DIY playgrounds: photos and practical tips. DIY playground

There is probably no better place on earth where you can have a good rest with the whole family from the bustle of the city and annoying noise than your country house. Here you can forget about everything, enjoy nature and the beauty of the local landscapes, and have a pleasant time with family and close friends. But this is all about us - adults, but what about children, what do they need in order for their vacation to be no less useful, rich and exciting? That's right - a playground for games and fun! It’s better to make a multifunctional children’s playground at your dacha yourself. This way you will not only save a lot of money, but also be confident that the structure will be quite reliable and truly safe. After all, who, if not parents, should take care of the health of their children.

Do-it-yourself playground from scrap materials (photo)

Since the main and priority requirement for a playground is its safety, the importance of locating the playground away from dangerous places where kids can get hurt becomes a top priority for parents. Nothing should threaten or pose a danger to their health.

When playing outdoor games, children completely forget about safety precautions, so before you let them out onto the playground, you must be absolutely sure that nothing will happen to them.

Of course, you will not be able to completely eliminate the risk of accidental injuries, because these are children and no one knows what might come to mind. But you should try your best to make sure their environment is as safe as possible.

When choosing a suitable place to place a playground, remember that your kids, especially young ones, should always be in sight. Therefore, it would be advisable to arrange a playground opposite those windows in the house where you are most often.

The distance of the site from the house should not be too great, so that if something happens you can quickly respond to the problem that has arisen.

DIY children's sandbox (photo)

A do-it-yourself children's sandbox is a good way to prove to your kids that you care about their childhood. By showing care and attention to the younger generation at an early age, you will lay a reliable foundation for your future relationships.

The simplest and most straightforward way to build a sandbox is an open wooden structure in the shape of a square, diamond, rectangle, etc. You can go even further and make a wooden sandbox with your own hands in the shape of a boat or ship.

A children's sandbox in the shape of a ship is a dream for any child, especially boys.

Child psychologists say that playing in the sandbox, children not only develop creative abilities and hand motor skills, but also develop such positive character traits as hard work, perseverance, endurance and restraint.

In addition, it has been proven that spending children in the sandbox, at least one hour a day, helps stabilize their nervous system and relieve tension.

A fairly simple and quick way to decorate a children’s playground is to make a small sandbox from white quartz sand, first fencing it with ordinary logs.

Your task is to make a sandbox, and the kids will figure out how to organize the gameplay themselves

A do-it-yourself sandbox made from scrap materials is a fairly profitable and practical solution that will not only help save the family budget, but will also allow you to use in the process of creating a frame those unnecessary things that have been lying around for a long time.

Do-it-yourself children's slides for the dacha (photo)

Unlike a sandbox, a children's slide is a more complex structure to make with your own hands. The difficulty lies not only in the fact that its construction requires a larger amount of building material, but also in the special responsibility for the safety of the structure.

In order for the playground project to meet the most stringent safety requirements during its construction, many little details and nuances will have to be taken into account:

The maximum height of the slide for preschool children should not be more than 1 meter; for children over 5 years old, the height can be increased to 2–2.5 meters.
The angle of rise of the stairs should be within 25° - 30° degrees, the optimal width of the step is considered to be 20 - 25 cm;
The rubber coating of each step will significantly improve the grip on the sole and prevent the process of sliding;
Reliable, strong railings and balusters will not allow your child to fall from a height if at some point he loses his footing or slips.

For a quick and safe descent from the slide, it is best to use plastic slopes, which have low weight and an excellent coefficient of friction. Today, stores specializing in the sale of sports playgrounds will be able to offer you a huge selection of plastic slopes, both in height and in design shape (straight, screw, wavy).

If you still decide to use natural materials (wood, plywood) for the slope, remember that their surface should be carefully varnished.

A properly created children's playground at your dacha will allow you to be sure that your children are completely safe while spending time there. Children's slides for the dacha are a sport, and physical education, as we all know, not only strengthens the body and spirit, but also helps your baby to develop properly intellectually.

Therefore, if you want your child to always be healthy, maintain the necessary physical shape and lead a healthy lifestyle, the question of how to make a playground with your own hands should be a priority for parents.

By following simple installation rules for assembling wooden structures, you are guaranteed to get a comfortable and absolutely safe playground

A children's slide for the dacha is not the only thing you can make with your own hands for a fun holiday for your kids. , trampolines, sports equipment, sandboxes, swings, labyrinths, . Here is just a small list of what you can make yourself with a good tool in your hands and a number of fresh ideas in your head.

All these things, buildings and structures will be an excellent addition to the appearance of your site, transform its landscape design, and a beautiful area for active games will give the yard a unique ambience and special style.

Do-it-yourself children's swing for a summer house (photo)

When we go to the dacha to rest and unwind from everyday worries and bustle, we dream of spending this time as comfortably as possible.

That is why we buy expensive, soft, and most importantly comfortable furniture for our home. On the street, you can hang a beautiful hammock, which is great for drinking a cup of coffee or reading an interesting book. But, alas, you can’t tempt children with such a vacation; they need something more than a soft sofa or a boring hammock; they are only interested in a swing. And if you haven’t taken care of this issue in advance, you’ll have to make a swing from scrap materials.

When creating an outdoor children's swing for your dacha with your own hands, you, as a father, must first of all understand that despite their angelic appearance, they still carry potential danger. Therefore, as with any issue related to the safety of children, their reliability becomes the main criterion.

Children's tire swings are the easiest and fastest way to please your kids.

You can hook the swing to absolutely anything, the main thing is that the support is sufficiently reliable and strong. If these are wooden or metal poles dug into the ground, then their base should be carefully positioned; if this is a tree standing near the house, the swing should only be hung on a healthy and thick branch.

A do-it-yourself playground at your dacha can also serve as an excellent place where you can set up an outdoor swing. After all, there is always a strong beam on it that can easily support your small baby.

