As usual I had several projects on the go already with Cakes's garden and found this awesome idea on Reading Between the Lines and decided we needed one. As my husband doesn't like to wipersniper I felt it was important to ensure they were in the ground low enough to not effect his mowing. We have too many cats in our neighbourhood to put down the pinebark like the hopscotch we got inspiration from. I also thought if I poisoned the grass where we wanted to place the pavers I would just be putting out the welcome mat for the weeds. These are the steps that were taken to complete the hopscotch for Cakes.
First we spent weeks looking at pavers at various stores, the dump and in the local paper. As Cakes was paying for them it took weeks before we found a price that I was willing to let her pay. Fortunately Papa Coco (Cakes's newest Uncle) was throwing out some pavers. They were a little bigger than what we were after but with a price tag like that and Aunty Teen delivering them how could we go elsewhere.
Next Cakes and I painted the pavers with two coats of left over white undercoat. She only painted a tiny bit and lost interest and played outside allowing me to finish all ten pavers. Once dry I printed out the numerals using the Queensland font that Cakes will learn when she heads to school in three years time. Once these were printed and cut I placed them in the middle of the pavers and painted around them with the paint samplers we got for free from Masters (during a promotion they had when you spent $10). As yellow is Cakes's favourite colour I made sure the extra colour would be yellow. I am sure this has no relevance to her now though I am hoping she will notice this in the future.
Then the digging commenced. As I decided not to poison the grass, it was very tough around the edges and took sometime to dig. Over several weeks I slowly dug out each hole and placed in the pavers. Cakes and Big Cousin H helped using small shovels to level out the holes. This process would have been much easier if I had seen the Better Home and Garden's segment on making a hopscotch that shows you how to level it out. Though the way we did it was a little harder and more time consuming our final outcome is still better than I was hoping.
After the mow test these held up to Daddy's standard, it didn't get in the way and looks just as good each time he mows. Cakes is still yet to master the hop, though enjoys jumping on them, sitting on them, counting the numbers and colour matching things to them. We are hoping this hopscotch becomes a well loved part of our back yard.
First we spent weeks looking at pavers at various stores, the dump and in the local paper. As Cakes was paying for them it took weeks before we found a price that I was willing to let her pay. Fortunately Papa Coco (Cakes's newest Uncle) was throwing out some pavers. They were a little bigger than what we were after but with a price tag like that and Aunty Teen delivering them how could we go elsewhere.
Next Cakes and I painted the pavers with two coats of left over white undercoat. She only painted a tiny bit and lost interest and played outside allowing me to finish all ten pavers. Once dry I printed out the numerals using the Queensland font that Cakes will learn when she heads to school in three years time. Once these were printed and cut I placed them in the middle of the pavers and painted around them with the paint samplers we got for free from Masters (during a promotion they had when you spent $10). As yellow is Cakes's favourite colour I made sure the extra colour would be yellow. I am sure this has no relevance to her now though I am hoping she will notice this in the future.
Then the digging commenced. As I decided not to poison the grass, it was very tough around the edges and took sometime to dig. Over several weeks I slowly dug out each hole and placed in the pavers. Cakes and Big Cousin H helped using small shovels to level out the holes. This process would have been much easier if I had seen the Better Home and Garden's segment on making a hopscotch that shows you how to level it out. Though the way we did it was a little harder and more time consuming our final outcome is still better than I was hoping.
After the mow test these held up to Daddy's standard, it didn't get in the way and looks just as good each time he mows. Cakes is still yet to master the hop, though enjoys jumping on them, sitting on them, counting the numbers and colour matching things to them. We are hoping this hopscotch becomes a well loved part of our back yard.
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