With a public playground just a few hundred meters down the road we didn't feel like creating a complete playground in our own garden. None the less we wanted to have some elements which would help our kids in their development.
It has really been a project that has grown along with our kids. We didn't add all in one go. We started with a sand box and once they grew older we added elements appropriate to their age.
So, first of all we made a sand box for the kids. We bought a kit which could be closed off with a cover and the cover could also be used as bench when opened. The original box was going to be about 20cm high.
Being toddlers I didn't see the kids opening the cover themselves and I really couldn't imagine them sitting on the benches when playing in the sand. 20cm also seemed awfully low... Where were they going to dig deep holes when they would be a little older?
So I modified the project. I decided to dig a deeper hole and to line the sand box underground with concrete curbstones. I placed the curbstones with their edges just under ground level so they would not be visible from outside the sand box. On top of them I installed a modified wooden sand box. I simply screwed the slats into four short 6x6cm poles. I didn't install the cover and used these slats instead to make the sides higher and the boards on top of them stronger so adults would be able to sit more easily on them.
The total depth of the sand box is about 45cm. Enough space for digging and tunneling! Before filling it up with sand we placed a geotextile on the bottom so the kids would not be tempted to dig even deeper! We also put some second hand dinosaurs on the bottom and covered them up with sand. For a few years we were waiting for when the kids would dig them up. The joy on their face when they accidentally stumbled upon the first one was unforgettable.
So after a few years of using our sandbox here is some advice we can give:
Make it deep enough!
Put enough sand in it from the beginning. The sand will 'disappear' over time. The sand gets used to make little cakes etc., spilled over the edges, transported around the garden etc.
Kids sit in the sand when playing, not on benches nor on the sand box' edges. Adults, on the contrary, prefer sitting on the edges. So better make the edges a little higher and stronger.
About a year later we bought a little wooden house to add to the sand box. The house isn't of the highest quality but it will surely suffice for a few years. I didn't want to put the house like that on the grass so I first made a terrace of 4x6cm beams which are resting on some bricks. Now everything is nicely isolated from the humid ground.
The house was delivered in a wooden crate which I decided to turn into a mud kitchen. I bought a second hand sink with tap and with some leftover wood I was able to make something nice. I connected the cold and hot water tubes of the water tap together to a quick connect adaptor so we are able to easily supply the kitchen with water from a garden hose.
The next spring, the kids had become a little more adventurous and we added a nest swing to the setup.
I simply attached the swing with some nylon ropes to an overhanging limb of the only tree in our garden. The limb isn't too thick so it moves about when the kids are on the swing but that doesn't seem to bother them.
About the same time we also installed a climbing rope off another limb. The rope is about 3m long.
At about the appropriate height I fixed it around the limb just behind a branch with the supplied connectors.
For the ground connection I drilled a 20mm hole in a 50cm pointed pole through which I fixed the climbing rope. I dug a shallow hole just below the upper fixation point and with a sledge hammer I drove the pole into the ground to the point when the climbing rope was sufficiently tight. As planned, the pole ended up below ground level and I covered up the hole again with the dug out grass. No pole sticks out above the grass so no danger for the kids if they would fall.
About the same period I came across an idea to make a climbing tower out of old tires. I autumn I had cut off some branches of our tree to avoid it becoming too big. As they were quite straight, I had kept them and they looked like the right size for this project.
I used M6 flat head bolts to fix the tires to the poles. As the tires are strong, only a little washer on the inside was sufficient in order to tighten the nut properly. In order to give the tower some lateral stability, I decided to fix each tire with 2 bolts. On the inside of the tires, the bolts stick out just a little, the kids don't seem to be bothered by them. One could consider putting some cap nuts on them though.
I assembled the tower while it was lying on the ground and once finished, with some help, I was able to put it in place in some 50cm deep holes.
I used R16 tires for this tower and spaced them about 40cm apart. Our kids are 6 years now and they use it regularly. I think the size is about right. I had collected 4 tires but I only used 3 for the tower. The kids use the 4th tire in their various games now.
The tower is strong enough for kids to do whatever they want but I wouldn't advise adults to go crazy on it, the poles are a little too weak for that. Also worth noting that I used untreated wood for the poles. I am quite sure they will survive for the couple of years that the kids are going to use the tower but they definitely don't have the life span of impregnated wood. For good measure I am checking a few times a year if the tower is still strong enough.
The last idea which I would like to share is about another challenge we created for the kids. We simply hung some different objects at various heights in the tree. It is great to see the kids challenge each other to jump and try and reach a higher one. It also stimulates their creativity and problem solving skills when they try different objects as a stool to reach them.
I greatly appreciate how we were able to use the single tree in our garden to create various challenges for our kids. It provides us with cheap fixation points for a swing, a climbing rope, a clothes line and other objects. It also supplied free wood for the climbing tower. And above all, it provides a lot of shade during hot summer months! The kids just love playing under it.
When I see the joy our tree provides us, it pains me to see that so many building plots are first completely cleared before the housebuilding starts. In my opinion, if any trees are present on a building plot, it would be best to try and include them in the landscaping and do your best to make them survive the construction time. If not, new ones take a lot of years to grow and will only benefit future generations.
Although we spend some money in purchasing the sand box and house, we were able to realize the mud kitchen, climbing tower, climbing rope and swing almost for free. With a little creativity one can create some great things for kids while needing but little money. They really don't need a lot to be happy.