What to build for a mad 5 year old?

warehouse

Hi all,

My 5 year old boy climbs everything, and I mean everything. He's a well behaved little chap, no problems at home or school or anything like that, but just loves to climb, (I do realise I might be describing every 5 year old boy out there).

Anyway, I'm quite handy with wood and we have a fairly big garden so I'm thinking of constructing something that he could play on and climb up and down all day.

Any ideas folks??

azana_2

If you build eg a tree house I think you have to get planning permission.......though our friends did with success - sure there is plenty of info about.

We find our kids spend hours on their TP climbing frame - if you want to do the DIY thing there are plenty of kits about where you have to do a fair bit of the construction yourself - could fit the bill? I guess if you were handy enough you could build one to your own plan - you can buy just the slide bit or monkey bars, ropes etc but we bought one to construct (wood) as we worried about safety.

ormus

ormus

whats your budget?
and time?

Mrs_Arcanum

IIRC The height limit is just under 3 meters before planning permission is needed. Most planning departments will give free advice on what is allowed. There are some fabulous play structures out there so have a look & see what you could manage for yourself. Making sure there is plenty of soft stuff to land on underneath (just in case).

ormus

warehouse

Wow, thanks for the replies so far! Some great ideas already.

Our garden has about 30 feet flat, then gently slopes down for anoth 100 feet. The bottom of the garden must be about 30 feet lower than the house. I presume if I build at the bottom of the garden I won't ever get near the bottom of the house, so height isn't an issue?

Lorian

Solid frame and monkey bars would be a good start. Obviously mke them low but plan to extend as he gets older. If you plan too much at the start you wont start building.

diable

Tie some rope to his arms and legs and peg him down at the far end of the garden, 1: it will be cheaper and 2: you won't hear the screams ;o))))) I am joking of coarse, or am I .............

SpikyHedgehog

Lorian wrote: »

Solid frame and monkey bars would be a good start. Obviously mke them low but plan to extend as he gets older. If you plan too much at the start you wont start building.

The other thing to think about is would he prefer something like the frame & monkey bards that can be... A pirate ship, a medieval castle, a tank, a zoo, an aeroplane etc etc etc, or a structure that you have decided will be a fort/pirate ship etc & will stay as that?

Mojisola

warehouse wrote: »

My 5 year old boy climbs everything, and I mean everything. He's a well behaved little chap, no problems at home or school or anything like that, but just loves to climb

My friend had one of those. She went up to the bedroom one day and a little face appeared at the window. He'd climbed up the trellis on the side of the house!

We made a fort with a rope ladder. Our boys had years of fun from it. They still used it when they were teenagers as a private place to get away from everyone else.