Seeking Advice on a Wooden Playset

We got one a few months ago for our two year old son and he LOVES it. It's at Walmart and is $399. I am including the link to it. You can order it online or you can usually find it at this time of year in the stores.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8222492

As with all of the big wooden playsets, it does take some time to assemble and you'll want at least two people working on it (try to recruit another man to help your husband if possible!).

Good luck and have fun!

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Hi! There's a guy named Arthur Shares who builds wooden play sets and tree houses and things like that. He lives in chapel hill. Very nice guy. I have no idea of the cost. But he's been doing this a long long time.

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One answer SAMS CLUB! they have a really nice one for about $1500. It has a climbing wall, completely enclosed tunnel on top, sand box, slide, 2 swings and monkey bar! MY KIDS LOVE IT! They stay out there for hours entertaining on it! This one doesn't rot either and everything is there, no need to purchase anything seperate. easy instructions but will take 2 people to put it together in one weekend! Here is the link to see it!

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&i...

If you go to Home Depot they have were you can pick out a style set you want, and they will order the wood and parts for it. My husband did that for our daughter and put it all together with a neighbor. Check into it!

Good Luck!

I worked at Sam's Club and they have a nice playset for $999.99. We never heard anyone complaint about them. They are really sturdy. Get there quick cause they sell out fast.

If you haven't already purcchased thought I'd throw this out there. We have one from CedarWorks that we LOVE-no sealing, no chemicals, the cedar is soft, no splinters,etc- and you can always add to it later (reconfigure as the kids get older-playset, to clubhouse, etc), they keep your file to know what you have already, donate to kids charities, etc. Seems to be a "good citizen" company. Our daughters bday is coming up and we're considering "adding on" to ours. It is an investment, but one we've been thrilled with. And if you plan on having other kids they have a great "kid step" system for when they are younger (and unable to safely climb the ladders). It's big enough (and we didn't even get the huge one) that I can swing, too (comfortably) and the slide is FAST. We love it.

we have a 19 month old and we got the big set from Lowe's a few months ago, he LOVES it. it has a 10' slide, monkey bars (of course not yet ready for those), climbing wall which he can do, tunnel, picnic table and 3 swings.

We purchased our wooden playset at Lowe's. They had the best price when we were purchasing it. My husband put it together. Be sure to find out what you need to do to treat the wood every year so that it stays in good shape.

Hi M.,
One option that we have used for the last 18 years or so it an "A" frame built of heavy lumber. It was originally intended (and sold for) use with a porch swing. After we purchased it we bought a sling swing and a bungee disc swing on line and hung them with large bolts. My youngest is now 12 years old and we have replaced the sling swing with a trapeeze bar and have added a platform swing.

Obviously this set-up is not nearly elaborate as many commercially produced sets but it was MUCH cheaper. When the kids were young we had a Little Tykes slide/fort which provided the sliding and climbing fun and was still not as expensive as having a combination wooden set.

The nice part about this "homemade" set is that by switching the apparatus around, it has grown with the kids and they have enjoyed it many more years than they would have enjoyed even the most expensive swing set.

Hope this helps!

My wife showed me this and asked me to respond, there are several good brands out there for wooden train playsets, Brio is probably the best known. I suggest if money is not an issue, buy one that is already mounted on a table that means fewer parts to lose and he will be able to enjoy it longer. If you need specifics on where to look for one feel free to email me at ____@____.com Fleming
President Emeritus, Memphis Society of Model Railroaders

We love our Rainbow playset. We are on our 3rd Rainbow due to moving and the new owners using it as part of the negotiation (that's how popular they are).
The big issue you have is the age of your son. They are dangerous. If you buy one for his age, he will grow out of it quickly. My advice would be to buy a cheaper version, with just a swing and slide, probably not a rainbow, and save your money for when he's older and can do the monkey bars, trapeze, climb up the ladder, etc. without a lot of adult supervision. Little Tikes makes some really fun outdoor toys that would be great to keep your little one busy. We have a 9, 7 and 2 1/2 year old that all enjoy the playset. Once again, I really have to watch my youngest, however, my 9 and 7 yr old love it- thus it keeps even the older children happy and active. Bottom line, I would wait till next summer to really choose the best playset for your child. Good luck!

