We have been using our Sensory Tables tons lately, one of the other projects I had for Jake to work on was a DIY Balance beam
I originally gave Jake a couple pictures of DIY balance beams I found on the internet to look at, he ended up not using them because he didn’t have a saw to cut a notch in the wood, he came up with a way of his own to make one using the saws we did have.
Total cost to make the balance beam? Only $3 (we had the screws, saws, and sandpaper on hand) well worth the investment!!!
Time needed: about 30 min to cut, screw together, and sand it down.
Materials needed: 1-2x4x8, 4- 2″ wood screws, saw to cut the wood, sand paper to sand any rough spots.
Directions: First start by cutting your piece out for the balance beam, we cut ours 60″ long which is a great size in my opinion, next cut 2 pieces off the 2×4 4″ long, and lastly cut 4 pieces off the 2×4 3″ long. Below is a picture of one of the ends so you can see how it was screwed together, you can’t see in the picture that there are 2 screws from the bottom up into the beam to hold that in place as well. It is that simple!
Here is a picture of the finished balance beam.
Ethan giving it a try, him and all the boys have very much loved the balance beam, it will be a great addition to our sensory room! It has held up so far to all the boys playing on it and I’m sure it will get many years of use.
If anyone decides to make one I would love to see it, leave a comment with where you posted it and I will stop by and check it out!!
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Stop by and check out all the great blogs I am linked up with for other great ideas to try with your kiddos.
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Great idea! I never thought about making a balance beam! We do have a fallen birch tree on the side of the yard that the kids try to balance and walk on! LOL
If my kids had a fallen tree in our yard they would use that as a balance beam for sure!! Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week!
Nicole
perfect, i bet he’s had hours of fun on that! love that you have made it so stable too 🙂
The kids have all spent hours on it thats for sure! With my boys everything needs to be extra durable or it’s broke within days 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week!
Nicole
YES! I keep asking my dad to make one for Bug since she loves balancing along curbs. Thank you for linking up to A Pinteresting Party Pinning it.
Curbs are so fun for kids, they will use anything they can find to balance. Thanks for stopping by and also for hosting! Have a great week!
Nicole
My dad made it! I took pics and will post it soon. I’ll let you know when it’s up. 🙂 Thanks so much.
What a great idea! I’ve been after my husband to try to make one for our daughter. Thanks for sharing at Sharing Saturday!
We made it and you can find the post and pics here: http://tutusandteaparties.blogspot.com/2012/06/project-pinterest-diy-balance-beam.html
Thanks so much! 🙂