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What happens when kids don’t get enough outdoor play? That’s a question may parents, teachers, and child development professionals are asking in an age where many of today’s kids are playing on screens more than they are playing outdoors. We’ve put together a collection of five videos that explore the issue of kids outdoor play from different angles. Check it out!

1. Project Wild Thing Film Clip| Childhood in the UK

Project Wild Thing is the hilarious, real-life story of one man’s determination to get children out and into the ultimate, free wonder-product: Nature. In this clip, the film explores the dangers of children’s disconnection with the natural world.

2. How Playing Outside Impacts Your Well-Being | Craig Childs | TEDxMileHigh

Craig Childs writes about the relationship between humans, animals, landscape, and time. In this TED Talk, talk, he connects our decision-making abilities and sense of well-being with the power of outdoor play.

3. Free the Kids | Dirt is Good

The “Dirt is Good” campaign was created by Unilever‘s Persil. In this short video, they reveal a startling fact: on average, children now spend less time outdoors than a prison inmate.

4. Three Generations | Nature Valley

This compelling video, made by Nature Valley, asks three generations the same question: “When you were a kid, what did you do for fun?” How would you and your kids respond?

5. Kids Gone Wild: Denmark’s Forest Kindergartens| SBS Dateline

The Danish do kindergarten different. This short segment brings you into the world of “Forest Kindergartens,” where kids outdoor play reins supreme!

Want more great content on the power of play? Check out our Evidence page and explore the world’s best research on play, spanning the fields of economics, psychology, child development, education and neuroscience.

Since 2007, Playground Ideas has supported over 1400 communities build playgrounds in 85 countries impacting over 700,000 children. We’ve built playgrounds of all shapes and sizes and developed a design library with over 150 kids playground equipment designs.

While we love all the designs in our library, a few stick out as our favorite, time-tested designs that we end up building over and over again. Check out our top eight low-cost kids playground equipment designs—all of which can be built from low-cost, local materials, tools, and skills. If you’re building a playground on a budget, these elements can’t be beat.

1. Swing Truck Tire Hammock

A rocking hammock is a corner of peace and calm on the playground. Kids will love swaying & chatting, or even taking a nap. Bonus – it can be built from a couple used truck tires and bolts, so it’s way cheaper than traditional swing sets.

2. Sensory Garden

Incorporate plenty of textures, colors, and smells into your playground with this simple garden structure. Gardens are a great way to incorporate the local community in the construction of the playground as parents, teachers, and community members can donate starts from their own gardens.

3. Motorbike

Vroom vroom! This imaginary play element is a hit with kids around the world. Imaginary play is incredibly important to children’s healthy development – it promotes creativity, social interaction, and even lays the foundation for early literacy skills. Make sure to incorporate elements that encourage imaginative play on your playground.

4. Shop Front

A market? Hair salon? Mechanic? You choose. Try painting it up to look like a real shop in your community. This element makes a great addition to a sandpit, where kids can mould and model things to sell in the shop.

5. Balance See Saw Hybrid

A balance beam with a twist! These planks see-saw in a fun cause and effect movement. Unlike traditional see saws, this piece of kids playground equipment can accommodate many children at once.

6. Earth Mound Small

Every playground should have hills! Add dramatic height and dimension to your space with this low cost feature.

7. Sandpit Double

Sand play is an essential part of any playground for young children – it provides hours of open-ended, tactile, creative play.

8. Half Tire Square

This element is easy to build and leaves itself open to children’s imagination. In no time they’ll be creating their own games and rules.

Get all eight of our top favorite kids playground equipment designs when you download our Playground Starter Kit, a beautiful, low-cost design scheme that inspires active, imaginative, social, creative, and open-ended play.

The site was designed with a small preschool in mind, but it’s adaptable to different ages and group sizes. In this design kit you’ll find the DIY step-by-step plans for each element, as well tips and advice for adapting the design to your own space and needs.

Click here to download the free Playground Starter Kit.