My boys are 12, 10, 7, and 4. We bought a Rainbow playset 10 years ago. It's gotten a LOT of use and we have had no problems with it. We even moved once and for a very small fee they came and disassembled it and then drove it to our new house and reassembled it --we stayed in the same city. They aren't cheap but they are well worth the money. We have an all wooden one and we clean and treat it every one to two years. Also, all of the swings, etc. are interchangeable. I have gone to their store several times over the years as my kids have grown and gotten different things for them (a rope swing, a glider, etc.) When you order it you can basically build your own set and then they bring it to your house and put it together. Check them out at www.rainbowplay.com

Hey, we had one of those wooden play sets. We put it up in 2003 when my daughter was an infant, she is almost 6 now. We put a baby swing up since she was too little to swing on the regular swings. It's still standing and in good shape. When we had my 2nd daughter my oldest daughter was able and big enough to swing on the regular swings and slide down the slide by herself. She also was able to climb up the steps into the little hut thing to sldie down the slide. It also had a built in sandbox which they both loved and little step like things on the front slant to walk up on like your climbing up a rock wall. We bought ours from Lowes, it's cheaper there than to get it through one of those wooden play set businesses at least it was for us, it depends on what all you want it to have with it. It is a very good investment, it was in my opinion anyway. I hope this helps. Good luck with everything. J.

After much research we just purchased a wooden play set for our 2 year old son. We decided on Disney's Brookview II from Home Depot. It's price was midrange and has been easy to assemble.
Good luck!

They are seemingly expensive, but worth EVERY penny. We paid about 8,500 for ours back in late '94/early '95 and we'd gotten 85,000 worth of playtime out of it when we sold the house in '03. We went with a large structure and used rubber mulch on the top 6 inches, which was great if kids tumbled.

We worked with a play structure specialist to determine what we wanted and our boys--and their friends--would enjoy. Our structure included 4 swings, a fire pole, large covered 'playhouse' with a real roof--fabric ones leak and rot, tire swing, several sets of stairs to reduce crowding/pushing when groups were playing, monkey bars, climbing wall and three slides.

Most people I know who built smaller structures were unhappy or felt they outgrew it rather quickly. When we sold that home the family came right out and told us that the play structure had been what had them choose our home over several others they looked at, so I saw that as a huge plus, too!

Good luck!

Hi M.
We got ours from BJ's. We love it! My son had just turned 4 and my daughter was one when we purchased it last fall. We got a baby swing from walmart (I think). It has a slide, climbing wall, ladder, 2 swings, trapeez, monkey bars and a top and bottom club house that they use alot. At first we didn't put up the picnic table but now they use it to hold there cups.
Good luck shopping! It wore us out.
T.

We have a WoodPlay and love it. They're always having specials in the newspaper if you check out Saturdays paper. Great value and my kids love it.

The big ones from sams club is nice. I'd suggest looking in your local paper or checking craigslist too. I found my daughter one in the local ad bullitin for free just haul away (their kids outgrew it) We pressure washed it and the wood/slide/swings look like new again. Wooden ones definatly hold up better then the metal ones plus you can add onto the wooden ones. Lowes also sells a swing set kit if daddy or someone is handy and can build stuff.

We purchased the big wooden play system from Sam's Club two summers ago and my kids (now 4 and 2) LOVE it! It has 3 swings, a rock wall, a little playhouse part, a slide, monkey bars, and a section that you can fill with sand for a sand box. We payed $999.99 for it. They have a new "updated" version of it still in stores and it's even better! It was kind of a pain to assemble and took us forever! But, it was well worth it and has definitely paid for itself with its ability to entertain my kids safely! Good luck to you!

We got ours at Home Depot and it was $1,100. It is very well made and is sealed so there are no splinters. You can pay to have it built if you want to but my husband had 3 friends over and it took them 7 hours, it is a lot but worth it.

Good luck!

My husband built our last year. It was a lot cheaper to do it this way. I think it saved us almost $400 and that was for the cheapest one. My cousin actually builds them and was going to give a deal, however it was still cheaper to build ourselves. I realize that this is a pretty hard task. My husband built it in a weekend, it was actually the weekend before I went in to have a C-section for my little boy. My 2 year old loves it.
It has held up very well and I think they actually hold up a lot longer than other playsets. I don't know if this helps or not, but they really are good playsets. I have pics of ours if you would like for me to send them to you.