If your “communication” with a hacksaw, jigsaw and plane is on a first-name basis, then making a wooden swing with your own hands will not be difficult for you. You just need to purchase a suitable rope for a swing, and there will always be a couple of boards on hand.

It is important to pay attention to the fact that the majority of outdoor swings for a dacha, which can be made with your own hands, require practically no costs.

DIY treehouse (photo)

Probably many of you read a book about an ageless boy as a child. Peter Pan from the magical land of Neverland. Everyone remembers his mysterious tree house, which beckoned and attracted with its mystery. Every child dreamed of a tree house like this.

Time passed, the children grew up and for most, the old dream remained a dream. But why not now, after many years, when you already have your own kids, make your childhood dream come true. An interesting children's playground made in such an original way will be an ideal addition to your site.

To make a treehouse with your own hands, you just need to have a simple drawing, a minimum carpenter’s kit, standard lumber and a reliable assistant on hand so that if something happens, he can insure you. After all, the work ahead, although at a low level, is still to be done.

The most suitable type of wood for building a house with your own hands is oak. Following the oak are such strong species as maple, linden, large spruce or pine.

Important! Before you start building a children's treehouse, you need to thoroughly examine the object for the presence of various diseases. If such facts occur, the construction of a building on this tree should be abandoned.

Active games are an integral and necessary part of the life of any child. Therefore, the presence of a good and safe playground on the site is guaranteed to provide your kids with interesting and varied leisure time at the dacha.

There are a lot of good ideas for decorating playgrounds. Projects and drawings will be an excellent help for you when creating these objects. If you don’t have them, don’t be upset, and especially don’t give up. You can make a playground for your beloved kids quite easily and quickly without them.

A place with carousels, a sandbox and toys is not just a decoration for the site, but a whole world - children's; DIY playground, photo which you will see below or in the courtyard of a multi-storey building, or on your own summer cottage will be a gift not only for all the children, but also for their parents, because it will be safe, comfortable and cozy. All the best for children!

DIY playground ideas

On the list DIY playground ideas you can see things that are familiar to us since childhood. The main task is to make each element in such a way as to skillfully combine a safe stay on them so that children find this safety interesting. We will perceive the playground as a collection of the most necessary, favorite entertainment for children.

The first thing to start construction with is allocating the area itself for construction. Yes, you can just put up attractions, but remember that in order for them to last a long time and delight the kids, they must be stable and durable, which means it won’t work without leveling the landscape. The construction of this place can be approached as if it were a construction project - level the soil, fill it with crushed stone and concrete it. But then you will need to either cover the entire surface with some safe material, non-slip and not hard, for example, a rubber coating. But it is much better to use an existing lawn or build it using roll technology. On do-it-yourself children's playground in the country both in design and in the range of entertainment, it is limited only by your imagination. It is better to choose a place on the leeward side, so that under no circumstances is there a so-called air corridor or draft. It will also be important if there is shade in the area during the daytime heat; if there is no shade from the house or garden, then you need to organize awnings and awnings.

The main element and component will be the sandbox. It will be interesting to play with both very young children and older ones. Of course, it would be superfluous to talk about the quality of the sand, and it is clear that it must be absolutely clean and sifted, but this cleanliness must be maintained. Therefore, when you put together a structure from wood, provide a lid with which you can cover all this sandy wealth. As a cover, you can use a mesh, a flexible cover from an inflatable pool, etc. This is important to use for do-it-yourself kindergarten decorations. It is also very important to have wide sides, which will be used as benches, as well as for sculpting beads. For convenience, build a roof high above the sandbox, which will allow you to play even in bad weather or bright sun.

Swings and carousels can be ordered ready-made; today there are a huge number of companies that specialize in installation and manufacturing do-it-yourself kindergarten playgrounds. However, you can make some of the types yourself. It will not be difficult to build balance beams - a swing on which two children ride, taking turns soaring up and then down. It is necessary to calculate the maximum load and, based on it, select options for materials and fastenings. You need to make holders and backs at the ends of the board so that the kids feel safe. It is important to make hanging swings from materials that children cannot get injured on; ropes and rubber would be optimal (the household version is a rubber tire, not very large in size).

Other traditional items that are often used include mini exercise machines of various types. This is very important, since they are the ones who help to spend at least a little of the children’s irrepressible energy. If you can’t make horizontal bars, you can dig car tires halfway into the ground so that there is enough distance between them to jump over. You can also organize an unusual Swedish wall from rope ropes, intertwining them like a net. Be sure to consider a system of soft mats under it with a coating that will not be afraid of moisture. If you have older children, and there are a sufficient number of trees on the site or in the yard, then it is possible to organize a miniature rope park with a set of boards, ropes, and ladders.

Make a playground with your own hands

In order to make a playground with your own hands not only a place for games, but also for quality child development, you can use the same furniture as when developing.

The table is necessary for creative work: drawing, sculpting, appliqué, creating crafts. DIY playground You can’t do without such a structure, whether you are making it for one or two children or for children from the whole yard. But an ordinary table according to standard drawings is not always suitable. If you want to achieve maximum safety and comfort, you can make the tabletop in the shape of a four-leaf clover, and make a small bench in each of the four recesses. Wood is a good material for such furniture, but it will need to be coated with a large amount of furniture varnish to avoid damage from snow and rain. Plastic is better, but it will be problematic to make something out of it yourself. You can organize master classes at such a round table, for example, teach kids,...

On DIY playground, photo which you see, it is the house that occupies the central place. It doesn’t have to be empty inside; you can put benches there for children to play in the hospital, benches to place a counter or a cash register for playing at the store.

DIY playground: photo

Every child needs movement during the period of active exploration of the world. He needs to play, run, have fun. Children usually spend their time outside on playgrounds. This place should be as safe and functional as possible. Such requirements apply to all sites, no matter where they are built.

