DIY Gymnastics Bar

Last summer, as a fun activity, I put my girls in gymnastics.  Little did I know that they would love it. I could not pull them out or it because they looked forward to it every week and it gives them something to do.

Putting them Keelie and Roarie in gymnastics I have seen many changes in them.  Roarie, 4-year-old,  has gained confidence in herself.  Before she would always say, "I can't do it."  But now she tries new things and gets back up and tries again if she doesn't do it right.  She is somewhat of a perfectionist and wants to do it right the first time, so her failing is made her a better person.   Keelie, 2 years old, she is pretty fearless when it comes to trying new things. The balance beam is Keelie's biggest fear.  She can walk straight but walking backward or sideways she thinks she needs help.
Both girls have learned strength.  Roarie is now able to do what is called "straight arm"  and is learn some other movements

 Since the girls love doing gymnastics, they have been using the big love sack as a "pit" to do flip, our little trampoline to practice different jumps, and now they have a bar to practice doing swings and flips.

Ryne and I spent some time over this Christmas break putting this together.  We used

4- 8ft 2x4
2- 8ft 2x6
1- 72" 1 1/4" dowl

I cut the wood.  All the 2x4s were cut to 4 feet in length. Then I cut the ends of 4 of the 2x4s at a 45-degree angle.  It was only my second time ever using a miter saw, so my cuts aren't perfect, but they got the job done.

The 2x6s were cut to the length of 82 inches long.  With just a guestimation that is how long I cut them and it is the perfect length

The 72" dowel was cut down to 48".

I have a fear of screwdrivers.  So I let Ryne predrill and put in screws into all of the pieces of wood. We tried just screwing the screws without drilling first, and that did not work well.  The pieces of wood were sliding around and did not align as they should.

Ryne also had to buy a new screwdriver because the Black & Decker we had was not powerful enough.  So he when went to Lowes and got Porter Cable an impact and a regular drill.  They worked really well and got the job done quickly.

Ryne measured about a down to drill 1 1/4" notch into the wood for the dowel to fit.

As the where Ryne put in the screws, well he put them where ever he felt would be the most sturdy.  He predrilled down at an angle to set the holes and then put screws in the wood.

We did put in a 2x4 going a cross to hold that frame together for alittle added stability.  We also have a couple of memory foam pads under the blanket to give a little padding to the floor.

We did not have much of a plan for this Gymnastics bar.  I found a sample of one from Pinterest.