DIY Wood Rocker

My one year old nephew came to stay with me for a little while. I made him a few toys to play with while we were together. He loves to rock, so I made him this little rocker.

I found the pattern on the Ramblings from the Burbs blog way back in March of last year. You can find the template and some great tips on her blog. Here are the steps I took to make mine.

Needed Materials:
2'x4' 1/2" Plywood
2 - 1"x4"
1" Kreg Pocket Hole Screws
Wood Glue
Paint or Stain

Needed Cuts:
9 - 1"x4" cut at 13.5" (slats)
Template from the Ramblings from the Burbs blog (rocker)

Step 1:
Copy the template onto your wood.

Step 2:
Make the cuts. I used my miter saw to make the slats.

I used my jigsaw to make the rockers.

I used a hole saw to make the initial hole for the hand holds. If you don't have a hole saw, just use the largest drill bit you have and then put the jigsaw blade in the hole to cut out the hand holds.

Step 3: Make the pocket holes. Set your Kreg Jig at the 5/8 marking and drill into each end of the slats.

Step 4: Sand everything well. I usually wait until everything is built before I sand, but I wanted to paint before it was assembled.

Step 5: Paint or apply finish of your choice. I used Rustoleum Ultra Cover paints and I sealed it with Rustoleum Clear Gloss spray paint.

Step 6: Mark the locations of the slats (optional).
You may want to place marks on the rockers at the locations that you want to place the slats. I did not do this, but I wish I would have. My rocker is not exactly even because I did not do this.

Step 7: Using 1" Kreg screws and wood glue, attach the slats to the rockers. I started in the middle and worked outward on each side. I did not measure, but I placed them about 3/4" in from the base of the rockers. Be sure that you attach the slats so that they are at the same place on each rocker. This is where the marks would have come in handy.

Step 8: Fill the pocket holes with putty (optional).
I filled my pocket holes, sanded, and did paint touch ups. You could also skip this step and leave the holes.

Step 9: Enjoy!
I am so glad I finally got around to building this! You can not only rock in it.

You can use it as a tunnel.

You can play peek-a-boo.

You can climb on top of it.

It can even be turned on it's side and imagined that it is an ice cream stand, check out, puppet stage, etc.

This would be an easy gift to make for any little one in your life!