If a vacation spot is being set up on a suburban area, you should become familiar with the technology of work and prepare the necessary materials and tools. It is better if someone who has basic carpentry and plumbing skills builds a playground in the yard with their own hands.

Primary requirements

Each playground is created to develop the child's skills and increase his level of physical fitness. The main feature of such complexes is that the child can play and move independently. Adults here act only as observers. For this reason, all playgrounds are decorated very brightly. In addition, each building in the complex can be used differently. As can be seen from the numerous photos of playgrounds, various structures can be positioned differently depending on the design idea.

The requirements according to which playgrounds must be built can be found in the relevant SNIP. The most relevant established standards are the following:

The site should be fenced off from passages. At the same time, a distance of at least 10 m should be made from it to the parking lots.
The playground area should be made impassable. It should be separate from footpaths.
The site is landscaped around the perimeter. In addition, it is necessary that the territory have both darkened and sunny areas.
The site should be located 20 m away from other large open areas and waste receptacles.
Every three months, all equipment installed on the playground must be inspected. It must be functional and undamaged.
The sand in the sandbox should be changed every year. At the same time, the safety of sand on the playground is confirmed by certain sanitary and hygienic standards.

For children of different ages, it is necessary to divide the playground into certain zones. They are performed for children under three years of age, preschool children, and primary schoolchildren. However, often a playground for children includes attractions for several age groups at once.

The sandbox must be equipped with a lid. Therefore, it is better to make it simple. Such an element of the playground should not only be beautiful, but also functional. With a complex sandbox configuration, it will be difficult to make a lid. It is better to make it in the form of a hexagon or square. Photos of sandboxes will help you choose the appropriate option.

Advice! If there are two roof flaps for the sandbox, children will be able to open it independently. Adults will only need to supervise the process.

Ideas for creating playgrounds

The design of playgrounds for children involves the use of various equipment. If you don’t have the necessary equipment, you can use the advice of experienced professionals. You can also experiment with structures installed on the territory of the playground. For example, you can install a basketball backboard at the entrance to the slide house. If you have large tires, it is easy to set up an obstacle course on the playground (as in the photo).

The sandbox in the playground is made not only from boards. It is often surrounded by stumps. If you are using tires from a passenger car, you will need to prepare five pieces. The sandbox is fenced off with tires, laying them two on top of each other. The main thing is to securely fix the tires in place. This is usually done using metal pins. Then the tires are covered with sand. Then such a fence is painted.

In addition to the slide-house, you can equip a small house on the site in the standard version. If you know how to work with wood, you can install various models of airplanes and ships on the territory. Children will happily climb on them. You should not chase exact forms - children often complete various devices and designs in their imagination.

Children's playground with ready-made kits

A children's playground can also be made from purchased exercise equipment. In various stores you can find many designs that are made for installation on playgrounds. Here you can find houses and slides, swings and rope ladders. Installing a children's playground in the courtyard of a private house is not difficult if you have ready-made kits.

The main thing is to read the instructions that are issued along with the design. Exercise equipment for children's playgrounds must be installed on a rigid base. This requirement is specified in SNIP. Most often, purchased designs have a more attractive appearance than homemade ones. This is confirmed by numerous photographs of such products.

Making a platform with your own hands

No children's playground is complete without a slide. This simulator should be comfortable and functional. The design can be made of different materials:

steel corners - they must be at least 3 m thick;
Sheet steel;
pipes - will be needed to create a frame;
plywood;
boards.

When choosing such materials, you can equip a durable and functional slide.

Creating a slide house

The slide-house is mounted on racks, which are usually made of timber. There should be 4 supports. This frame allows you to creatively approach the creation of the main children's simulator. In this case, you can make several ascents - ordinary steps, a ladder and a rope ladder. In this case, one stingray is enough.

The angle that is made when creating the slope should not exceed 30 degrees. This avoids overclocking and injuring children. With such a design, children's leisure time can be very well diversified.

Advice! If there are plastic panels, it is better to make a slope from them. In addition, plastic slides for playgrounds are often sold in stores. You can purchase curved slides. Children get more joy from going down such a structure than from going down a straight wooden slide. The playground must be comfortable for the child, so all elements must be created in accordance with certain requirements.

Materials

To build a slide house on the site, you should select certain materials. To create such a design you will need to prepare:

5 bars.
boards from 50 to 100 mm;
boards with a thickness of 25 and a width of 100 mm;
plywood sheets 15 mm;
mounting angles;
nuts and bolts;
self-tapping screws;
a pipe equal in diameter to the cross-section of the beam.

After preparing the materials, you can begin to create the base of the slide-house for the site.

Preparing the base

It is necessary to find a place to install the slide, and also prepare a hole that will be needed for the foundation. It is worth making a square frame. There should be a distance of 1 m between the posts. Each side of the pit should be 1.5 m long. In addition, the pits should have a minimum depth of 20 cm.

The bottom of the pits must be compacted, and then crushed stone must be poured. This layer should be 10 cm thick. It also needs to be compacted. You can dig a small hole under each block. The depth of each of them should be at least half a meter. The lower edges of the beams are impregnated with bitumen.

A crushed stone cushion must be placed at the bottom of the pit. Crushed stone must be selected in fractions of 15-25 mm. After filling the gravel at the bottom of the holes, pillars are inserted into them. They are leveled and correctly oriented. Then the concrete solution is poured.

Advice! Concrete is strong if it contains the optimal amount of water. The mixture should be thick when kneading. In order for concrete to move, it is necessary to add plasticizers to it. They are easy to purchase at a hardware store.

Ramp and bottom harness

The strapping of the bars must also be done using 50 mm boards. They are mounted at the floor level of the structure. In addition, to increase the reliability of the house, it is worth making a jumper. The boards should be screwed to the beams using self-tapping screws. Fastening elements must have a minimum length of 100 mm. In addition, it is necessary to make a tray for the stingray.

