See our new website at www.playgroundideas.org for designs, resources and more!
A – Yes, we have had people with no building experience, children, over 70’s and people with disabilities helping to build our playgrounds. The hardest part is making the design and knowing how to construct it in a safe way. That is why we are here to help. The rest is just motivation and commitment.
Q – I can’t draw or design a playground!
A – No problem. We have plans here you can copy or change to suit your space. We have pictures and designs of lots of different elements that you can slot into your plan anywhere! It can be as simple or difficult as your teams skills and budget allow. Right now we are designing a program to help you do a basic design right here on our site. Email us with you ideas to get started!
Q – Isn’t it expensive?
A- No, We build playgrounds for very little cost In fact our playgrounds mostly work out to 10-15 times less than a commercial playground. Many of our items are made from recycled materials and cost nothing. Basically the less money you have the more creative you need to be. Imagination is free!
The cost depends on so many factors including the country you are in, the material cost and type, the size of the space you want to fill, how much skill and time you have and how much you need to employ others to help. but, as a guide you can build a pretty major playground In Thailand for $US2000 – $US5000 like the ones you see in our gallery here.
If you are only wanting low elements for nursery kindergarten kids these can be very low cost and last a long time if treated well
If you are wanting to build a super low cost playground we have many free elements that can be built from cartires some bolts and a little sweat. See the tire section in our photo albums.
Q – When car tires fill up with water, aren’t they a malaria mosquito risk?
A – Cutting or drilling holes in the bottom of tires stops them from filling with water.
A – We have searched high and low to find places to get funding for playgrounds. Try not to get too stuck on this. Go Play is here to help you build a playground that needs very little funding that is truly owned by the community and not just trucked in by a third party. Some of the people we have helped have started a facebook group for their project and raised what they needed in a matter of weeks other had enough from selling sausages over a few weekends.
Q – Where do I find the tools?
A – We build our playgrounds with simple, easily accessible and cheap tools such as hammers, hands saws, a drill and a local welder. other tools are a bonus but are not necessary. See our tool list for an example.
Q – How long does it take?
A – Our first playground took 8 weeks from design conception to completion of all the building with lots of volunteers and helpers. We are now down to about 2 – 2.5 weeks.
Q – Is a DIY playground dangerous for children?
A – No, Not if its built right by someone who knows the hidden risks in a playground design. We are here to offer our experience and the best advice from the world leaders of playground safety to make sure you know what to do. Generally, Safety issues are common sense i.e. guardrails, smooth edges, soft ground covering. There are, however some less obvious dangers in playground designs that need to be avoided. We offer basic advice on the risks in ‘plain english’ and direct you to where you can find more information.
Q – Everyone says that the floor of a playground needs to be ’soft’ to stop children getting hurt if they fall, but rubber matting is really expensive so how do you reduce this fall risk?
A – Every place we have built at so far has had some form of material that can be used for this purpose. In Thailand we used sand but we have had suggestions of many other materials like rice husks or coconut husks and there is always the standard pine bark, wood chips and mulch if these are available to you. In countries with a heavy rainy season you need a product that wont quicky rot when wet for months on end.
Q – What does a playground need to be run in a safe way?
A – After a playground is built it will need maintenance for its upkeep. A few simple rules for the people who will look after it will help keep children safe. We have info sheets to help with this organisation.
Q – Not all your plans and diagrams have exact measurements, so how do I build them?
A – We have developed all of our plans based on what materials are local and readily available. We encourage you to do the same. The reason we haven’t made things exact is that standard sizes in one country are not standard in another. It is better to work with local sizes of available materials, this causes less wastage and is better for the environment. We do offer advice on safe platform heights etc to make sure things are built safe.
Q – Can a playground be environmentally friendly?
A – Go Play takes the environmental aspect of its work seriously, we use sustainable timber, we reuse materials as much as possible and we reduce concrete use and we hope you can follow our example.
Q – What styles of playgrounds can I build?
A – Initially we worked on designing standard style playgrounds that anyone could afford. We now have info on all types of playgrounds, depending on the age of the students, the site, and the building styles for the area. We have playgrounds to get young people swinging around like Tarzan in an adventure playground, brushing through the forest of a natural playground, or zipping round a vintage playground. have a look through our links page to find places that offer vintage and other more unusual designs.
