Outdoor school playground equipment - sand and water

Designing Your Playground

• Before you start looking for playground plans, you need to decide what you want your backyard play area to include. Swings, slides and sandboxes are backyard classics; however, a play house, tree house, fort or rock climbing wall can all be nice additions to your play area. These can even be integrated into a larger play structure if desired. Watch your children play at the park and notice what they prefer. You will also need to consider the amount of space available, note any required surface preparation and plan for a suitable cushioned ground cover.

Free Playground Plans

• There are a number of free playground plans available at no cost. You can find plans for simple projects for your playground, like a teeter-totter or free plans for full activity centers with slides, fort areas and shaded sandboxes. Keep safety in mind, particularly if you are considering vintage woodworking plans. Modern safety standards can be much higher than those 20 or more years ago. Look for playground plans that rely on naturally weather resistant timbers or pressure treated lumber and galvanized hardware so your backyard play area will stand up to the elements.