Is it worth it to get a jungle gym/swing set?

[RadioFanatic]

So, I want to get something for our backyard for my 2 year old that will grow with him over the years. We have a VERY small yard; however, so I'm worried about spending the money on something and then he doesn't use it a lot. I don't mind spending the money, I just hate waste.

I would love to hear others' experience on their kids' usage of them, and what seemed to be the best bet for the money.

Thanks!

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

We bought a swing set when we moved into our current house. At that time, my daughter was almost 5 and my son was 1-1/2. Now they are 11 and 8. My daughter still LOVES to swing! That's her way to unwind; she'll listen to her ipod, sing, and swing for a hour or so at a time! My son swings some, but not as much as my daughter. And both of them have enjoyed the small "fort" at the top of the slide over the years. It has been a club house, a tree house, a spaceship, etc...

 

[MamaJessie]

I got a cheapy metal one and the kids outgrew it quickly and it wasn't in good enough shape to leave up to wait for dd -2 so we trashed it and won't be getting another. We have a small yard and although the kids played with the swingset, they always liked playing other games more. So now we have a pool and they enjoy that much more.

 

[dreamalittledream]

we got a decent size, well made set when DD1 was 3. It was her "new Baby" gift when her sister was born. I actually wanted it to keep her occupied and contained in the back yard while I had a newborn. the swings adjusted and we got a baby swing. they both constantly play on it 5 years later.

 

[DebMcDonald]

We bought one of those expensive $2400 swingsets, at the time I was also doing daycare, so that helped with the decision, but even prior to that at our previous house we had a $700 one from Toys R Us and got our money's worth out of it. My kids are 6 and almost 9 and they still use it and have a great time.

 

[karenos]

We have a small lot, but for us the swingset was so worth it. I think the maker of ours was CreativePlaythings - it has three swing areas, a fort, a slide, rope ladder and rock wall. We have had it for over 6 years and both my children still play in it. My DD 11 and her friends like to play in the fort area and my DS (7) likes the rockwall. Just yesterday they covered the slide w/snow and went sled jumping - eeek!

karenos

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

We bought a swing set when we moved into our current house. At that time, my daughter was almost 5 and my son was 1-1/2. Now they are 11 and 8. My daughter still LOVES to swing! That's her way to unwind; she'll listen to her ipod, sing, and swing for a hour or so at a time! My son swings some, but not as much as my daughter. And both of them have enjoyed the small "fort" at the top of the slide over the years. It has been a club house, a tree house, a spaceship, etc...

That's funny, my 13yo does the same thing, she'll sit out there listening to her ipod swinging.

We have a wooden one that we bought in 2003 and the kids still use it. It's gone through some changes when we've moved, we've taken down the rope ladded, added a rock climbing wall, changed the slide, etc. , that's what I like about the wooden one, that we can change it easy enough. All 5 of the kids still play on it to some extent, but mostly the three youngest boys and DD.

 

[mom of princessx2]

We bought a decent wooden one last year and my kids were on it everyday. We have had quite a bit of snow here and they just look out the back window asking when they can go out and swing. However dd5 and her friend did play in it a bit after a snow. They called it their snow fort!

Absolutely the best purchase we could have made for them

 

[MrsPooh]

When we moved into our house my youngest (at the time) was 8. She wanted a swing but I didn't want to purchase something I thought she'd only use short time so we didn't get one.

Fast forward a few years and we had another little one. My youngest was a total climber - she was climbing before she could walk. When she was 18 months I purchased a used Little Tikes 8-in-1 climber with slides on craigslist. She loved it and it didn't take up too much space.

While she could have continued using it, by age 3 1/2 she was losing interest in it. I resold it on craigslist for more than my purchase price.

We were fortunate that a co-worker had a nice wooden swingset with slide that she wanted out of her yard. We got it for free if we moved it and her husband ended up helping us move it.

My youngest absolutely loves it and even my 15 yr old spend time out there swinging. It has two swings, a set of rings and a nice slide with a platform at the top.

Considering the hours my kids have spent on the swing set I think they are very worthwhile.

 

[sau418]

We bought one when DD#1 was 2 and have definitely got our money's worth out of it already. We still go to local parks for playdates and change of pace, but ours gets a great deal of use and is especially helpful for those times when we don't have time to go somewhere or when we have friends over.

We had many people tell us we were crazy to spend $3000, on it and that there were so many parks near us, but it has been WONDERFUL to have, because we can't just up and go to a park for 20 minutes of playing before dinner or baths or before we have to go anywhere...

 

[PA Princess]

We had a small yard in our last house...I mean small, the patio in our current home is now bigger than that yard.

We had two little boys close in age and they needed a swing set, so we designed and built our own based on what would fit in the yard. That set was used hard by our 2 boys, plus the two sisters that came along after, and also by several kids in the neighborhood.

 

[Anne34]

My kids loved out swing set. We just took it down last summer (kids now 16, 14 & 12) It was starting to get splintered after 12 years in the back yard. DD12 was bummed since she still likes to swing sometimes.

We paid about $300 at Menards for the kit (wooden swing set with 2 swings, trapeze, horse/glider thingy, tower --and we put a little tykes turtle sandbox under the tower!). My husband put it together & it was well worth the money. There are tons of styles at home improvement stores, Sams, Toys R us, just find something that fits your space.

 

[mjkacmom]

Best thing ever! We originally got a $700 wooden Toyrsus one, but they outgrew it quickly. We ended up spending about $3500 on a Rainbow model, 8 years ago, and it's in great shape, and the kids play on it still all of the time, even ds11 (almost 12).

 

[labdogs42]

We got one from BJ's -- wooden with two swings, a trapeeze, rock wall, slide and clubhouse. We got it when DS was about 18 months old and it is still going stonrg now that he is 5. I think we paid about $800 and it was totally worth it.

 

[TnTWalter]

totally worth it! Ours was about $750 many years ago and is still played with...awesome!

 

[Crystal0608]

My mama got a metal swingset when dd was a baby, added a baby swing and ds got use of it too. Last year when both were swinging, it would start rocking so mama upgraded them to a huge wooden playset. It has a slide, 2 swings, trapeze, sandbox, rock climbing wall, treehouse with telescope & wheel and a deck with steps on one side and a rope climbing thing on the other. It has held quite a few kids and is very sturdy. She got the kit from Lowes and bought the lumber locally. The kids are always on it when they visit her on the weekends, so I'd say it is well worth the $$ for a wooden one.

 

[3boymthr]

It totally depends upon your kid.

Oldest DS was never very into swings - but he loved using the sandbox. He could spend hours in that thing.

The other two on the other hand loved them. As a combined Christmas/Birthday present for the both of them my parents got them a set with swings, monkey bar, a fort, rockwall into the fort, slide and a sand box on the bottom. ETA - They paid $500 for the kit and my dad built it. It took him about a week in the evenings.

It was the best present. They don't use the swings anymore but the fort part still gets lots of use.

Check around as there are some sets that have a single swing and a fort with a slide, which are designed for use in a small yard. We thought about getting one of them as while our yard is large (1/2 acre with 1,000 acres of woods behind us) it's very sloped and we weren't sure a standard set would fit.

 

[Sandi]

We built a wooden kit set with two swings, a glider, slide, and deck when DD was about 2. We lived in the country and used that thing every day -- summer or winter. We sold the house when DD was in second grade and moved to a city where our backyard backs up to a neighborhood park with great playground equipment. DD is now 15 but remembers the fun we had at both places. Our original set continues to be used by the children of the family to whom we sold our old house -- it was actually a selling point!