For this purpose, you should follow simple steps. First, cut 2 boards that are slightly longer than the slope. Then the angles of contact of the slope with the ground and the harness are marked. The board is cut to the required size using a jigsaw. Then the jumpers are cut. Long boards must be laid on the ground, and then the jumpers must be secured to them with self-tapping screws.

There should be a distance of about 30 cm between the jumpers. However, the first and last of them are mounted 5 cm from the edge. A cutout is made on top of the board. This is necessary to create full support for the ramp on the harness.

Then the slope is attached to the harness with corners. They are fixed with screws and nuts. The corners must be installed in such a way that children do not get scratched while playing. In addition, it is necessary to ensure that no fasteners or sharp parts protrude from the side of the slope. The slope is sewn up with plywood, which is installed on self-tapping screws. The fasteners are recessed into the material by 1 mm. Then the attachment points are puttied and sanded.

Ladder

It is necessary to cut 2 pieces of board 50 mm thick. Their length should be slightly longer than the length of the stairs. The corners of the connection with the ground and the harness are cut off. Then you need to cut grooves for the steps in the boards. Then the steps are cut to the required width. All that remains is to assemble the ladder. The steps are fixed to the side boards with self-tapping screws.

The ladder must be securely fixed. It is attached to the strapping beam. Railings and supports are installed on each side of the stairs. They are processed with a plane to remove irregularities and sharp edges. Then the structural parts must be carefully sanded. The upper edge of the railing is attached to the posts.

Entrances and roof

Every slide on the playground features an extreme climb. To do this, you should make a tray of the same size as for the ramp. The part of the harness, which is located on the side of the extreme entrance, must be reinforced with steel corners.

Then cut pieces of plywood are laid on the floor of the house on the site. The ceiling is also lined with the same material. The house must be sheathed on the outside with plywood sheets. Its entrances are designed in the form of circles or ovals. Their size should be such as to provide maximum comfort for children playing on the playground. To create a roof, you need to cut 4 rafters. They are made from 25 mm boards. The angles of the rafters can be determined based on the height of the roof. They are attached to the corners of the frame, and then connected to each other on top with metal corners. The roof is covered with plywood of the required size.

Final work

When the work is completed, it is necessary to sand all the places where children can get a splinter. A rope is attached to the top harness on the side of the extreme climb. It should have nodes located every 20 cm. The house is painted in such a way that it looks attractive. You can apply various images to it, as in the photo.

conclusions

It is not always possible to buy a ready-made play structure for a playground. In this regard, a children's playground in the yard is often done with one's own hands. The main condition is that the materials used must be durable and of high quality. Wood is often chosen to construct various structures for playgrounds in the yard.

It is important to control the quality of processing of elements. It is impossible to allow some areas to remain uncleaned, and structural parts to have sharp edges. This can cause injury to children playing on the playground.

A small house is installed on each playground. It is usually made from scrap materials. You can build a house with your own hands with the participation of the children themselves. This will not only please the kids, but also make the designs more convenient.

Why children need a playground is probably worth explaining only to someone who was born six feet tall, wearing a business-like three-piece with a tie, crocodile shoes and a cigar in his mouth. The cigar is, of course, electronic. Even the smoke from it is not chemical, but depicted by holography and is clearly visible without harmful anamorphic glasses.

There are plenty of manuals on how to build a playground for posterity. And in them - really valuable and necessary instructions on safety, reliability of fastenings, quality of materials, etc. However, having reviewed many of these, something like what appears in Fig. below. Paradise, no doubt. Okay, palm trees, a huge stump (it looks like no less than a 100-year-old eucalyptus tree). Maybe they have palm trees there like we have quinoa trees, and they give away high-value industrial wood to everyone for free, just to take it out of sight.

However, in both cases, a middle-income householder who decides to please the children by making a playground for them with his own hands immediately faces the question: where to get the space? No less than 2 acres of land went into such a monumental structure, but what if there are only 6 of them at the dacha? Or even less in your personal local area? A playground for children is built when the economy has already been established. Therefore, next we will consider, first of all, how to correctly arrange everything that children need for joy, trying to keep it to 1 hundred square meters or less. But, of course, the very components of the playground for children will not be ignored.

The most difficult case

The most difficult thing to arrange is a children's playground in the country. In addition to the acute lack of space, she remains unattended and unguarded throughout the cold season. That is, in addition to resistance to external conditions and environmental friendliness, the material of the structure should not provide much temptation to possible thieves. At least a temptation worth the trouble of dismantling. Hence, the entire country play complex must be compact and strong and upon completion is inconvenient to approach with a tool. What if they end up being stolen or succumb to bad weather, this shouldn’t bring big losses.

A successful version of a children's play corner at the dacha made from scrap materials is shown in the photo:

The main material in this case is quite reliable, high-quality and affordable - construction pallets (pallets). Occupied area – only approx. 5 sq. m. Behind the climbing frame is a 2-story secret shelter. If one of the younger members of the family is a person of the fair sex, then the car is unceremoniously expelled to the green parking lot, and the garage is transformed into a boudoir, kiosk, doctor’s waiting room, etc. If there is sufficient area in front of the building, a ladder or slide can be attached to the captain's bridge.

About materials

The above case is not trivial. The materials at hand are used mainly for the design of the site; We will return to this issue later. But for its key structures (see below), high-quality construction materials are needed, because we are talking about the safety of the child.

Tree– coniferous without signs of rot, mold, cracks, or falling knots. Load-bearing elements – timber from 130x130 mm or log from 120 mm. Boards – edged or tongue-and-groove from 20 mm. Before assembly, the parts are treated with an oil water repellent (water repellent) or twice impregnated with a water-polymer emulsion. The best finishing coat is water-based acrylic varnish on a well-sanded surface.

