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How to Build a Playhouse With Plywood

A simple playhouse can be a home for children's imaginations in the backyard. Once the house is completed, fill it with toys and allow children to decorate it in any style they like. Some children may like to decorate it as a kitchen or home, while others may imagine the playhouse is a fort. This simple project can be completed by the whole family to teach children about building and how homes are made.

Things You'll Need

Two 8-foot by 4-foot plywood sheets (1/4 inch thick)
Paint
Tar paper
4 corner brackets
Table saw
1/4 inch nails
2 inch nails
Hammer

Instructions

Cutting the Plywood
- 1
  Cut a 2-foot by 4-foot piece and two 3-foot by 4-foot pieces out of one of the plywood sheets.
- 2
  Cut a door in one of the 3-foot by 4-foot pieces. The door can be any size, but a typical size is 1.5 feet by 3.5 feet. Discard the scrap.
- 3
  Cut an angle in the top of the other 3-foot by 4-foot pieces. This will be a side piece, and you want the piece's highest end to be 4 feet high and the lowest end to be 3 feet high.
- 4
  Cut a 2-foot by 4-foot piece, a 3-foot by 3-foot piece and a 4-foot by 3-foot piece from the second sheet of plywood.
- 5
  Cut an angle in the 4-foot by 3-foot piece of plywood exactly as you did in Step 3.
Assembling the Playhouse
- 6
  Nail the front panel with the door to the two angled pieces of plywood on either side using the 2 inch nails. The back piece of the main structure is the 3-foot by 3-foot piece. Nail that to the structure as well.
- 7
  Nail in the corner brackets to each of the structure's corners to secure it, using the 1/4 inch nails.
- 8
  Nail two 2-foot by 4-foot pieces of plywood to the top of the structure to make the roof.
- 9
  Finish and waterproof the roof by nailing on pieces of tar paper using 1/4 inch nails, or simply paint it if you wish. Paint the rest of the structure.

Backyard Toys