More Compact Playground Swing Sets

Parents now watching their children cavort on playground swing sets may shake their heads, recalling what used to be. They'll undoubtedly remember two rather different types of play areas they grew up with.

The kids swing set in the backyard might have been more lightweight and perhaps a bit shaky, while the set in the playground was much sturdier and was comprised of a metal slide, swings and perhaps monkey bars. Now, of course, the two types of structures have grown very similar.

What has happened in recent years is that wooden swing sets have come to dominate the form. You might not think of these sets as being as durable or strong as the old metal versions, but in most respects, those made of properly treated wood compare quite favorably.

The new playground swing sets have taken many of the elements of the former metal sets, such as swing seats and even slides, and have replaced them with strong resin or plastic components.

The main reason for most changes to swing sets on playgrounds in the past decade or so appears to be safety. In order to prevent injuries, many swing set plans now take unyielding surfaces out of the picture, making many of the components of resin or plastic instead.

The hope is that children will be safer on playground swing sets without even realizing it. All they will know is that they're having the time of their lives as they play.

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Country Abuzz With A Swing Set

When Barack and Michelle Obama installed a swing set for their daughters at the White House, it set the country abuzz, and prompted a lot of people to reconsider what they thought was most important for their families.

What the nation saw, watching the footage of the two young girls racing across the south lawn toward this play set, and realizing that the new First Family were trying to give them as normal a life as possible in their new circumstances, said a lot about what could be accomplished if simple family life was kept paramount.

The play set in the park has rather overshadowed the ones in the backyard for a while, making play time something more involved than just sending the kids out into the yard and watching them through the kitchen window.

But the swing set out behind the house has always remained in the background, waiting for the rebirth of both parents' and kids' imaginations, and the chance to offer a simpler form of play that involves both body and mind.

The swing set kit chosen for the Obama children is like many of the new incarnations of this kind of play assembly. The girls and their friends can climb a wall up into a fort and peek out through "bubbles" in the wall, play on the ropes, and of course use the traditional swings as well.

Attached to the swing set is a picnic table, which again demonstrates Barack and Michelle Obama's commitment to a healthy family environment. This set speaks to parental involvement and safe play; an example the nation can take to heart.

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Adding Extra Play Areas With Swing Set Accessories

This isn't your father's swing set any more. That is, the most recent incarnation of the outdoor swing set has a lot more going for it than the original metal tripods of the mid-20th century.

The very basic swing sets still exist, but are hardly ever seen any longer, given that there are so many extra swing set accessories that can be added. If you're ready and able to pay for these extras, then there are an almost infinite number of permutations you can create for a backyard set.

Leaving the mechanical fastenings aside, the real joy of swing set accessories comes when you begin to add the extra play areas. You can create a swing and slide combination at one end, and balance it on the other end with a fort reached by a ladder or climbing wall.

Throw in a wall of ropes between the two, add a punching bag or a hanging tire, and you've only just started to create a play set that still has room for further additions. If you have a mind to do it, you can make this a swing complex, rather than a mere swing set.

This is the great feature of the newest generation of swing sets; you can expand them beyond the simple "swing set" category and turn them into virtual swing sets and gyms.

Make them varied and interesting, and your kids will hardly realize they're exercising and getting into good physical shape. The basic swings have always been excellent exercise, but it's now the swing set accessories that raise them to another level entirely.

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Entertaining Your Children With Swing Sets And Many Accessories

One might use the phrase, "This isn't your father's swing set," to describe the newest incarnation of both swing sets and their accompanying accessories, because these are certainly nothing like what you or your own parents played on as kids.

The old outdoor swing sets with the metal frames and the basic swings and slide have for the most part left the scene, except in a few remaining playgrounds. What has taken over the field is a virtual wonderland of accessories to augment the original activities of swinging and sliding.

You might think of the newer type of set as a sort of "inadvertent gym" for your children. The wood swing set in particular now comes with so many accessories, like the climbing wall or the ropes, a wooden type of monkey bars or even a trapeze, that the kids almost can hardly help but get more than enough exercise as they play.

These swing sets and all the extras that come with them provide both physical and mental stimulation.

