WIP - Kids outdoor adventure playground

[Hudson Carpentry]

I have quite a lot of both large and thick timbers at quite long lengths and have been wondering what to do with them. The kids have been asking for a climbing wall and tree house. With no tree I trust in the garden it was ruled out. How ever I had always fancied making an adventure playground so decided to do just that. Over a month I have been thinking about designs and last night came up with this on sketchup.

The dimensions in the drawing are not that accurate but it will be in excess of 4.5m squared and 2.5 mitre high.

The surrounded by timber part on the ground is a sand pit which goes under the house with some seats, the head room will be 1m. In the pit is a climbing wall which leads up to the first landing for the rope bridge or slide. The house will be 2.5x1.5 and 1.5m high.

 

[alan2001]

Very impressive! But the downside is that your kids will suddenly become extremely popular and you'll have to hire security to keep some order. (NB I'm not implying that your kids are unpopular at the moment. )

Seriously though: how long will your kids be comfortable with a maximum head room of 1m? My point being, they will no doubt love the slide etc. when they are young, but it is unlikely they will ever grow out of having a 'gang hut'. So I'm hinting that the headroom should accomodate your kids until they leave home, which might be when they're in their 30s.

In fact, scratch that, I misread. The headroom of the hut is 1.5m (almost 5 feet). PERFECT.

Remember to hang a sign on the door: "If you are too tall to enter, perhaps it's time to leave home".

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

The kids are 2, 5, 7 and 8 and I told the 5 year old todays shes out when she turns 16 hehe. Also the 7 year old is shorter than the normal sized 5 year old.

The advantage is we live quite a way from the school they go to so parents are reluctant to make the trip and when they do I hide in the workshop (hammer)

 

[alan2001]

Ah-hah! Sounds like you've got things figured out already. Invest a bit of time on something very cool like this; end up with more time to yourself for more interesting stuff. Everyone's a winner!

Your kids are extremely lucky. Nice one.

 

[adidat]

just a heads up large uncovered sand pits turn into feline and fox toilets very quickly. maybe bark chipping's or rubber chipping's :duno:

but a nice idea, i always dreamed of having a little hut to my self. but i made do with a cardboard box under neath the dinning room table.

adidat

 

[alan2001]

middle class posho showing off with your fancy cardboard boxes!

good point re. the sand though:

"The kids are 2, 5, 7 and 8"... these types of people are not known for cleaning and tidying. There will be sand all over your house before you know it! Rubber matting or astroturf might be more practical and low maintenance, albeit with reduced sandcastle-making properties.

 

[adidat]

middle class posho showing off with your fancy cardboard boxes!

did you make do with a haggis carcass?? :lol:

maybe a small sandpit with a lid could be incorporate into the design.

adidat

 

[alan2001]

we had to catch our own haggises and make do with a hiding before bed whether we deserved one or not... etc.

sorry Hudson.

i think the gang hut itself is the most important thing here, every kid would love one. or two interconnecting ones, i.e. boys and girls?

sand pit could be made of plastic, bought from Argos, and be mum's problem. :mrgreen:

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

Its all mums problem don't you worry hehe.

They have a plastic sand pit as it is, normally by the time they reach the back door they have dropped most of it and this one will be even further away from the house. The sand pit is more for the 2 year old as he loves them.

I had thought about the sand and cat issues. Foxes can't get into our garden, cats can only just but rarely do. Anyhow I did think before hand about covering the pit not only for cats but for the dog we own and weather. I was thinking last night (well this morning, i had a bad night sleep wise and didn't fall off till 7am) on how to cover the pit around the climbing wall, near impossible without alot of messing about (mum will just not cover it). Someone on my own forum had said bark will be better if kids fall, which prompted me to think by separating the pit and climbing wall area, we can have a square ish sand pit to cover with ease and lay bark around the climbing wall.

Cardboards boxes ...... I wasn't so lucky, a sheet from wardrobe to bed was about the best den I ever had.

 

[adidat]

well i was lucky to get a coal sack to sleep in

adidat

 

[gwr]

Now this i will watch with much intrest my grandkids want 1

 

[DeanN]

Bark is great, but you're forever topping it up when it blows away or gets taken by the birds. When I built mine (several years ago), I used a material that is commonly used in play areas over in France - pea shingle. I layed a thick covering (4"+) over a weed control membrane, and the kids had many a fall onto it without a single trip to casualty. The kids has now outgrown the play area, so we now have a raised bed for veggies - but the pea shingle remains.