431162&sr=8-2. Shipping for this is free if you have amazon mom account, too! this also comes with a bag of rubber bands with 3 sizes.
That is a great link Kristine! I hope those who want a geoboard will check it out!
What a great way to use materials you have on hand. Awesome to see just how many different items you can make from supplies for one project. Just imagine the cost of all of these things from a catalog! I wish my husband (or me for that matter) had carpentry skills of any sort! Thanks for sharing your ideas 🙂
It helps when you go into a project with an open mind and looking for other possibilities. I figured while I have all the paint and supplies out already, I should make good use of them:)
I had to come back to comment ! Your geoboards are great for all those ‘touch-feely’ hands that they will go through. Love the concept of DIY for these!
Thank you for coming back 🙂
*insert picture of me bowing down*
Gotta love Deborah and her DIY projects – I can make these 🙂
Thanks for sharing Deborah!!
Haha – you make me smile Leeanne!
I would Love these! Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks for stopping by Melissa!
Deborah Thank for this diy. You always have interesting ideas and practices. ( we use google translator, our english is terrible 🙂 ciao ciao
So nice that we have the translator!
I wanted to let you know that I mentioned you in a recent post about mud. Thanks for the continued inspiraton!!! Gianne at cowsgomooandducksgoquack.blogspot.com
Haha – I always wanted to be mentioned with mud:)
I like your idea, I LOVED your light box…just a suggestion for your next geoboard try using wooden dowels or the little rounded pegs they sell by the bag at hobby lobby. I don’t know exactly what they call them, but I saw them in the same aisle with the wooden clothespins. Great idea!
Thanks for the tip Jordan!
Any thoughts on how to make a drying rack for paintings and art work? They are so pricey I like the table top kind because That is what I have space for in my classroom.
We actually talked about this on facebook. If you are a member of my page – then read this for some ideas! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150303825447207&set=a.181914927206.125125.171532167206&type=1&theater
Some one mentioned to me to take pizza boxes and stack them together then cover them with contact paper. They make nice flat drying racks to put artwork in and are light weight.