Across the globe, kids love the adrenaline rush of swinging high up into the air on swing sets. And with the right tools and designs you can build kids swing sets that will be loved for years to come. Playground Ideas has over 150 free DIY playground element designs that can be built anywhere in the world from locally sourced, low-cost, and recycled materials. These designs are free of common safety hazards and each design comes with downloadable step-by-step pictorial instructions. Here are three of our favorite DIY kids swing set plans from our design library:

1. Bucket Seat Tire Toddler

This kids swing set is perfect for young kids who aren’t yet ready for traditional swings. Plastic bucket swings can often be expensive to purchase, but this version can be made with just two car tires and a handful of bolts. Click through for full DIY instructions. 

2. Swing Seat Nursery No Welding

This kids swing set is one of the simplest elements to build! The best part? No power tools needed. Click through for full DIY instructions. 

3. Swing Seat Tear Drop

The Swing Seat Tear Drop is like a robust version of a rope swing. It’s perfect to hang from a tree! Click through for full DIY instructions. 

Looking for a full playground design? Check out our Playground Starter Kit. This playground design scheme puts together some of our favorite, time tested designs into a beautiful space that encourages active, imaginative, creative, and social play. Best of all, every element can be built from local, low-cost and recycled materials, commonly found tools, and local labor. And each design comes with full DIY step-by-step instructions.

Click here to download our free Playground Starter Kit.

Planning a community playground build can be a daunting task. At the start of your project you may be wondering, “How will I build the playground? I’ve never built anything before! And where will I find enough community volunteers to help me?”

You do not need to worry about having the technical skills to build a playground yourself. Why? Because in every community on earth you’ll find people who build things – homes, buildings, roads, furniture. The world is filled with tremendously talented and skilled people. No matter where in the world you live, local craftsmen and women will have the necessary technical skills to build a space for children to play. Playground Ideas designs are made to be built using skills that are commonly found in communities around the world.

For the sustainability and maintenance of the project, it is vitally important that local builders are engaged in the project. For most designs (particularly used tire designs), anyone who is comfortable working with their hands, using basic tools, following directions, and lifting heavy materials should suffice, even if they are not technically trained.

For more complex designs, you may need to find people with specialized skills. Consider:

+ Carpenters – for building wood cubby houses, platforms, or structures

+ Welders – for constructing any metal playground equipment

+ Masons/tile layers – if you are building any of the cement and tile slides (a popular element!) find someone who is precise at laying tile and has experience working with cement.

+ Artists – for painting murals and playground elements

In addition to skilled craftsmen and women, you’ll also need to find lots of general laborers. You’ll need people to dig holes, wash tires, paint, shovel sand, etc. This is a great area to utilize community volunteers!

There are lots of ways you can find help. Below are a few community volunteer ideas that we’ve seen work: 

+ Indicate that you want volunteers on your “Project Page.” When setting up your page, you’ll be asked “Do you need volunteers for this project?” If you check yes, this will allow interested volunteers who visit our site to find your page.

+ Join our private facebook group for playground builders (fb.com/globalbuilders) and let the group know your location, dates, and that you’re looking for community volunteers. This group is made up of playground builders around the world who may be interested in joining you!

+ Talk to local schools and volunteer groups (Rotary clubs, High School classes, youth groups)

+ Ask local companies to contribute by letting their employees volunteer on your project for a day

+ Ask parents to lend a hand

+ Post on community facebook groups or online forums

+ Put up flyers at cafes, guest houses, and public spaces advertising for community volunteers

+ Get your story on the local radio or in the newspaper

Prior to the build date, be sure to think through the number of volunteers you will need each day. Before they arrive, let community volunteers know the days and times they will be needed and anything they will need to bring with them (gloves, clothes they don’t mind getting dirty, water, etc.) Separate tasks that can be done by volunteers and ones that will need to be done by trained craftsmen/women. Keep a running to-do list so that as soon as one job is finished you can direct workers to the next task. 

You can learn more ideas about working with community volunteers in our Playground Builder’s Handbook. It’s our how-to playground building guide that covers everything you need to know to build a community playground from local tools, materials and skills. Click here to check it out!