Setting up a party for the big game? Dress up your table with the fun football centerpiece. Choose a variety of colors like we did, or cater the colors to your favorite or to the two teams playing in the biggest night in football! 

Take time out to check out all of our football fun including printable activities, recipes for the big game and more! As well, be sure to visit all our sports printables.

What you'll need:

How to make it:

1. Use a pencil to trace around one of the cardboard tubes in the center of the paper plate. (See image.) Cut out the circle in the center of the plate.
2. Paint the plate with green paint and set aside to dry.
3. Tape the four cardboard tubes together, one on top of the other, to create one long tube.
4. Cut four 1.5” long slits in one of the end tubes.
5. Use a thin paintbrush and white paint to add goal line numbers around the outer edge of the plate (10, 20, 30, etc), then paint white lines between each number. The lines should go from the rim of the plate toward the center. Paint a white line around the outer edge of the center hold. Allow to dry.
6. Cover the tube with brown construction paper, leaving only the slits that you cut uncovered. Secure with tape.
7. Have a grown-up use a pen, the end of the scissors or a pointed toothpick to poke twenty holes through the construction paper and the tubes. If you have trouble poking through the tubes because of tape, just poke through the paper. You want the holes to be spaced an inch or two apart and offset.
8. Insert the tube into the hole in the center of the plate, inserting the end of the tube that you just cut the slits in.
9. Once the tube is inside the center hole of the plate, turn over and fold the flaps outward, creating a petal-like look. (See image.) Turn over to be sure your cuts were even, tube and plate should stand up straight. If tube is leaning, adjust the flaps until straight. Use tape to secure the flaps to the back of the plate.
10. Cut twenty 3” footballs from the brown construction paper.
11. Add lines and stitches to the footballs with white paint and let dry.
12. Tape a chenille stem to the back of each football.
13. Insert the other end of the chenille stems into the holes in the tube. (See image.) If you encounter a hole that didn’t go through the tube, simply slide the chenille into the hole and it will disappear between the paper and the tube. You can also trim the chenille if they appear too long and reinsert.
14. Take the remaining gold chenille stem that was cut in half. Bend one half into a goal post. Bend the other half in two and wrap the center point around the middle of the goal post to create the stand. Twist around a few times to create a sturdy stand and then bend the ends (if turned upside down it will look like a goal post again!). Insert the “legs” of the stand into the top of the tube between the tube and the paper.
    

Tips:

• To make parts of this project ahead of time, have kids cut out and paint the footballs and cut all the chenille stems.
• Choose the colors of your team to create this centerpiece for any game day, not just the biggest day in football.
• Buy construction paper in large variety packs to have on hand for impromptu projects.