The second most important material is metal. In addition to fasteners, heavily loaded elements are made of steel, for example. in sports facilities. In this case, it is preferable to connect the parts by welding: any protrusion is dangerous. The urchins manage to get caught on the seemingly completely smooth head of the bolt with clothing that seems completely unsuitable for this. Metal parts must be painted with a primer and twice. The best paint coatings are acrylic.

Plastics They are easily electrified; in the open air, microcracks appear in them within 1-2 seasons and hygiene disappears. And since plastics are also low-tech at home, it is better to avoid them altogether in a homemade playground. Perhaps the only place where plastic is appropriate on a playground is a manhole pipe. A plastic barrel works well for it. It’s better to take a white, translucent one so that you don’t get scared, start panicking and get stuck. Glass and other breakable or brittle/delaminating materials (composites, for example) are absolutely unacceptable.

Stone The material is also unsuitable for a playground: if you fall down hard, you can seriously hurt yourself on it. If borders are required on the site, then they need to be laid either soft or homemade wooden, or planted phytoborders from soft hardy plants, for example. sedum (sedum).

Separately, it should be said about ropes. In terms of childhood injuries on playgrounds, the top three are consistently occupied by rope railings/fences, entanglement mazes and climbing nets. Over the first ones, they are overweight, not yet able to correctly assess by eye the stability of the support, fall head over heels and are seriously injured, even breaking their neck. The nets do not leave parents inconsolable, but they cause a lot of fractures and dislocations. Prostitutes do not seriously injure physically, but due to fright and hysteria they can leave an indelible mark on the psyche. Therefore, ropes on the playground are applicable only as hangers for swings, stretchers of awnings and vines - a gymnastic rope with knots.

Note: fabric and non-woven textile products in children's playgrounds are used for awnings and soft fencing. In any case, the fabric should be stretched so that there are no rinsing sides.

Basic and extended equipment

A traditional typical playground minimally consists of a slide and a fungus. The latter are now most often combined in the form of a 2-story playhouse with a balcony, an air passage, an observation deck, a climbing frame and a ladder. This allows you to create a greater variety of entertainment in the same area, see fig. However, it is impossible to create a sandbox on the first floor of the house: the stomping overhead will in no way benefit the development of very young, “sand-age” children. The sandbox must be separate.

So, we get a basic set of a sandbox, a combi house and a swing. He is able to last from the first top to the time when it turns out that girls, in general, are not meant to be pulled by their braids. If possible, the following are added to the mini set:

Free space for quiet games, children's picnics, in winter - for making a snowman, etc.
Decorative elements for the development of aesthetic sense.
Boom, that is. push runner.
Inflatable pool, bathtub, trough or basin for bathing.
A secret refuge corner.
Sports complex.
Playground for sports games.
Mini flowerbed or mini flower garden.
Hut or tent.
Labyrinth.
Children's carousel.

Many other additions are possible, provided there is free space and the imagination of the parents. But they no longer have a decisive significance for the all-round development of the child, so we will limit ourselves to the remark that most of them and some of the above can be quite placed in the gaps between the safety zones of the main structures, see below.

Selecting a location

Ideas regarding the artistic and decorative design of the playground can be anything; Some of the combinations of business and pleasure will be discussed below. There are no regulations/requirements regarding the appearance of structures on the children's playground. However, when selecting a place for it, certain rules of safety and comfort that promote the proper development of children:

The site must be within sight of the most habitable room. In private households this is usually the kitchen;
All structures on the site, including their safety zones, must be within a 45 degree viewing angle. This approximately corresponds to the visibility of the housewife, who is busy at a stove located in accordance with fire safety rules;
If the site borders a passage, incl. internal (your own, yard), between him and her there must be a permanent fence insurmountable for children, regardless of the presence of a fence of a different type;
Reservoirs, wells, utility yards, etc. should also be demarcated. sources of possible danger. In this case, the fence may be light, but necessarily insurmountable for children;
The site should be located in sectors from north to southeast. Otherwise, the youngest in the sandbox and children engaged in active play should be protected from harsh afternoon light;
Whatever the location of the playground, the sun should not blind the eyes of children engaged in active games or sports exercises;
The sandbox is located first in order of distance from the exit to the site. If he is not there, go first from home;
The sandbox should not be located under a tree(s);
The swinging directions of hanging swings and rolling out of the slide should not cross the sandbox. Otherwise, the distance between them should be at least 3 m for swings and not less than the height of the slide;
The same directions should not go to the roadway;
Between the sports complex and the sandbox there must be a playhouse or swing, or other permanent (immovable) structure, or there must be at least a 3 m distance;
Safety zones of capital structures should not overlap.

Note: The safety zone of a children's play structure is assumed to be 1 m by default. The roll-out zone from the slide is 1.5x1.5 m. The safety zone of a swing is equal in length to 1.5 times the height of its suspension, and in width is at least 1.5 m; carousel - its diameter. The safety zones of sports complexes are indicated in their projects.

Examples of layouts of the basic modules of the playground with different orientations according to the cardinal points are shown in Fig. The house is conventionally designated by a gray circle with a star of directions and half-points. The safety zone of the swing is shown by a mustard-colored rectangle; house with a slide - thick green. What is a sandbox with an awning, see below.

About sports complexes

In Fig. Below are projects of children's sports complexes with a house and a slide (on the left) and only a gymnastic complex of the most compact T-shaped design. From there you can see that less than 30 sq. area is not enough with a standard solution, and the full complex does not leave room for a sandbox. It would seem that home sports in a small area do not shine.

However, it was Russian specialists who developed projects for children's open-air sports complexes based on the conditions of the Russian Federation, namely, the high endowment of middle- and lower-income segments of the population with land plots left over from the USSR. In the West, only a very rich person can afford to have 6 acres outside the city for recreation.

