5-Gallon Bucket Swing

[bennelson]

Hey folks, I wasn't sure where recycled playground equipment fit in, but I thought the "Lawn and Garden" category was going to be as close as anything else I could find!

This past weekend, my wife, 18-month-old daughter, and I went over to my Dad's house. One of my brothers happened to be over there at the time too.

My dad wanted to put up a swing in the yard for the little girl, and took a look at a toddler swing at the store. His complaint wasn't that it was over-priced, but that it was such a fancy, new-fangled thing, with seat-belts and straps in all directions. He thought it would be easier just to make a simple swing.

So, my Dad, brother, and I took a 5-gallon bucket, cut it to the shape of a toddler swing, ran a rope through it, and hung it from a tree.

The little girl swung in it for about an hour and a half. She typically never goes on any of the swings at the park for more than ten minutes!

I didn't get a chance to document making that swing, since I didn't have my camera with me. However, last night I made a second bucket swing to hang in my back yard. I took photos to show how I made it and then made a YouTube video from that as well.

Here's the video for you.

Toddler Swing from a 5-Gallon Bucket! - YouTube

I have a nice long post about all this on my personal blog. Visit over there if you want the long story and "how-to" directions.

I also made a technical drawing showing how to build the bucket swing. I have that posted HERE. I drew it up to fit one 8.5x11" sheet of paper, so you can print it out and take it out to your garage or workshop for when you make your bucket swing.