Homemade Playset

    My youngest son is about to turn seven.  Buying most seven year old boys a gift is not a challenge.  But I was really struggling with this one.  He never knows what he wants and changes his mind daily.  He is a very typical boy who loves things with motors, flashing lights, and things that blow up.  Since school gets out in a few days I wanted him to have something that would encourage him to play outdoors.  It is an understatement to say he is an active child.  Parents of active children look at me and say, "Is he always that busy?"  The answer is yes, always.

    Not sure what to get, I posted on Facebook for ideas.  My fabulous SIL suggested a fort.  Now we already have a "tree house" out in the woods.  But this was a great suggestion.  Putting something closer to the house would encourage him to use it more often.  At the same time my son said, "I want a real swing."  After figuring out he meant a swing he could sit on that was not a tire swing (we put that up recently), I spent some time thinking and planning.  A tree house fort seemed a good solution.

    Knowing this was not a one person job I asked my handy husband if he would have time to help out and if he thought we would have time to accomplish it.  This was Thursday.  My son's birthday was the next Wednesday and we were going to have a house full of company over the weekend.  Sure he says, he has Tuesday off and we can get it done in one day.  We went to the store, priced lumber, looked at kids playsets (so I could steal their designs), and made a plan.

    On Friday hubby came home and said he had to work the next Tuesday.  The tree house fort was out of the question.  I couldn't do it by myself.  It's physically impossible to hold beams over ones head and bolt them in at the same time; at least for me.  Maybe someone smarter can figure it out.

    Over the weekend I looked out onto my second story deck and saw my son on the OUTSIDE of the railing.  He had climbed up on the rail, over it, and was walking back and forth along the rail.  After a major freak out I knew I had to give that monkey some place to climb.  But come Monday morning I had no better ideas.

    So I wandered around the yard thinking and came up with this:

There is a swing in the center, a tire suspended in the trees to climb on, a rope ladder (left) that takes you up the tree to a PVC tube you can drop golf balls through.  I also found the steering wheel from the playset at our old house and mounted that to the tree.

    Most of the things I pulled from the scrap piles around the house.  With the scraps, 4 hours and $32 in hardware and ropes I have a great place for my son to play.

    Everything is painted with left over grey hammered spray paint to help it blend in with the trees.  I did not use pressure treated wood because all of the wood is scrap.  Put plain wood painted and maintained will last longer than my son will have interest in this.

    The rope ladder goes to a PVC tube where golf balls can be dropped in to come out the other side.  I watched this video on ladder lashing http://www.itstactical.com/skillcom/knots/lashings/easily-create-your-own-rope-ladder-with-a-ladder-lashing/, and used 2x2s I had left over from another project.  They are cut 15" long.  I used heavy duty eye hooks screwed into the tree and tent stakes that I had lying around to tack it to the ground.

    An old piece of PVC found in the shed was the perfect length to go across and come out the other side.  I think it had been used for a rain barrel, but it is perfect for a "plinko" game.  I didn't have to cut or adjust it at all.  I used the pieces that make the roll for barbed wire to strap both ends to the tree.  And in between we put a support piece of wood.  At the entrance we have a few nails to hold it up.   After it was installed I painted it with the same gray hammered paint that is good for metal or plastic.  Adding this is one thing I screwed up originally.  I didn't send a ball down the tube to be sure it was clear and it wasn't.  So I had to take it down again and run water through it to clear out the mud.  Here is the entrance hidden in the trees:

and here is the exit over the steering wheel, but the angle drops the ball next to the other side of the tree:

    The swing header is made of 2 2x4s glued together and attached to the tree with lag screws.  Eye bolts were put through the 2x4s with washers and double nuts on the top.  Connecting links with screw thread were put through the eye hooks and rope was tied to it.

  The seat of the swing is made from scrap log cabin siding sanded and coated with polyurethane.  Holes were drilled in both ends and I followed these instructions for tying the swing:  http://www.animatedknots.com/swing/.  I haven't finished cutting the end of the rope because I want to adjust it to my son's height once he sees it.

    The steering wheel came from the playset at our other house and we used a lag screw to attach it to the tree.  An old tire and rope added an extra place for my son to climb.  It moves a bit when you get on it, but he should be able to go through it and get up on top with no problem. 

    Overall this was a simple project, but there were no specific instructions so I would rate it an intermediate DIY project.  The rope I bought was too stretchy and I had to readjust several times after I put weight on it.  I bought this rope because I thought the red and yellow would be appealing to my son, but in the future I would buy a different type.

    And last thing to note, my son hasn't seen this yet.  I put it up on Monday and did some tweaking to it this morning, Tuesday.  He came and went from school and hasn't noticed it.  I did take the swing down to make it a little less obvious.  His birthday is Wednesday and the plan is to blind fold him and walk him out there.  I really don't think he is going to notice it before then.