Power Tools Rater: Yardzee Yard Dice Game Tutorial + Printables

It is summer time and BRING IT ON already! Are you guys ready to play some Yardzee? I am so ready! Ready for family game time outside, neighborhood barbecues, NO school and our amazing flood irrigation parties – seriously the best perk about this old house!!!

It is funny how much joy there is in a new season and I feel like Olaf as I dream of summer and all things hot and fun! Especially now that my kids are in school and I am craving some freedom from busy schedules and being closed up inside the house. Let’s just play outside all day and enjoy the

Easy summer game projects are definitely a favorite. Especially with Remodelaholic readers, so we thought we would add this REALLY fun DIY game to your summer plans.

Yardzee Game + Free Printable -- summer fun for the whole neighborhood with this fun yard dice game! Learn to make your own easy yard dice, plus free printable labels and score cards.

Free Yardzee Game Printable & Score Sheet

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Supplies:

1 – 5 gallon bucket with a lid for storing (we bought ours at Walmart)

Approximately 20″ of 4×4 wood

Craft paint, sharpie or wood burning tool

Sanding block and sanding paper (orbital sander or belt sander)

Canon PIXMA MG 7720 Printer

Our free Yardzee printables for score cards, customizable bucket label (in 6 different colors!), and dice stencil
(You can also purchase a pad of score cards on Amazon)

YARDZEE is an oversized take on that classic dice game -- made even more fun since it's played with yard dice on the lawn! This free printable bucket label and score card make it easy to make a Yardzee set for yourself, or to give as a gift.

This project can be as easy or hard as you make it. So as I write the instructions just keep in mind, that this can be small and easy or you can take it all the way, and go crazy perfectionist (like my cute husband) did on our game.

Video Instructions:

Watch this quick tutorial video for step by step instructions.

How to Make Your Own Wood Yardzee Dice Game

Step 1:

Set up a stop on your miter saw at 3 1/2″. Do this by clamping a board to your fence. By creating a stop you can guarantee that each dice is exactly the same size, and it saves a TON of measuring and time. Simple push the 4×4 til it hits the stop and cut according to the directions on your machine.

Step 2:

When the yard dice blocks are all cut, it is time to knock down the sharp edges of the new cuts. This can be done in several ways depending on the tools you own. Optional tools:

hand sanding block,
orbital sander, or
table top belt sander.

Just be sure to soften all the corners to match the pre-cut, filleted (or rounded) edges of the 4×4. This will also be a helpful safety precaution since you don’t want those sharp corners to land on any toes when you are playing Yardzee, so don’t skip this step.

Step 3:

Once the blocks are sanded smooth, you need to printout your dice stencil printable from above. Mark the layout of the dice in a couple ways.

You can use trace paper to trace the shape on the blocks,
Try rubbing soft pencil lead on the back of each dot, place the rubbed lead side down on the block and trace the circles, the lead should transfer the mark.
Use a ball point pen to trace the outline of the shape and indent the soft pine.
Use an awl to locate the center of the dot, and use a drill press to drill out the hole thereafter.

Step 4:

Color in the number dots. There are several options.

Use a sharpie to fill in the dots.
Use a wood burning tool to fill in the dots.
Use a drill press set at about an 1/8th inch depth. Drill the holes and then using black acrylic paint fill in the holes. (No drill press? You could also use a Forstner bit like Jamison used here.)

Step 5:

Seal with polyurethane or oil if desired. We skipped this step because I liked the light color of the wood, and these steps always darken the wood.

Step 6:

Print out the Yardzee bucket label of your choice. You can leave it blank like we did, or customize the PDF by typing in the family name. Great for neighborhood BBQs or an easy gift idea!

We used our Canon PIXMA MG7720 on 8 1/2 x 11 paper. We decided to laminate ours so that it could stand up to heavy use and possible water. Tape it to your bucket.

Print out the Yardzee score card sheet. (Again we laminated ours and threw in several dry erase markers so that we would always have a score card available. You can also buy a yahtzee score card sheet pad on Amazon.)

Throw the dice, and score sheets in the bucket and get ready to Yardzee your summer nights away!

Summer family fun with a Yardzee yard dice game. Easy to make, and a great gift idea!