Then came the ice hockey table. It’s like an air hockey table only instead of air, we have real ice. We built a simple frame using plywood and two-by-fours sides, but we figured out that if we poured water into it, when it freezes and expands, our simple frame might not hold together too well! So we put in some ribs temporarily to force the ice up and not out. We noticed we had some water escaping through the sides, so we also stapled a white tarp to the boards to contain the water. We taped in some red and blue lines to mimic a real hockey arena and even put a lucky loonie down at centre ice. All that was left to do was wait for the water to freeze.

While we were waiting, we took some old hockey sticks and sawed them near the blade. The handle can be used much like a pool cue in one version of our new hockey game that more closely resembles pool or billiards, while the blade can be used in a game that more resembles traditional air hockey.