Start With Preliminary Questions When Building A Playground

By Author: Laura Dudley
Total Articles: 21
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Let’s say that you’ve become the community organizer who everyone is looking toward for guidance and leadership in building a new playground in your neighborhood. And let’s also say that you have little to no experience in the field of landscape design, architecture or any other relevant field that might give you some background on the kinds of things you ought to know to successfully deal with this kind of project.

You could likely use a few tips on the sorts of issues you should be thinking about so that you can attend your next recreation department meeting with some practical suggestions to get the ball rolling. Start with the preliminary questions, and once you answer them, you’ll get the ball rolling, which is of course your primary objective.

Ask yourself and your fellow planner what exactly is the budget for this project. You can’t move very far ahead if you don’t know how much money can be spent on the entire entity, so establish the money guidelines and you’ll be executing the first important phase of building your playground. Ask the committee if you’ll be expected to buy all of the equipment ...
... and pay for landscaping services all at once, or if you’ll be doing the purchasing in phases stretched out over a defined period of time.

You’re likely going to be in the market for outdoor commercial Parknpool playgrounds gear, so it’s important to realize that you’re going to need a large chunk of your budget up front to handle the cost of equipment. If you need to pay in phases, you’ll have to decide which equipment should be installed first due to other concerns such as weather, and make those purchases initially.

You’ve also got to determine how many kids your playground will be used by, and what the age range of the youngsters will be. You don’t want to purchase items that will be inappropriate for the primary group of kids who will be using the recreation area.

If the play space will be ParknPool school playgrounds you’ll have a much more clear sense of the age range of the children who will be using it, but you should also take into account that not all of the kids who want to play there will be pupils at the school. You don’t want to be too rigid in your plan because it’s entirely possible that parents will want to bring their toddlers there, and maybe some older children will want to use the space.

You’ll also want to consider whether or not you have children or parents with specific needs, and how you will provide accommodations for those needs. Once you determine the timeframe for purchase and installation, you’ll be well on your way toward getting your playground project off the ground and nearer to completion.