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DIY Wood Baby Playpen

Your baby is on the move! Don’t panic. You can build them a DIY baby playpen right now using these plans!

Our son started moving and I moved all the projects on my list down to build this. It only took a day and it was worth it. This DIY baby playpen is customizable and ready for your child to have a safe play area!

DIY Wood Baby Playpen

How to Build a DIY Baby Playpen

The full step-by-step instructions for building this wood baby playpen (or play yard) are located in the how-to card in this post. I’ll give you the basics now and some things to keep in mind.

DIY Wood Baby Playpen

The first thing is that I built this playpen to be two sided with a gate. This works if you want to install it into a corner. You can also copy the plans for each side and build two more if you want to build a full square.

DIY Wood Baby Playpen

The sides can also be extended if you have a bigger or smaller space than us. Basically, the entire plans are customizable to your home and space!

DIY Wood Baby Playpen

The next important thing to consider is the size. This playpen is 24 inches high, which is a good height to help your baby stand up eventually, but not let them climb over.

DIY Wood Baby Playpen

We also made all of the slats 2″ wide with a 2.25″ gap between all of them. This is the same gap we put in our DIY mid-century modern crib, which is actually a smaller gap that the maximum recommended width. #safetyfirst

Constructing the Playpen

constructing a wooden playpen

The key to building this DIY playpen is to construct all of your sides and your gate individually first. Each side is a simple square frame with slats glued and nailed to the outside. To construct the frames, I recommend using a Kreg K4 Pocket Hole System and Kreg pocket screws to provide the most strength and durability.

constructing a wooden playpen

We used a small piece of wood to connect the two side pieces underneath where the gate would be. This ensured the two sides stayed together even when the gate was open.

Installing the Playpen

installing a wooden playpen

After doing all your sanding and staining, you’re ready to attach the sides to the wall. Use right-angle brackets, attach the sides to the wall, ensuring the corners of the sides meet up.

DIY Wood Baby Playpen

The last step was to attach the gate. We used simple hinges to attach the gate to one of the sides so it could be opened and closed. Then we used a hook and eye closure to keep the gate latched.

installing a wooden playpen

We absolutely love how this DIY baby playpen turned out. It’s simple to make and looks aesthetically pleasing in our home. This keeps our child safe if we need to sit him down to play for a few minutes.

Does your baby need something to climb? Here’s how to build a DIY Pikler Triangle climber!

Interested in the Kreg Jig? Click here to read our full Kreg Jig review and to see all of our Kreg Jig projects.

New to the Kreg Jig? Here is a step by step guide on how to use a Kreg Jig!

OR grab our FREE Kreg Jig Cheat Sheet here! Download the cheat sheet!

DIY Wood Baby Playpen
Yield: 1 Cute and Safe Playpen

How to Build a DIY Baby Playpen

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Active Time: 3 hours
Additional Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
Difficulty: Medium
Estimated Cost: $50-100

Make a safe space for your baby or toddler with this DIY baby playpen. Using sturdy construction, you'll create a customizable playpen to fit your needs. This playpen can be created bigger or can add two more sides if you aren't connecting it to a wall.

Materials

  • Two 12' 1x12s
  • Four right angle braces
  • Two 3" hinges
  • One latch

Tools

  • Table Saw
  • Miter Saw
  • Cordless Drill
  • Kreg K4 Pocket Hole System
  • Nail Gun

Instructions

  1. Cut your boards down into 2" wide slats. You should get ten 12" boards this way.
  2. Build the sides of the playpen to be 24 inches tall. For this, cut two 20" boards per side and two boards to the length you want each side to be.
  3. Connect the 20" boards to the inside of the long boards flush on the outside using pocket holes.
  4. Cut however many slats you'll need to cover each frame, calculating a 2 1/4" gap between each slat. Each slat should be cut to 24 inches to go from the top to the bottom of the frame.
  5. When making one of your sides, make it 24" less in length than you want the whole length to be. Make a 24" wide gate the same way you would make a side frame.
  6. Stain and seal all your sides and gate before installation, but after construction.
  7. Attach the side panels to the walls using right angle braces.
  8. Connect the two sides using a small piece of wood that runs under or behind where the gate will be.
  9. Attach the gate in the gap using the hinges and latch.

Notes

You'll find it easiest to make all of your cuts first, then sand all of your boards before construction. When sanding, I recommend you lightly round all of the corners since you're going to keep a baby in there.

Did you make this project?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest

DIY Wood Baby Playpen

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Amor

Friday 12th of March 2021

I’m confused?you said cut the 1x12’s I should get 10 of the 2” Slats?Cut in LENGTHWISE?Also,are the sizes for All of the Slats(vertical,Horizontal and the 20” sides are all CUT TO 2” slats?

Morgan

Sunday 14th of March 2021

All boards were ripped down to 2" wide slats for all pieces.

Dayse

Tuesday 2nd of February 2021

I love the look of it! I am thinking about making one for my pet in the garage, since my kids are too old for one. What is the size of the nail you used?

Sean

Tuesday 2nd of February 2021

We used 1 1/4" nails for almost everything since we were nailing together two 3/4" thick boards. Also used wood glue in between each.

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Kathy McGilvray

Saturday 5th of September 2020

This isn't safe by any means. Near two windows, and the raw wood will be a hazard if the baby bashes it's head against it, not to mention getting splinters.

Morgan

Sunday 6th of September 2020

Not sure how windows are unsafe, and the wood is well sanded and not splintery, but OK.

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