DIY Tic-Tac-Toe Travel Tins

This tutorial for DIY Tic-Tac-Toe Travel Tins is courtesy of our contributor Chantelle of Dolled Up Design…Our family leaves for Disney World in less than a month and I have been busy coming up with travel games and activities to keep the kids happy during the long flight. I have a growing collection of doodle books, coloring supplies, card games and small toys stashed away, plus I have put together these activity packed Travel Tins for each child.

I found my small lunchbox style tins at Party City. These inexpensive tins come in a wide range of character designs and are a great size to toss in the carry-on and use on the airplane tray. I grabbed these tins on our last trip just to store snacks and crayons and they also proved useful throughout the trip to hold all the small toy souvenirs and trinkets the kids collected. They would also be great in the car on long road trips.

I knew I definitely wanted the tins again this time around and challenged myself to fit more activities and surprise treats in. I had looked at a magnetic travel game of tic-tac-toe for my son and had a lightbulb moment realizing I could take advantage of the metal tin and DIY my own magnetic game without adding on another item to keep track of. I remembered the glass bead magnets I have had been meaning to try crafting for ages, and knew they would be the perfect size for a small game of tic-tac-toe on the inside lid of the tins.

I picked out the Frozen and Star Wars versions of the lunchboxes for my daughter and son, and designed matching Tic-Tac-Toe gameboards and pieces for each. You can find both these in this free printable file. I printed mine through a copy center on an 80 lb gloss cover stock.

DIY Tic-Tac-Toe Travel Tins:

To make the glass bead magnet playing pieces:

1. Cut out each of the round playing pieces. You will need 5 of each style to play a game of Tic-Tac-Toe. I just cut with scissors – they do not to be perfect because the edges will be covered up with the glass bead.
2. Paint a thin layer of glue on the top of your playing piece image and the bottom side of one of the glass beads. Center the bead on top of the paper piece and push down firmly to ensure all bubbles are removed. Let dry.
3. Paint a thin coat of glue on the backside of the paper now glued to the glass bead. Let dry.
4. Put a small layer of glue on a magnet and stick to the backside of the glass bead.

For the gamebord, I simply cut it out and then stuck to the inside lid using a layer of rubber cement on both the tin and the backside of the paper gameboard. Once dry, stick your game pieces to the game board and you are ready to play a game of Tic-Tac-Toe.

Almost all the other matching character themed items I found to fill the tins were also bought at Party City. The party favour aisle offers up all kinds of treasures such as these small puzzle tins and the mini Rubiks cubes. Down the candy aisle, I found jelly beans and lollipop holders to match my Frozen and Star Wars tins. Lollipops and gum are always a good idea to have on hand for the dreaded ear popping during take-off and landing.

One other item I decided to include was this great printable “Would You Rather” game available on Get Away Today. I love that it is Disney themed and will spark some fun conversation on the plane. My son is always asking to play Would You Rather and I struggle to come up with good questions, so I am excited to hear his answers.

I can’t wait to give these tins to my kids for our trip! Everything tucks away neat and compactly in the tin, with extra room once the treats are consumed. I managed to pack in quite a few games and puzzles to keep the kids busy and happy and I love that it is all contained in one small tin that can easily be tossed in our carry-on backpacks.

We’d like to send a big THANK YOU to Chantelle for sharing these creative ideas with us! Her parties & crafts are always easy to recreate and kids love them! Be sure to follow her on Facebook to stay updated on all her fabulous ideas.