Swing sets and all their new, innovative accessories have taken play time far beyond the old, more passive days of just sitting on a swing and then sliding down a slide. These sets are now physical activity centers that have made exercise a fun experience.

How does that old saying go? "Don't tell them it's good for them." As they play and climb all over their outdoor swing set, your kids will hardly even realize they are getting a good workout while they're having a great time.


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Small Range Of Choices For Toddler Swing Sets

Most swing set manufacturers see toddler swing sets as a very small subset of their larger product line. In fact, not many companies even make separate swing sets for toddlers.

Perhaps they feel that since it's inevitable that toddlers will quickly outgrow this stage, they would do better to concentrate on the regular children's swing set. Whatever the reason, if you're looking for a set of swings for your toddler, you may not have as wide a range of choices as you'd like.

Some companies don't even really make toddler swing sets, preferring instead just to add swings for toddlers as extra optional items that can be added to their larger sets if a parent needs them.

Play Nation, for example, offers a bucket seat of strong plastic as one of its add-ons, while Rainbow Play Systems carries both a full and a half bucket as kids swing set accessories on its larger wooden swing structures. Neither company makes an actual full toddler set.

Is it worth it for you to investigate toddler swing sets, or should you just spring directly to one of the larger versions? If you're getting swings for you kids, it's likely that you'll soon be buying one of the regular sets anyway.

Keep in mind also that the smaller child's swing set won't accommodate as many children either. So it's up to you to decide whether you'll feel better having your toddler use a size-appropriate swing set first, or whether you're ready to be a little bit more vigilant with a larger set for a year or two.

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A Small Metal Slide As A Swing Set Accessory

Forget any other kind of swing set accessories. Whether you're talking playground or backyard sets, among all the extras available there is one type of swing set accessory that you almost can't do without; the trusty slide.

Kids enjoy this element of play structures just as much as they do the swings themselves. The two have worked together for so long that it's very rare to find a swing set without a slide right alongside it.

Even so, the days of the old metal slide appear mostly to be over. Wooden swing sets all add sturdy resin or plastic slides to their frames, and even among metal sets, you'll rarely ever find that the slide is made of metal as well.

Kettler, a company from Germany, provides a small metal slide as a swing set accessory for some of their swing sets, but even it has a resin platform and base.

One of the advantages of the newer type of slide is an extra safety factor. With the different, more rounded shape of this swing set accessory, not to mention that it's made of materials that don't experience the same temperature extremes that metal did in different seasons, children are now much less likely to suffer injuries.

This means that they can enjoy their playground or backyard swing set with the same enthusiasm that they always have, while their parents breathe just a little easier on the sidelines.

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Better Options For Backyard Swing Sets

When you start looking at all the available swing sets for your yard, you could actually find yourself becoming discouraged by the immense range of options. These sets are made predominantly of three types of materials, namely wood, metal and plastic, and there are many choices within each of those types.

But once you decide what you're looking for in terms of durability and function, you'll be able to discover the play set that best answer those needs, and the available accessories make it possible to personalize one for your own family.

You may have a metal swing set in mind, thinking of the ones you used to see in playgrounds and in the backyards of your youth. There aren't as many of those around any more, though you can still see them in some playgrounds.

A few companies do offer them for residential settings, and with some modular capability, and they are undoubtedly very durable. But you will certainly have to look harder if you're thinking of exploring swing sets of metal.

As you research the catalogs of swing sets and narrow down your options, you'll undoubtedly encounter the fact that the ones made of wood currently offer the widest range of models and accessories.

However, with some care and exploration you can also find sturdy and reliable metal or plastic sets as well. You will certainly discover a residential, kids swing set that will serve all the needs that you and your kids have, for both fun and safety.

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Watch Your Children Play On A Wooden Swing Set

It used to be that metal swing sets were the standard for kids' play areas, both on the playground and in the backyard, but the wooden swing set seems almost to have taken over the field in recent years.

It's not that metal sets have become extinct; they're still available too. But it's the wooden versions of these activity centers that you now see most often, especially in playgrounds. One might wonder why this change occurred, and what the advantages might be that have prompted the change.