Drawings of one of these children's sports complexes are shown in Fig. below. Material – steel pipe (27-30)x2. Its features are an extremely narrow, but well-founded safety zone, only 0.5 m along the contour. No matter how you play around with this design, its ergonomics are thought out perfectly: even if you hurt yourself, it won’t be too bad, but you won’t hurt the little ones nearby. The second is the correct configuration. This makes it easier to place the complex on the site, as can be clearly seen in Fig. with layout diagrams: a site with opportunities for sports does not “climb out” anywhere for 1 hundred square meters.

About fences and dividers

In addition to a protective fence, in a playground for 2 or more children, it is highly desirable to delimit zones. If the space allows, the labyrinth will provide a lot of fun and useful skills; see below for more information on it. The traditional solution to the issue of dividing zones is a fence, and tires or logs inside the area, also see below. But the fence, albeit very cheerful, as in Fig. just below is a clear prohibition, which is generally not good for children. The strongest and most reliable discipline is a conscious one, understood with one’s own mind. And from the obvious prohibition during the “holiday of disobedience” you can tear off a board. And climb where you shouldn’t at all, without even realizing what it entails.

When you need to isolate yourself from the roadway, there is no choice, because... The safety of children in this case depends not only on them. But, for example, a pond or utility yard will not enter the site on its own. In this case, if the platform is made of wood, the ideal lightweight protective fence is wattle fence. First of all, it is not difficult to weave, and free material is found almost everywhere in nature. Secondly, a fairly high fence is very difficult to overcome even for an adult well-trained person. Don't believe me? Try to climb over. It is not for nothing that temporary fortifications - fascines - were once made from wattle fence. In the same way, a bull is not capable of breaking a properly made fence, much less a man. Thirdly, the wattle fence itself is an excellent decoration for a suburban area.

But the most important thing is that children do not perceive the fence as a prohibitive sign. Why? And you can peek through it. Just looking at the pond - well, the water lilies there are beautiful, well, a frog climbed onto a leaf and is croaking. And through a crack, stealthily, a fairy-tale world appears, populated in the imagination by amazing creatures. Okay, we don't have one yet. But then, if a gloomy pig or an angry gander turns to the fence from the other side, you can be scared to your heart's content, without really risking anything. Rest assured, children perfectly distinguish toy fear, on the basis of which reasonable caution is developed, from real fear.

About the soil

An almost ideal soil base for a playground is seeded or rolled: it dries quickly enough after rain, brakes well when it rolls and dampens when it flops, and does not overheat in the heat. One “but”: it can turn clothes green because they don’t wash well. Therefore, the soil on the playground is often covered with fine gravel. It drains and brakes even better, but it gets hotter under the sun and can get scratched. The ideal backfill would be small, up to 1.5-2 cm in diameter, well-rounded pebbles. But, alas, this is a very expensive material, and its predatory self-procurement is punishable by law.

Modules and elements

Sandboxes

First, what is a sandbox with an awning, which is necessary when the site is located in sectors from the south to the northwest? See fig. There is no need to make the canvas very large and lower its edges too low: it is enough for the awning to shade the sandbox from the high midday sun. Closer to sunset, if the children are still playing at this time, about half of the box should be shaded so that the little ones themselves can settle down where it is more convenient for them.

The second thing that will be very useful if there are two or more children with a sufficient age difference is a sandbox-truck, or, depending on the inclinations of the older one, a sandbox-ship. In the latter case, the wheelhouse with the navigation bridge is located, like on any decent “transport vehicle,” in the stern. Then the younger ones will go about their sandy affairs without feeling intrusive guardianship, and the older “parent” will be able to fulfill his duties literally playfully, without getting bored. And if he ever takes the wheel or stands at the helm professionally, it has already been deposited at the level of reflexes: the main thing in a flight is passengers and cargo.

House with a slide

Here we will fill in something missing. The first is the slopes of the slides. They are most often bought ready-made, made of plastic. There are basically 3 designs to choose from: straight, spiral, see figure, and pipes.

It is better to ignore the latter: a children's slide is not a water park, water lubricant does not flow through the pipe. Children in tube ramps often get stuck with everything that follows. In terms of the degree of psychological trauma, tube rays are almost on par with prostitutes.

Of the others, if there is very little space for a platform, it is better to take more expensive spiral ones. Their use allows, in a standard design (see above), to abandon the roll-out zone, because it will be to the side, within the general safety zone. And rolling with a screw is more fun and “cooler” than just like that.

However, as stated above, it is best to avoid plastic in the playground. Therefore, for fairly skilled home craftsmen, we give in Fig. on the left is a profile of a children's slide made of sheet metal. The sliding line is highlighted in red, the sides of the trough-shaped chute are highlighted in brown, the straight protective side with a bend outward is highlighted in blue; green - elastic pad on it made of smooth rubber. The latter is necessary to brake with your hands. The width of the ramp gutter is 600-700 mm.

Note: It is unnecessary to remind, but for the sake of the seriousness of the moment, let us recall that the overlaps of the sheets that make up the gutter and sides should be directed down the slope. Otherwise, the overlaps will turn into knives.

Swing

The cradle (seat) of a hanging swing is often made from tires. Then, if the children are boys, it is better to hang the tire vertically, on the left in the figure, so you can “ride” to your heart’s content. For girls, a swing cradle made from a tire, hung flat, is better suited: here it’s convenient to sit in a circle and gossip like a woman.

The cradles of sports swings, on the right in the figure, are made hard, in the form of a flying trapezoid with rings, and soft. Making rings separately is recommended only for children who are already involved in athletics and have had some success in this: many beginning gymnasts were quite seriously injured trying to make a cross on the rings without sufficient physical training.

