Picnic Game Table

When her daughters were younger, Jane Quinlan of Brunswick, Maine, ran a home-based day care center. She had a small picnic table made for her charges to eat, draw and play at. One day, she thought of having a table with built-in game boards. So, she had another table built, and upon delivery Jane designed the tabletop games and painted the alphabet and numbers to run along the sides.

Meanwhile, daughters Meaghan, then 12, and Emily, ten, painted the backgammon and checker boards and sponge-painted squares on the benches. Dad Gregory added four to five coats of polyurethane to protect the table. Although Jane's day care business is no more, the family's new table gets plenty of use by the girls. And as Jane says, "We have created some delightful memories as we reflect on how much fun it was to work on such a wonderful art project together." And her daughters are tickled as well--now they don't always have to halt a game for dinner.

	Materials
	• A small, unfinished picnic table • Pencil and ruler • Acrylic latex enamel paint • Paintbrushes • Square-shaped sponge (optional) • Polyurethane

DIRECTIONS
1. Using a pencil and ruler, draw a design on the tabletop--the Quinlans included a checkerboard, a backgammon board, a sun, letters of the alphabet and numbers from zero to 20.

2. Once you are happy with the design, paint it on.

3. Paint the benches as you wish--the Quinlans sponge-painted squares around geometric shapes.

4. Protect the table and benches with five coats of polyurethane (a parent's job).