Hey everyone! It’s Jamison from Rogue Engineer again. This time I wanted to share a super cool yet very easy DIY project that the whole family can enjoy. Every year we go on a beach vacation with a bunch of our family. We often find ourselves out side playing yard games and enjoying the pool or beach. Well this year my wife, Jamie, saw these awesome yard dice online but they were selling for $50! We had some scrap 4×4 and she made them in no time. Below I’ll show you exactly how she made them! Oh and you can find a list of yard dice games here.
How to make your own DIY Yard Dice
Start by marking your 4×4 at 3-1/2″.
Then cut six 3-1/2″ pieces of 4×4.
Since a 4×4 is actually 3-1/2″ x 3-1/2″ you will have a perfect cube.
The next step is to sand the cube smooth on each side and round the corners.
Sand to a smooth finish as shown below.
Next, find a dice or photo of a dice and mark where your dots should go on each side.
Then, using a 5/8″ forstner bit, drill a shallow hole, about 1/8″-1/4″ at each point.
To finish, stain the cube as desired. Jamie used American Walnut stain from Varathane.
After the stain has time to dry, paint the dots with a dark paint. We used charcoal chalk paint.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. For sneak peeks of our upcoming projects from Rogue Engineer be sure to follow me on Facebook and Instagram.
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Keep score with these printable Yardzee Score Cards:
Keep a crowd happy with even more DIY Backyard games:
Build a kid-sized Cornhole set for the little ones:
and you’ll be the hit of the party if you bring your own DIY drink caddy filled with cold beverages or treats!
Great plans for fun stuff, I plan to make all of them, keep them coming.
Ron Gordon
Modesto, Ca. 95355
I have checked a couple of stores in my area and cannot find non pressure treated 4x4s could you recommend anywhere? Thanks
I found untreated 4 x 4s at a local lumber yard, not a big box retailer. It is Douglas Fir.
These look awesome! Yahtzee is one of my favorite games so I can’t wait to make these.
Hi!
I want the dots to look like the kind on dice. Like a low bowl not a flat bottom.
Is there a drill bit to accomplish this? If so, what do I ask for and what do I need?
Thanks, Julie
Julie, here is an affiliate link https://amzn.to/2JtLYFm of exactly what you are looking for. You could try putting this in a drill or a drill press. If it were me I would use a drill press and drill slow if you are using pine 4×4’s. Let me know how it turns out. The trick will be keeping it steady while drilling.
I love this DIY! We replaced some old mailbox posts last fall and I saved the “good parts” from the old ones!
I am a Yatzee fanatic, this will be fun at our summer BBQ. One thing – YATZEE is played with just FIVE DICE! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahtzee
But Farkle is played with SIX.
What a great project, thanks for sharing!
Where do you find the game playing instructions after you make the game?
Hi Jo,
You can play any dice game with these dice — we love Yardzee 🙂 https://www.remodelaholic.com/yardzee-game-printable/
I’ve been wanting to make this for my brother for his birthday. I happened to get some 4×4’s already cut to a square at a store that’s going out of business, now I just have to make them into dice 🙂
Is there a reason you cut them at 3 1/2″? I was thinking four to keep them square.
A 4×4 is actually only 3.5″ so they are square cut at 3.5 🙂
Is it ok to use treated wood?
I don’t see why not.