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i have five kids and i live in a neighborhood absolutely full of school aged children. that means a lot of knocks on the front door asking if someone inside is free to play. don't get me wrong, i love that my children have playmates and that there is no shortage of activity at our house. it truly brings me joy. still, there were just some moments when playtime is not going to happen. there is often homework to be done, chores that need attention and extra curricular activities that mean that any given day may not work for playtime. i found myself making trips to the door more often than i wanted to so i decided to craft up some simple door signs to help all the kids know when we have a green light for playtime and when we may need to try another day. these really are extremely easy to make and they have made all the difference for a peaceful afternoon any day of the week.
here is a step by step for my signs so you can make your own.
start with unfinished boards. i found these at hobby lobby for a couple of dollars each.
step one: paint each board a different color. i used red, yellow and green on purpose. if kids aren't reading yet they generally know that red means stop, yellow means wait (or caution) and green means go. i figured i'd help the non-readers learn the signs as well.
step two: i wanted to add some extra color and fun to my boards so i tore up some fun paper and adhered it to the boards using mod podge.
step three: once the mod podge has had time to dry, i used a stencil and a huge black sharpie to write on the words.
step four: lastly, i drilled two holes, one on each side of the board, large enough for me to push some ribbon through. after tying knots on each side of the board, they were ready to hang.
we store our signs inside our coat closet door, ready for use each day. they fit right over our outside door wreath hook everyday we use them.