I have always wanted a wooden play gym for my baby and they looked like they were super easy to make. Online it looks like they sell for around $30 on average which is pretty affordable. But the one I made only cost me $4.16…so yeah, you can’t really beat that.

If you are a crafter like myself, I bet you already have a lot of the materials on hand that you need. I only had to pick up the wood for this project and made it in less than an hour.

Go to your hardware store and find the wood furring strips. They are super cheap and cost just a little over $1 for one of them. Find the straightest one you can. Then you’ll need a wood dowel. I went with what size drill bits I had at home. I knew I had a 3/4 inch drill bit, so I bought a 3/4 inch wooden dowel. It was less than $3 and is 48 inches long. Give plenty of space to hang things on for baby!

I started by using my electric sander to sand down the wood furring strip since it was a little rough. After that I cut it into 4 equal sections of 24 inches long each. Then I made a mark about 6 inches from one end on each piece of wood.

I used my 3/4 inch drill bit to drill a large hole where my mark was on each piece. Then I gave a final sand for the cut edges as well as the hole. If you want to make more of a foot at the bottom you can cut a little angle on one end of each piece, but I just left it as it was.

I then took a small drill bit and about 10 inches up from the other side I made a small hole in each. This will allow me to tie a piece of ribbon or string to hold each side together. I haven’t done this yet though because we use ours on carpet and it doesn’t go anywhere. Once baby starts moving more though, I will for sure add it in.

Now simply place your dowel on each end between two of the pieces of wood and you’re done! Super simple and easy project. Baby C loves it when I had mobiles, ribbons and her favorite silk scarfs from there that she can grab. Get creative but remember to always use with adult supervision!

xo,

Melissa

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