How to Build Intructions for Toddler Car Bed

Building the Side Panels of Your Car

• 1

  Download or draw your own diagram to use as a cutting guide for the car-shaped side panels of your car bed. A downloaded guide can be projected onto the wood for tracing. The length of the car should be at least 52 inches to match the length of most standard toddler mattresses.

• 2

  Measure your mattress to determine the correct length for your bed. The front end of your car should be about 6 inches high or equal to the height of your mattress.

• 3

  Cut the first car-shaped piece from a 3/4-inch piece of 4-foot-by-8-foot plywood using a jigsaw along your traced outline. The shape should fill a little less than half of the width of your plywood.

• 4

  Use the first car-shaped piece to cut an identical shape from the same board.

Building Your Frame

• 5

  Cut your footboard from 3/4-inch plywood. This will be the nose of the car and should be 30 inches wide to fit a standard toddler-size mattress. The height should match the front-end of your car's side panels, about the same height as the mattress, or 6 inches tall.

• 6

  Assemble the front of your car temporarily before permanently nailing the frame together. Place the 6-inch-by-30-inch footboard between the two side panels and drill pocket side holes for your screws.

• 7

  Cut your headboard from 3/4-inch plywood. The height of your headboard should match the back ends of your car side panels. If you're designing a car with a higher back end to look like a racecar spoiler, this can be about 25 inches. If you're designing a symmetrical car so that the back appears similar to the front, the headboard should match the footboard in size. In either case, the width should be the same as the footboard, or 30 inches.

• 8

  Assemble the back of your car temporarily by fixing the headboard between the two side panels with pocket hole screws.

Completing Your Car Bed

• 9

  Measure the interior dimensions of your car bed to cut mattress support bars that will be placed inside the length of each side of your car.

• 10

  Cut two long beams and two short beams from a 2-by-4. Both should be 1-1/2-inches thick. The two short beams will be about 3 inches shorter than the width of your bed, and the two long beams will be about 3 inches shorter than the length of your bed. If you're using a standard toddler mattress, the dimensions of your four-sided frame should be about 29-3/4 inches by 51 inches.

• 11

  Attach the mattress support rails just above the lower edge of your car using pocket hole screws.

• 12

  Cut an additional board from 3/4-inch plywood to the interior dimensions of the car to rest on the beams and serve as the mattress support.

• 13

  Before permanenet assembly, sand the edges and paint the exterior of your car. Once completed and dry, reassemble using glue and nails along your pocket hole screws on the edges of the frame.

• 14

  Add any finishing touches to the paint and let your child enjoy.