Do it yourself Airport Security Props

We built two airport security archs and faux conveyor belts for our travel themed AfterProm. It was great. After "signing in" for the night, the young adults had to go through Airport Security to enter the AfterProm area.

We made Securiy archways out of firring strips (my favority cheap lumber for props) and gave them a boxy top. Everything was covered (we have a free supplier of tyvek, but any covering will work) and painted. Inside the boxy top we installed a clanger bell with an out of sight switch to ring the bell. We powered the bell from a nearby outlet.

Our "airport security" led the students through a rope maze just like at the airport and then through the security archway. My wife sat near the entrance to the archway and randomly rang the bell.

Well, these kids acted like it was the real thing - "it must be my cel phone setting it off", "maybe it rings for anyone tall" and my favorite, "do have have too much glitter in my hair". Of course, my wife said yes to all of the inquiries.

Later that night, all of the rope mazes were down, two sets of double doors were wide open and the archway was just sitting in the middle of the lobby. A boy came out to the lobby to use the restroom, looked at the archway and went out of his way to walk through it again going both to and from the restroom. Obviously, he understood....don't mess with the high tech security equipment.

Need Lightweight, Fake Rocks

In preparation for a stage production of Children of Eden, the parent volunteers were asked get some rocks for the stage. Six foot high rocks, definitely not a situation where the real McCoy would work. Some rather creative and artist volunteers had a great solution.

They used the cheapest foam board available and built the rocks by gluing layers of foam together. The pieces glued on got smaller towards the outside of the rock to save on materials. Then the rock was shaped with a hand saw and a coarse grit sander.

Finally, the artist then painted the foam with several shades of grays and browns. They came out awesome, thanks to the artist, and they were lightweight and cheap to make.

And I should mention, the youth group put on a great show.

Making the "Wheel of Fortune" Game

My wife and I support the annual "After Prom" to keep our daughters and their friends off the roads after the prom. It takes a lot of activites and prizes to keep 400 high school kids entertained from 11pm to 5am. So, among other things we built a "Wheel of Forture".

The design was quite simple, but effective. The wheel stands vertically like an arcade pin wheel and is made from a bicycle wheel with a plywood donut around it. The donut was cut out of a half sheet of 3/8" plywood. Then, the bike tire was deflated and re-inflated inside the donut.

The rest is just mounting the wheel on a frame with 2x4 posts front and back on a base that goes out 2 feet to each side and 2 feet back for stability. The challenging part is experimenting with different materials to find a clicker that will stop the wheel in 1-2 turns. We ended up using the lids from 2 Swiss Mocca cans (about 1.5 x 3 inches) with the edges trimmed off.

Our wheel has been used for a different game every year since it was first built. Just repaint the face and it's a roulette wheel or a pin wheel for prizes....anything your want.