Family Game Night Hack: How to “Pause” Monopoly

Hi everyone!  It’s Katie from Addicted 2 DIY again!  I have an easy and fun family game night hack to share with you that has helped us to enjoy one of our favorite board games until the very end!  We love to play Monopoly together as a family, but sometimes we don’t have the patience to stick it out until the end in one sitting.  We used to just slide the game to the end of our dining table and pick up where we thought we left off on another day.  I hated having to leave the game board out all of the time.  After being annoyed with it for too long, an idea popped into my head: ” We could actually “pause” the game.”  It’s so simple and it was one of those #facepalm moments where I wondered why I didn’t think of it sooner!  I even made up a printable that goes along with the idea.

Materials:

• Canvas or muslin drawstring bags
• Heat transfer vinyl (or you can make a vinyl stencil)
• Silhouette die cutting machine
• Printer
• Copy paper
• Printable game position download

Instructions:

Pick up some canvas or muslin drawstring bags to store your game pieces.  Most craft stores carry then, but I picked these up at Hobby Lobby and used my 40% off coupon.

Measure your bags to figure out what size you need to cut your letters out.

If using heat transfer vinyl, cut the names out on your Silhouette or Cricut and weed the excess vinyl away.  I used the American Typewriter font for these bags.  Make sure you mirror the design before you cut!  Otherwise your names will be backwards when they’re ironed on.

Cut all of the individual names apart and center them on the bags.

Use an iron or heat press to iron the names on.  If using an iron, place a thin piece of fabric between the iron and the design.  Set the iron to its highest setting and apply firm pressure to the design for approximately 30 seconds (or until you can peel the clear transfer sheet away) leaving the design on the bag.  If using a heat press, follow the instructions for heat and time depending on the brand of vinyl you are using.

Whenever you need to pause your game of Monopoly, take your game piece, money, properties owned, etc. and put them in your bag.  This way they’re ready for the next time you play.

To keep track of the positions, I used to take a picture of the board with my phone.  That got old after a while and lead to a lot of fights between my boys as to whose turn it was to roll the die when we started playing again.  I came up with this printable sheet that keeps track of everything you need to start your Monopoly game back up right where you left off.  The printable comes four to a sheet, so you can use scissors or a paper cutter to easily cut it into the four individual sheets.  There’s a spot for: each person playing, who rolls next, and who is the banker.  There’s even a spot to mark how much money is in the center of the board in case someone lands on free parking.

When you’re all done, just pack it up into the box and you’re all set for next time!

This method to pause the game has made it so much easier when my boys want to play a “quick” game of Monopoly.  I don’t get frustrated anymore by having the board sitting on our kitchen table. And, my boys don’t get upset when we decide it’s time to take a break! Happy gaming!

(learn more about Katie)

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