Making Long Lasting Interchangable Dice

	Dice games are common to see through out the Elementary School English textbook and can be used in almost every situation. However, they are time consuming to make, space consuming to store and often only last once or twice. The following post shows how a simple dice can be made to last for interchangeable activities from supplies bought from your local stationary store for about 50 cents each. materials: Styrophoam sheet Velcro Ruler Ruler Square Sharp cutting blade Scissors colored Plastic coating (Laminate) Hot glue Step One: Cutting out each side of the dice. Measure out a square on the styrophoam sheet. In this case 10cm by 10cm. Be sure to be as accurate as possible to avoid later problems with the dice. With a sharp blade and ruler edge cut the sheet cleanly through. With the ruler edge still in place, flush on the edge of the styrophoam, remove a wedge all along the sides while firmly holding the ruler. (This is to join the sides together evenly) The sides should be at about 45 to 55 degree angle, its better to have a lager angle than a smaller angle, the gap can be filled with hot glue. Try to remove the wedge with as sharp as possible blade to avoid rough edges. Repeat this step six times for each of the dice. Make sure you keep you fingers from under the blade! Step Two: Putting the dice together. Note: hot glue will melt the styrophoam, you should wear a mask to prevent breathing in the fumes. Also, do not apply the hot glue directly onto the styrophoam, you should have the gun an inch away from the styrophoam sheet. Using a glue gun, carefully apply hot glue along the edge of one of the squares created (the angled edge). After applying the glue, join two squares together. Use a ruler square to make sure you have a 90 degree angle. Brace the joint with the wedges previously cut out. Continue doing this procedure until all 6sides are completed and have a full cube. Be careful when gluing the top and bottom, you should place the cube together without glue to find the best fit. When placing the last piece you should put the braces on first. Step three: making the dice colorful In order to make the dice look better choose bright colors to cover the dice. I find the best material to use are the colored laminate that come in big rolls that you can find at any stationary shop in Korea. In order to make the dice smooth follow the following procedure. Cut out two end pieces from the laminate. Cut it a little shorter than the actual size. In this case I cut out two 9.5 cm by 9.5 cm for my 10 cm cubed dice. Carefully place the coating onto any two opposite facing sides of the cube. Iron out any bubbles that may form with your had or ruler. Next cut out a strip of adhesive laminate that is four and a half times longer than one of the sides and one and a have wide. For example my cube was 10 cm 10 cm by 10 cm, I cut out a 45 cm by 15 cm rectangle. Line up and center the cube on the laminate and carefully apply the adhesive side by side. Iron out and bubbles that may form as you apply the laminate. Cut away wedges from each corner of the laminate and fold the corners down. Step Four: Velcro In order to be able to reuse the dice for many different activities, place Velcro to each side of the dice. You can then make cards put the reverse Velcro on the back. Do not use too much Velcro, just a little piece will do fine.