If there is enough space, little ones will really like and find the balance swing, inset in Fig. below. If there is not enough space, and the child shows the makings of a dexterous and strong little one, they can be replaced with a spring swing. The diagram of their device is shown in the same figure. The spring is from the shock absorber of a small car or motorcycle, depending on the age and weight of the rider.

About labyrinths

A labyrinth for children's games must satisfy the following conditions:

To be one-dimensional, i.e. from partitions standing on the ground.
The partitions should not be solid or high: older people should see over them and be able to climb over them, and younger ones should see below them and crawl up.
Plant labyrinths are not allowed for children to play; they can get lost in the bushes out of fear and get hurt.

funny beauty

Tires

Functional, i.e. Suitable for games, decorative elements of playgrounds are most often made from truck tires. Let's leave aesthetics to the adults. Children are pragmatists, it is important to them that it is elastic, springs well, and does not break if you hit it. Try to use only solid tires: cut tires often have traumatic cord ends sticking out over time. Or regularly check the tire structure and go over the protruding wires with a grinder and a grinding wheel.

A classic product of this kind is the boom runner. It can also be a zone delimiter or a barrier between the sports complex and the sandbox if there is not enough space. So, in all respects it is better to dig tires for it not lengthwise, as is customary, but across, as in pos. 1 pic. at intervals of approx. 30 cm:

We clearly see the gap where there is no need to step.
If your foot slips, it will slip sideways. Anyone who knows about sports physics knows that then the first thing to come into contact with the underlying surface without any grouping skills will be not the face, but the fifth point.
It’s convenient and safe to push: the legs themselves rise to the position of the strongest support, and if the leg slips, then everything is as before. case.
Anyone who is pushed does not fall backwards, risking injuring his back or hitting his head, but to the side, which is safe for children.

For small ones, if there are several different tires, you can simply pile them up, pos. 2. For those who are older and more skilled - an “advanced” climbing frame in addition to the usual one, pos. 3. Pos. 4 is actually a godsend: an old, but real steering wheel, and if you sway, it’s like driving a tractor over potholes.

Pos. 5 – the well-known sun made of tires and bottles is actually not just a decoration. PET bottles are an excellent, stable target for darts, arrows and generally anything thrown. And don't be afraid that children will grow up aggressive. On the contrary, it is precisely those who in childhood did not have the opportunity to express natural male inclinations, conditioned by the eras of biological evolution, in a harmless way, when they grow up, have a much greater chance of failing to express them in an adult way, up to the highest measure of responsibility under the legislation of the place where the act was committed.

For girls, and perhaps not only for them, a mini-flower bed made of tires, on the left side of the trail, will suit well and decorate the entire area. Fig., or a flowerpot made from a worthless wheel. In the latter case, in view of the above-mentioned risk of injury from the cord, it is better to turn the flowerpot with scallops down, as on the right there. What it lacks in aesthetics here and there it makes up for in coloring.

They make a lot of other things out of old tires. For children, without any obvious functionality - different figures. For example, what kind of crafts there are for the playground made from tires in the form of different animals, see.

Video: crafts made from tires for decorating a playground

Pieces of wood

We won’t dwell on driftwood or roots painted to look like animals: everything here depends on the source material, the appearance of which is impossible to predict, and already known creations cannot be repeated either - no two driftwood are alike. Let's deal with what is more or less stable in its original form: logs. Not necessarily business measures; any dead wood or waste from tree trimming will work for crafts for children made from logs. Simply by sawing logs out of them, and not very carefully, you can already build a good zone delimiter, on the left in the figure, a sandbox, in the center, or a furniture set for a doll picnic, on the right.

And with a little more effort and skill, make figures for a composition that has independent meaning or, say, for a children's carousel. Drawings of some of these are shown as an example in Fig. below.

Another idea

The arrangement of the playground is still the same, without going beyond 100 square meters. m and without interfering with anything else there, another thing can be completed. Let’s say you still have a baby bath, but you don’t intend to have any more offspring. The old adult bathtub is too deep, it is better to let it sit. Or there’s a leaky trough lying around in the barn. Or, let’s say, you came across an ad: “Used culinary equipment for sale,” and in it – “Donut pan 1100x650x100.” In general, you need any tub with a length of 80-90 cm, a width of about half as much and a depth of up to 15 cm.

Why do children need this? Let the ships go. For adults, applying patches to construction or aquarium silicone and painting, if it is rusty, is not a difficult task. It won’t take much water, so you can simply change it more often without excessively using disinfectants that are not always safe. If you keep the baby mini-sea in the sun, and throw a couple of grains of potassium permanganate or methylene blue (pharmacy blue) into the water until it turns barely pink or blue, and cover the pond with film at night, a week of uninterrupted navigation in it is guaranteed. Children get a lot of delight and fun from it. There will also be a lot of splashes and wet clothes, but there’s no need to get angry here, or have you not been like that yourself?

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The best place to relax from the hustle and bustle of the city is your own dacha or country plot, where the whole family can find something to their liking. Adults most often prefer activities that the younger generation will either not yet be able to do or are uninteresting. This leads to the fact that children are unoccupied, mischievous and only interfere with serious work. To solve this problem, all you need is an idea, a tool and some work with your hands. It is necessary to build some kind of children's corner on the site where the child will be really interested. It’s not difficult to equip a children’s playground from scrap materials, and it will be much cheaper than buying a ready-made one.

Project stage

At the very beginning, it is important to think through all the details that must be taken into account during the implementation of your project. At the design stage, it is very important to take into account the main points on which the usefulness of this building and, of course, the safety of children depend.

The playground should be located in an open space where children will be completely accessible to the eyes of adults - this allows you to keep the younger generation under control.
All parts and objects of the site must be completely safe, without sharp corners, ends, or jagged edges.
It is better to build buildings at an average distance from the work area, outbuildings and vegetable garden, that is, so that during work you can monitor the child’s activities and location.
It is better to choose the soil at the location of the playing area that is completely or partially unsuitable for growing any crops; this is necessary in order to save fertile land as much as possible.
You can also place the playground near a fence, only in this case you will have to take care of the complete safety of small children.
There must be a canopy over the children's corner that will prevent the child from getting heatstroke or getting wet from sudden rain.

