Life Skills

DIY Tree Swing

Make this simple DIY tree swing in less than an hour, with just a few basic supplies, and give your kids hours of fun!

DIY Tree Swing

Here is what you need:

18 or 24 inch wooden round (found in the furniture making section at Lowes, etc.)
25ish feet of 1 inch rope (you’ll need enough to hang from a secure tree branch to the ground plus about 3 more feet)
some exterior paint in any color
a drill with a 1 inch spade bit
a paint brush

Step 1: Paint the entire wooden round, both sides, with two or three coats of exterior paint. Any color will work, or if you want to get the kiddos in on the action then let them help you paint it. You could even get fancy and let them paint on their name or anything else they wish – it would look awesome to have a swing for multiple kids that they all designed themselves.

Step 2:Once completely dry, drill a hole right in the middle of the round with the one inch spade bit, going all the way through. You can either do it by eye or use a tape measure and get it precise (which I recommend.) Slow and steady is best when working with spade bits, let it drill in a bit and then pull it out so the chips get out of the way.

Step 3: You want to hang your rope from a good, solid tree limb (or get your husband to do it – that’s what I did.) You want to make sure that the rope goes almost all the way to the ground  and it nice and secure. We wrapped it around twice then tied it off with a really great knot to hold it all in place.

Step 4: Thread the end of the rope through the hole from top to bottom, and then tie a good secure knot in it from the bottom of the swing.

 

Step 5: And that’s it! It’s seriously easy to make this swing, and besides drying time it really takes less than half an hour of work. It’s just about painting, drilling, hanging – DONE. Besides just making a swing to have fun on, when you let your kids help with small projects like this it helps build memories as well as self-esteem  to let them learn they really can do things on their own. Happy Summer!

Check these out these other DIY projects:

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Gina Luker

Gina Luker is the founder of The Shabby Creek Cottage blog & the author of How to Start a Home-Based Etsy Business. She writes daily on her DIY blog, as well as for magazines and other publications. She has been featured by Etsy, Romantic Homes, Brides Magazine, and many others all over the world. She lives in rural Tennessee, with her husband and two girls, in their shabby little cottage by the creek.

View Comments

  • I have to agree that round wooden swings are a great addition to the home specially when you have kids around! I recently got mine from https://treeswingstore.com/wooddiscswing/ and right now the kids and my wife are enjoying it every afternoon! I'm planning on getting more since I've got lots of trees in my Arizona home's backyard!

  • Such a great idea! Swings are definitely a summer must have. We recently found tree swings off of TreeSwingStore.com. It's hard to get everyone in my family together for DIY projects, so it was a great alternative.

  • I noticed that your kids seem to be sliding back a bit while on the swing. Were they ok with that?

  • We love to playground hop! We visit familiar favorites, but also find new spots in neighboring communities.

  • We love to go swimming. Thank you so much!!!

  • Great post - I want a swing for myself AND my kids! ;-) I think our favorite outside activity is biking.

  • This summer we have been busy playing outside (I have a 4.5 year old, 2 year old and 8 month old) and we do a Field Trip Friday each week with different outings. We have had a beautiful, mild summer in the mid-west!

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