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14 Mar

5 DIY Play Park Structures

Posted by Elizabeth Moreno

Space for play is an essential part of any healthy community. Play parks provide safe spaces for children to make friendships, explore their creativity and the world around them, and develop their bodies. Play parks can also be wonderful community gathering spaces and provide opportunities for parents to meet. For many communities around the world, a lack of funds prevents them from building play parks. We’ve put together some of our favorite DIY play park structures any community around the world can build using only local tools, materials, and skills. Check it out!

1. Big Tile Slide

This extra large concrete and tile slide is perfect for a public play park because it is extremely durable and long-lasting. It also can accommodate several children at once, making it perfect for heavily trafficked spaces. Build this slide into a large hill and you’ll eliminate the need for a ladder!

Click here to get the step-by-step instructions to build your own Big Tile Slide.

2. Tire Sandpit Combo

Sandpits are wonderful play park elements! They promote open-ended creative, and social play and are great, tactile experiences for younger kids. This design includes a sand and water table made from tire treads. Add in small shovels, scoops, buckets and funnels to make your sandpit even better!

Click here to get the step-by-step instructions to build your own Tire Sandpit Combo.

3. Maze Mini

This tire maze structure is perfect for a large play park space. The structure creates both climbing structures and smaller, enclosed cubby areas perfect for sitting and chatting with friends or playing out make-believe scenes. Try using the maze to divide energy zones in the play park by butting the maze in between active play elements (like a slide) and more quiet areas (like a playhouse or sandpit.)

Click here to get the step-by-step instructions to build your own Maze Mini.

4. Tunnel Tire

The Tunnel Tire is a super simple play park tunnel made from a few truck tires and a handful of bolts. This element is perfect for younger kids–they can crawl over it and through it and test their balance and climbing skills while still staying low to the ground. This element is a great addition to a sandpit, which can give the climbers a soft space to fall on.

Click here to get the step-by-step instructions to build your own Tunnel Tire.

5. Pyramid Truck Tire

The Pyramid Truck Tire is another easy to build climbing structure made from truck tires and bolts. Try putting this element up on a hill to add extra height and a safe dose of risky play! The Pyramid Truck Tire is a great play park addition as it is extremely low maintenance. Just remember to check the bolts periodically and tighten any loose connections.

Click here to get the step-by-step instructions to build your own Pyramid Truck Tire.

Looking for more DIY playground designs? Check out the full Playground Ideas Design Library, with over 150 playground element designs that can be built using only local tools, materials, and labor.

13 Mar

Build Sustainable Children’s Playground Sets Anywhere in the World

Posted by Elizabeth Moreno

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Playground Ideas supports communities around the world to build children’s playground sets from local tools, materials and labor. We advocate for building locally because we believe that this model supports the long-term sustainability of playground sets and helps to ensure they will be maintained for years to come. In this article, we’re going to cover our approach to playground set maintenance and why we believe planning for maintenance from the beginning is essential to ensuring the long term maintenance of your children’s playground set.

Every day children’s playground sets get stomped on, swung around, drummed on, and kicked. Children’s playground sets take a daily beating. And that means that even the toughest, strongest, most expensive playground set will require maintenance sooner than you think. It’s helpful to think of a play set like a garden. Planting a garden is not a one-off event – keeping a garden requires regular care and attention. So do children’s playground sets. Any play set that is unmaintained will eventually become unsafe.

Before you even begin your playground set build, it is essential to know who will maintain it and how repairs will be funded. The cost to maintain locally built playgrounds is usually a very minimal amount each year, but when time and funds are not allocated the site can quickly fall to disrepair.

It is important to consider the long-term sustainability of the playground set throughout the process by:

Involving the local community in the planning, design, and build to ensure high ownership of the project.
Building play sets from low-cost, local materials so that when something breaks it is easy and affordable for the local community to repair.
Relying on local builders. In particular, make sure whoever will be tasked with regular maintenance checks and repairs is involved in the build. This way, they will have intimate knowledge of the project and how it was built.

