I liked to build things, I always had. It started with Legos, continued with bird houses, and even small shelves for a while. One day I decided to take my expertise to my father's side of the basement and build something for Grandma. I had a great idea--make a mini 'Plinko' game, or something just like it, so she could play whenever she felt like it. Plinko was our favorite game on The Price is Right. The discs dropping down among pins bouncing and diverting the round objects added an unpredictable element to the show, like when the contestants spun the big wheel, anything could happen. It was exciting until the last possible minute, when either the disc fell in the middle, and the money, or the losing slots on the sides.
My wooden Plinko game had the same concept, only it used a marble instead of a plastic disc. The whole thing was about the size of a shoe box. When it was done I painted the bottom red and the sides yellow. On the runway, where the marble would make its way downhill, i used one inch finish nails as the pins that diverted the little ball.
Normally the contraption laid flat, but when Grandma wanted to play, all she had to do was flip up the block I had screwed on a hinge underneath. The gave the device just enough down angle for the marble to slowly roll down, and enough time to get thoroughly caught up in the nails.
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