Summer time means barbecuing and spending time outdoors with friends and family. Today I’m going to show you how to make easy DIY Yardzee lawn dice. It’s like Yahtzee, but with giant wood dice that you can play in the backyard or at the beach. You’ll find links to free dice template and printable Yardzee scorecards below.
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MATERIALS
TOOLS
DIY Yardzee Yard Dice
To make the dice you’ll need some 4×4 post. Start by setting up a stop block on your miter saw at 3-1/2 inches. Because 4×4 posts are actually 3-1/2 by 3-1/2, this will allow you to cut perfect cubes.
I’m using cedar simply because untreated pine 4x4s aren’t usually readily available. Repeat the cuts until you have 5 blocks.
I made a template for the dice that you can download free HERE. Once you’ve cut out the two templates and folded them along the edges, simply wrap the cubes to form the dice.
You’ll also find free printable scorecards HERE.
Next you can use a scratch awl or a punch or even a nail head to punch a hole through the center of each circle, marked by a white dot.
Use a Forstner bit to drill the dots. I’m using five eights, but any size will do. I’ll simply line up the brad point from the bit with each of the holes.
I’m using my drill press but you could use a hand drill just as well. I make sure to turn off the drill between each hole so I can perfectly line up the next one, and use my depth stop so I only drill down about a quarter of an inch.
Before sanding, I’m painting the holes with some black acrylic paint, careful not to to go over too much since the raw wood will suck up the paint into the grain.
After letting it dry, I sanded down all the faces with my benchtop sander, but you could just as easily use an orbital sander. I also made sure to round over all the cut edges so the cubes were evenly rounded on all sides.
To finish them off I’m using some outdoor spray on varnish, and I applied 2 coats.
Enjoy! Don’t forget to download the free template and scorecards to make your own Yardzee dice.