Once your children’s play set is complete, create a “repair kit” to make regular maintenance easy. Include things like a tin of grease/lubrication, extra rope, chain, extra bolts, nuts and washers, and a ratchet/spanner. Customize what you include depending on your site and keep it easily accessible.

You can learn more about building and maintaining children’s play sets in Playground Ideas’ “Playground Builder’s Handbook,” which covers everything you need to know to build a children’s play set from local tools, materials, and skills.

12 Mar

10 Creative DIY School Playground Ideas

Posted by Elizabeth Moreno

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The myriad of ways a child can play are nearly unlimited. But unfortunately, most playgrounds around the world look strikingly similar. The same old slide, see-saw, and swings can get a little boring over time and don’t leave much room for creativity. We’ve put together a list of 10 of our favorite creative school playground ideas you can build yourself with tools and materials you can easily find. Check it out!

1. Motorbike

Zoom all over town in this super easy pretend motorbike. It only takes a few bolts and a couple old tires to build!

Click here to get the step-by-step instructions to build your own Motorbike!

2. Double Drum

Add a little rhythm to your playground with this drum set made from old water barrels.

Click here to get the step-by-step instructions to build your own Double Drum!

3. Aeroplane

This aeroplane is a hit on school playgrounds! Kids can “ride” the see-saw wings, steer the plane in the cockpit, or take a seat as a passenger.

Click here to get the step-by-step instructions to build your own Aeroplane!

4. Rebar Threader

Remember those tabletop wire and bead threading toys often found in Doctor’s waiting rooms? Build a giant version with rebar and pipe!

Click here to get the step-by-step instructions to build your own Rebar Threader!

5. Matatu Tu

This element got it’s name from the infamous “Matatu” buses that crowd the streets in East Africa. This simple DIY version is the perfect addition to a school playground’s pretend play area!

Click here to get the step-by-step instructions to build your own Matatu Tu!

6. Amphitheater Tire

This tire amphitheater is a great idea for school playgrounds. Teachers can hold outdoor lessons or school assemblies, or kids can have a blast just jumping all over them!

Click here to get the step-by-step instructions to build your own Amphitheater Tire!

7. Shop Front

Paint up these simple wooden frames to look like shop fronts and soon your playground will be a bustling marketplace! Try adding in some containers of loose parts like sticks, stones, wood cuts, or a mud molding table nearby where kids can model their pretend products to sell.

Click here to get the step-by-step instructions to build your own Shop Front!

8. Sensory Garden

Most playgrounds only cater to active play. But children love using all their senses in play! A rich garden allows kids to touch interesting textures, look for patterns, smell, and even taste!

Click here to get the step-by-step instructions to build your own Sensory Garden!

9. Balance See-Saw Hybrid

This version of the classic see-saw can accommodate several children at once. With several connected planks, the see-saw hybrid creates a sort of cause and effect wave motion.

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Click here to get the step-by-step instructions to build your own Balance See-Saw Hybrid!

10. Big Xylo

Add a little music to your school playground with this big xylophone. It’s super simple to make as it only uses screws, pipe, and timber.

Click here to get the step-by-step instructions to build your own Big Xylo!

Looking for more school playground ideas? Check out our Design Library, with over 150 DIY playground elements!

10 Mar

Three DIY playground sets

Posted by Elizabeth Moreno

Across the globe, kids love swinging, jumping, climbing and sliding on playground sets. But unfortunately playground sets can be extremely expensive and impossible to source in some areas of the world where they are not playground equipment suppliers.

Playground Sets

For this reason, Playground Ideas has created several outdoor playground sets 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 a few of our favorite playground sets from our design library:

1. Platform Tree

Everyone loves a classic treehouse playground set, and this one is simple and easy to build. Make sure you build a safe and secure way to access the tree house, like a ladder or steps.

2. Cubby House Timber

If you don’t have a tree to build on, you can construct this freestanding playground set. This is a perfect element to add a rope net or slide onto.

3. Cubby Tire

Playground sets can be built from all sorts of materials–like used car tires! The Cubby Tire playground set can be built from several used truck tires, bolts, a utility knife, wrench, shovel, and electric drill.

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.

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