Giant Jenga DIY – Great fun for the whole family
We set out to make our favorite game in a bigger version! Giant Jenga! Take it with you to family reunions, picnics, or just play in your yard.
Step 1 – Gather Your Wood
To make all 54 Jenga pieces you will need six 2” x 4” x 8’ boards. When picking out these boards, make sure you inspect the pieces. You are going to want to find the straightest boards you can get without a twist. Also avoid any boards with large knots or imperfections along the edges.
Step 2 – Sand and Saw the Wood
Once you have a good set of boards it’s time to prep and cut them. Each of your boards will need to be sanded first. Pro tip: sanding the boards before you cut them is faster, so make sure you do this before you cut.
After you sand all sides of your boards, set your saw to cut each piece to10-1/2 inches long (they will end up being 1-1/2” thick and 3-1/3” wide). You want to end up with 54 pieces, all the same length. You will have some wood left over on each board. You can use a miter saw, like we did, or use a miter box and a hand saw.
Making your Giant Jenga can be a family affair for some good bonding time.
Step 3 – Round the Edges on Your Pieces
Now to round out the edges on each side. We certainly don’t want sharp or rough edges on our pieces. Little hands are tender! If you have access to a router, then I would suggest you take advantage of it. My husband’s dad has a router, so we used the machine to round out all the sides. If you don’t have a router, you can do this with some sandpaper. It will just take you a bit longer.
Step 4 – Finishing Your Giant Jenga
You can paint your Jenga pieces different colors or stain them all the same if you like. The choice is up to you. We plan on painting the boards and adding some interesting details with my Cricut in the future but for now we’re having fun with them as is.
Now for the best part: play time!
We had a blast making this Giant Jenga game, and I’m sure you will too. When you make yours, post picture of your Giant Jenga set in the comments. We would love to see what you have created.
This is only one of the yard games we have made recently. Check out this post for information on the others: DIY Yard Games for Great Family Fun