Woman Spends Over 8 Hours Creating 15-Foot March Madness Bracket Out of Painter's Tape for Her Son (Exclusive)

Meredith WilshereSat, March 28, 2026 at 9:00 PM UTC

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Kate Strickler's son in front of the bracketCredit: Kate Strickler -

Kate Strickler first created a massive March Madness bracket to surprise her son in 2025

This year, her now-10-year-old son took the lead in building the bracket, making it a collaborative family tradition

Strickler says the simple, low-cost project has inspired others online and brought her family closer together

In 2025, Kate Strickler surprised her 9-year-old son by creating a massive March Madness bracket in their kitchen.

Both her husband and her son, Johnny, love college basketball, so one day, when he was at school, Strickler, 37, got to work recreating a bracket that she had seen in an Instagram video.

“It was on Wednesday before the tournament started on Thursday. Right when the kids left for school, I started creating it," she tells PEOPLE.

Kate Strickler's son in front of the bracketCredit: Kate Strickler

The whole thing “took a really long time, longer than I was thinking,” Strickler admits. In all, she estimates that it took a little over eight hours to complete, as the wall itself is roughly 8 feet tall and 15 feet wide.

“I really was hoping to have it done by the time he got home from school," she reflects. "I worked on it all day. He got home from school at 3:30 p.m., and I surprised him with this giant bracket on the wall.”

She shares that when he saw it, “he was so excited.”

Kate Strickler in front of her March Madness bracketCredit: Kate Strickler

“He was really surprised that I had done it. It got us all excited for the tournament. I had done it as lines, and then he came back with the painter's tape and really made it look more professional as a bracket," the I Just Wish I Had a Bigger Kitchen author shares.

This year, the Charleston resident wanted to recreate the magic again, but this time, her son, now 10, asked to be involved.

“A week before the tournament started, he was asking, ‘Where's the painter's tape?’" she shares. "He was taking the lead on doing it, which was really fun because it wasn't me rushing to get it done. He was helping me and it was really fun because we did it together."

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They printed out all the names of the teams, and from there, Strickler says that “Johnny does most of the updating.”

“He’s more in tune with the actual games happening," Strickler says. "He and my husband are watching the games, checking their brackets. I print out the next round of names that he'll need. For the Sweet 16, I'll print out all 16 names, knowing only eight of them will be used. He can really live update it as he goes."

Her son hopes that Duke University wins the tournament, while Strickler is pulling for the University of Connecticut to win it all.

Strickler shares that she “doesn’t know” how many more years her son will be excited for their at-home bracket, but will cherish the tradition for as long as he will let her.

"It's a labor of love, but it's painter's tape on a wall. It is as cheap as it gets and the amount of excitement and payoff is huge, especially for a 10-year-old boy," she says.

She shares that the “biggest thing” this whole experience has taught her is that “the smallest things could be such a big thing.”

Kate Strickler's son helping her make the bracketCredit: Kate Strickler

“It's not a permanent thing. It wasn't an expensive thing. It was a fun idea that has had such a large payoff and been so much fun for our family. I don't think I thought that when I was starting it. I thought, ‘Oh, this could be a fun surprise.’ "

Strickler says it’s “wild” to see how much “bigger" the project has become, as her viral videos of the bracket have inspired other moms.

“There's been a lot of people online who have tagged us that are also doing it," she tells PEOPLE. "Being someone that can show, ‘Hey, if you just put painter's tape on your wall, it's pretty delightful,’ has been really fun just to see a lot of other people jumping on board and doing it.”

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”