DIY: Build Portable Outdoor Kid Fencing

As the weather has gotten nicer, we’ve been spending more and more outdoors. It’s been so great watching my toddler enjoy the yard, but, he seems pretty determined to race down my driveway and out into traffic. I’ve tried explaining to him logically that the grassy safe yard is where we’d like him to play, but, unfortunately, he’s not really interested in my argument. Probably because he’s only 16 months old.

I put up some temporary boundaries to show him where he was and wasn’t allowed to run and it worked out pretty well, so, I decided to build something a bit sturdier. I didn’t really want to spend much money on this project and needed it to be something that could easily be moved around. I consulted the scrap pile in the barn and found some pieces that I thought would do the trick.

Measuring out my space, I knew I needed one panel that was around 8′ and another that was close to 10′. The longer boards I found in the barn were 1″x 3″x 8′ which made putting the smaller panel together pretty simple. I cut two scrap pieces of 1″x 4″ to 36″ and used those as my end posts. I then secured the 8′ pieces across the top, the middle, and 6″ from the bottom with 1.25″ outdoor screws.

With the Fence Panel built, I needed to create “Feet” that it could stand on. I took 2 pieces of 1″x4″ and cut them to 15″ long. I screwed them straight into the bottom of my “Posts” with 2″ outdoor screws. I then took two 6″ long pieces of 1″x3″ and mitered them to create “Stands” for my feet.

The first fence panel only took me about 45 minutes to pull together. Since the second panel was longer, however, it involved cutting 5′ long pieces and securing them to a middle post. Otherwise, followed all the same instructions. I attached the “Feet” and “Stands” to the bottom of all three 36″ Posts and Voila! A ten foot long fence panel!

I’ve yet to paint these, but, it’s raining outdoors today and I was too excited to share this fun project with you all. They’re not “Climbing” sturdy, but, they did a good job of creating a boundary for my kiddo and kept him contained to the patio and the backyard. It was a Nap Time project that I was able to pull together in one afternoon and I’m really pleased with the way it came together.

Cut Lists

8′ Fence

10′ Fence