Thus, the design stage and preliminary creation of a layout is an integral part of building a playground with your own hands from scrap materials. Of course, we should not forget about the main functionality of the children's corner - the entertainment and development of children, which is a more important aspect of its construction. Therefore, you need to approach the work with ready-made ideas and enthusiasm, planning to install not only banal swings and a sandbox on the playground, but also add something else of your own to them. Only then does the work become interesting and can please not only the children.

At the design and main – implementation – stages, the younger generation can also be involved in joint activities, but, of course, according to their physical abilities. Working together will help strengthen family understanding and develop children's creativity.

Site preparation and selection of materials

At the end of the design stage, you should definitely know the location and content of the children's corner. The site has been selected, all that remains is to process it and prepare it for new buildings. The preparation work takes place in several stages.

It is necessary to clear and level the ground to the required area.
You need to decide on a coating that will serve as the basis for the entire site. Most often, a mixture of crushed stone and sand is used, as it is the most budget option. You can also cover the ground with artificial grass or special rubber.
Then you need to take measurements and purchase all the necessary materials. The main thing is not to forget that all this is necessary for small children, so all materials must be as safe as possible and comply with all norms and standards.
After this, you need to make sure that you have a standard set of tools for the job: nails, screws, self-tapping screws, a screwdriver, a screwdriver, a hammer, a hacksaw, a grinder, a painting tool and paint. If something is missing, you need to buy it in addition, as it will all be useful throughout the construction.
At the very end of the preparatory stage, all inaccuracies in the plan should be corrected.

Now you can get to work.

Arranging a children's corner

When choosing play elements for your playground, it is worth analyzing what your child likes to do most and focus on this. Some children prefer to spend a lot of time swinging on swings, some like to spend their leisure time making sand figures in the sandbox, and some prefer slides. All this needs to be taken into account before you start building something with your own hands.

Manufacturing of individual elements

Sandbox

One of the most common children's entertainment, which helps the creative development of the younger generation and can captivate them for several hours. Sandboxes in their modern form have been greatly transformed and look quite aesthetically pleasing, so you have complete freedom of ideas in shapes, painting and various details. But such entertainment is not suitable for everyone and this should also be taken into account. Therefore, it is better to coordinate the construction of a sandbox with the child.

Swing

The most favorite element of children's playgrounds is the swing, and not only children, but also many adults love to swing on them. There is no child who would not love a swing, so it is necessary to install them, but it’s up to you to choose the type, shape, size and color. Swings can be either hanging or regular. Using available means, it would be better to make a hanging swing, which will be attached to the top crossbar on ropes or chains. The second option is less safe for children, as the chains can pinch the skin and spoil the child's fun. When choosing ropes, you should remember that over time they can wear out and fray, so they need to be periodically checked and replaced.

Gorki

Almost all children also like this type of entertainment, and it also gives absolute freedom in creative terms. Slides can be made of different materials:

metal is not the best material, as it rusts very quickly;
Stainless steel is a better option, but it is one of the most expensive, so using stainless steel is unprofitable;
wood is a material that requires careful processing and polishing, and in the future it will have to be covered with something slippery.
plastic is the best option, as it is inexpensive, wears out for a long time and does not require special treatment.

The important part is the size of the slide, as it should be comfortable for your child and have enough capacity for 2-3 years in advance. Often slides are built in combination with some additional elements.

Children's house or hut

There are many options for this structure - from the simplest and fastest to build to complex structures made from small logs and poles. Of course, it is better to create a real house for your child, which will look like an ordinary house with a porch, doors and windows. If this is not possible, then you can create a small tent or wigwam, the main thing is not to forget about the safety of children. The structure must be stable and not collapse at the first strong wind. In such separate houses and huts, children like to set up so-called headquarters. If the child likes the building, then he will spend more time there.

Sports section

Such a corner will help your child's physical development and allow him to conduct his own sports activities.

Additional items

The most popular elements of the playground are outlined above, then you can rely on your imagination. On the site you can place an infinite number of different elements and parts from improvised means - tires, tires, pallets and other things. Here the choice is up to you and your child.

Placing elements on the site

The area of land required for construction depends on your wishes, age and number of children. Usually this is a square corner with an area of 8-10 square meters. In such a site, the arrangement of elements can be very diverse. Most often, a slide in combination with swings and other equipment is located in the center, a sports corner and some creative elements like a drawing board should be located in the corner near the fence. The rectangular area is a little more complicated; there the elements will most likely have to be installed in a row, one after another. You also need to remember about safety, especially if you have more than one child. Due to the circumstances of a large family, you cannot place a swing next to the sandbox.

Options for decorating the area

A children's corner can be decorated in completely different ways, everything also depends on you and your child, on your wishes, creative ideas and imagination. The area around the perimeter can be planted with flowers or you can create some thematic figures and place them in different places of the site, the bright color of the main buildings will also be a decoration, they can be covered with different bright colors or with a coating in the same style, there are no boundaries.

Design ideas

The design of a playground depends on creative ideas, the volume of plans, style, materials used and the time that the owner is willing to spend on this event. It is better to coordinate all steps with the children; they should highlight the details that they like and what can be improved, because the main thing is that they have fun and feel comfortable. Since children are often bored at the dacha, the main idea of creating such a children's corner is to provide children with a fun and interesting activity, which means that everything should be decorated in an interesting and colorful way.

Absolutely everything can be combined on the site, and ideally all the main elements of entertainment should be built. If there is not much space, then you can install only the most interesting and important things for the child, for example, a swing and a sandbox, a slide and a sports corner, and so on.