Most kids growing up in the Midwest for several decades dreamed of playing the Grand Prize Game on WGN-TV’s “The Bozo Show.” I was one of them – I tried to convince my parents several times that a family vacation to Chicago from Detroit was great any time of year. Needless to say, I was unsuccessful and my dreams of winning a year’s supply of Archway Cookies went unfulfilled. That was until this weekend when my boyfriend and I built a Bozo-themed Grand Prize Game for a baby shower we hosted. Here’s how to make your own – this is a great way to reuse scrap wood you have and old buckets you’ve found at garage sales, thrift stores, or even from your own backyard.
You can use new supplies or reuse scraps and buckets you have from previous summer sandboxes. The size can be determined by those playing it – something smaller for littler users, or something bigger for the grown-ups. We put two pieces of 8-foot-long wood together to make the plank almost a foot wide (again, you can piece scrap wood together based on the size you want). To reinforce the plank, as it’s very long, we screwed support pieces of wood every few inches across the bottom.
Paint the plank and let it dry. To be safe, we let ours dry for several hours.
Collect your buckets – you’ll need six. I had a collection of red sand pails, so I took off the handles and rounded them up. If using old sand pails, paint them all one color for a uniform look. I used vinyl numbers to number each bucket. You can decorate these however you’d like. I kept mine simple, but if memory serves, Bozo’s was rather elaborate.
Line up the buckets on your plank, spacing them evenly along the way. Using a drill, drill a hole in each bucket. We secured each bucket with a washer and a screw.
Get ready to play! I printed out a cartoon picture of Bozo and added it to the beginning of the plank. I recommend using some Mod Podge to keep it safe – our Grand Prize Game tournament got a little out of hand, so I’ll be putting a new Bozo on this week.
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