When people see someone on stilts they are amazed and say they could never do that. When a person is walking at the top of a ten foot pole, it’s not something they just decided to do yesterday. Walking at that height, and not holding onto anything was something they had to work themselves up to. Everyone can walk on stilts, it all depends on your dedication and want.
When you go to a circus or an amusement park, you always see people on stilts. Stilts have become a normal item in most parades and amusements around the world. No matter who you are, unless you’re extremely scared of heights, stilts are fascinating and you have thought about walking on them before. Some of you actually have walked on stilts before, but that was ages ago. Now is the time to get back on those high walking legs of danger.
You’re going to need two 6-8 foot 2 X 4’s. You’re also going to need a small 4 X 4 that’s about a foot and a half long. You’ll also need 2 shoelaces in a few months. Of course if you have all this wood, you’re going to need a saw of some sort. If you’re under 14, please do not saw without the supervision or knowledge of an adult. Now you’re ready to construct your stilts.
Let’s get the cutting out of the way first. Take the 4 X 4 and cut it in half diagonally at a 45 degree angle from the top right to the bottom left of the piece of wood. When you’re done cutting the piece of wood, you’ll have 2 wedges, or what looks like two door stops. Wow, I just taught you how to make great door stops. Take the two 2 X 4’s and look at the tops and bottoms of them. Which ever side looks the flattest this will be your bottom. Now make sure it’s flat by putting a level on it. This is very important: if it does not level out, sand or plane it down so that it does level out. Before you begin planing or leveling, measure your two boards and make sure they are the same size. If you decided to get two pieces of wood, then you probably bought them the same size. However, measure them and make sure they are exactly the same size. If they are not the same size, cut them to be exactly the same. If you do have to cut them, cut the side that is not level. This will save you sanding and planning for at least one board, if not both. The leveling of the board is the most important step of the entire construction. If you don’t have a level base, you will not have very good stilts.
Now you have to decide how high you want to go. In the beginning, don’t make them higher than your largest step. Once you’ve decided how high you’re going to want to be, draw a line at that height across the board. A word of caution, do not think this is your max height. you can always raise and lower your stilts. Place the flat part of the wedge onto the inside of board. If we were looking at the wedge like it was a bike ramp, the ramp part would be facing you. the flat part that would be on the road, is flush against the inside of the board. the part that would be the back, or the part you would fly over, is at the top. This is the proper placement of the wedges. The flat part should come exactly at the line you drew. Nail a wedge onto each board. You now have a pair of stilts. As you get better at them, drill a hole through the wedge. Thread a shoestring through the hole and tie it above your foot. This holds the foot tight to the stilt. I don’t suggest doing this before you get good on it, because you’re going to spend a lot of time hopping of these puppies.