Make no mistake; the metal swing set has certainly stood the test of time. If it's made of galvanized steel, it will be rust-resistant, but no matter how they were designed, all of these metal sets have served the public well over the years.

But with an eye to adding a bit more security, people began switching to the specially treated wooden swing set and are gradually replacing those made of the harder material with less give.

Apart from safety concerns, though, the "natural look" may be another reason why the wooden swing set has gained a lot of ground in recent years.

Not only is this play structure made of natural materials, a big plus in a more environmentally conscious world, but the wood can also be stained to match other elements in the yard, like the fence, patio table and chairs, etc.

Combine this with the vast number of kids swing set accessories, and this newer type of swing set can be thoroughly customized. Safe, durable, and fitted to your own decor and style; the swing sets made of wood offer a lot of advantages.

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Attracting Wild Birds To Your Yard With Wild Bird Feeders

Wild bird feeders are a special tool used by bird watchers who like watching wild birds coming and spending time in the yard. There are a variety of bird feeders, including window and hummingbird feeders.

If you want to make your yard attractive to birds, then you can place bird feeders and bird baths in strategic locations around your yard. You may place a window bird feeder and watch birds flying towards your window to feed from the bird feeder. All you need is a tinted window and the birds will not know you are watching them.

You may notice squirrels climbing up to the wild bird feeders and eating the seed, leaving little for the wild birds to eat. You can look to see where the squirrels are coming from and if you notice they are coming from the same direction in the yard, you can place squirrel feeders on the way and they will forget all about the wild bird feeders.

Place the squirrel feeders as far away from the bird feeders as possible, to ensure the squirrels notice the squirrel feeders before they are attracted by the bird feeders.

There are other attractions you can make for your wild birds, so they can spend more time in you yard. You can place one or two bird baths for the birds to splash about in the heat of summertime.

If you like bird watching, then you can make your yard attractive to birds by placing bird baths and wild bird feeders.

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Propane Barbeque With Your Friends In Your Backyard

Propane barbeque is a portable barbeque system, with the propane gas stored in a gas tank. The gas tank is then connected to the griller, turn on the griller and start cooking. You can cook your usual range of choice cuts of meat, fish and sausages. Just make sure you have lettuce, tomato and onions for your salads and plenty of barbeque sauce for the cooked meat.

In the summertime, you want your friends to be out in the yard, eating your food and remembering old times. Talking about friends you knew in school and wonder whatever happened to? These are the times when you find out, one friend you have not seen for years died in a car crash several years ago. You knew there was a good reason why you lost touch!

Here is an example of quick preparation for a propane barbeque. You may have just got the call that a number of your friends are coming and you have nothing to feed them. There is lots of beer, but you do not want to be irresponsible and make your friends drunk with too much beer.

You can go to your favourite food store, and buy some lamb cuts, made for easy grilling on the barbeque, adding a couple of bottles of barbeque sauce, some lettuce, tomato, onions and bread rolls and you are set to feed your friends. You may even buy some soda drinks and a couple of bottles of wine to make it easier to down the food.

By the time your friends arrive, you may have some lamb cooked and ready to eat. Just a delicious surprise, on the patio with your friends. These days, it is so easy to prepare a meal for a group of friends and have a great time with delicious food.

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Wooden Swing Sets Provide Fun For Your Children

Wooden swing sets are great for entertaining the little ones and are really attractive as well. Wooden swing sets are the best swing sets to invest in as they do not look as childish as some of the other swing sets. This means that your kids will not out-grow their swing set as quickly.

They are safer and usually last longer than metal ones, but as a result wooden sets generally cost more. Northern white cedar is the premium material for swing sets because it lasts longer than most other woods and metals.

Wooden swing sets are sturdier than most metal swing sets, supporting around 50 pounds more per child than typical outdoor play sets. Wooden outdoor swing sets also tend to last longer than metal and plastic swing sets, which start to show signs of wear and tear within a few years.

Wooden climbing frames and wooden swing sets made from square cut timbers will contain less heartwood than the round timbers. This will reduce instances of cracking and splitting when compared with round wood but cracks and splits will still occur.

I love the way the entire landscape looks attractive and uniform. I also love wathcing the kids have a great time playing right at home.

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