When our kids are having fun on the playground, we want to know that they’re safe while they’re playing. For your child’s safety, it’s crucial that any playground equipment they use is designed with their safety in mind as well as their fun.
With decades of experience and a passion for our craft, Kidbuddie is well versed in making fun, safe playground equipment, with a few best practices we employ to ensure all our jungle gyms meet our stringent safety criteria. Here’s what makes a great jungle gym safe and durable for kids to play on.
Materials – A jungle gym must be made of stronger stuff!
Playground equipment is made of a wide variety of materials. South African jungle gyms are typically made of wood, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to see playground equipment made from branches and gum tree poles.
That is, you shouldn’t. Lower quality jungle gyms can come made from gum tree poles to cut costs, but these poles are weak, irregular, and bend easily. You can recognize them by their thinner, more organic shape, often still with bumps and notches from sawn-off branches.
A good quality jungle gym will be made from tumbled timber poles, strong and thick to guarantee stability. They’ll be sanded down till they’re completely smooth, to ensure no snags or splinters.
Design – Structural integrity meets fun!
Innovative playground design will be just as fun as it is safe and practical. Playgrounds should be designed to inspire the imagination and encourage active play time, often with interesting shapes and a wide variety of equipment.
This equipment should be designed carefully, and with common best practices. Look out for hair and finger traps, narrow spaces children can get their heads stuck in, and any uneven surfaces that can lead to scrapes. Swings and slides should point away from the jungle gym and other high traffic areas, and any bolts and rivets used should be embedded into the wood, rather than sitting on the surface. This avoids thin hair traps and the like.
Foundation – Lay the groundwork for a stable frame!
Needless to say, your playground equipment shouldn’t just sit on top of the hard ground. Even the heaviest jungle gym can sway or rock with enough children playing on it. Any quality jungle gym is going to be built into the ground for a solid foundation, ensuring structural integrity, safety, and durability.
Not only that, but rather than screwing poles together, your timber poles should be interlocking, with holes large enough for poles to slot into. This ensures they’ll never come lose no matter how often they’re played on. Any good jungle gym is slotted together, like a puzzle!
Manufacturing – Quality assurance with hands-on manufacturing.
By monitoring the manufacturing of jungle gyms, we can ensure that everything is made to standard. At Kidbuddie we make all our playground equipment ourselves, ensuring our timber poles are tumbled and varnished for a smooth, durable finish. We’ve designed our jungle gyms with all of the above best practices and techniques, all while incorporating fun and inviting designs to inspire excitement and imagination.
Check our playground equipment with Kidbuddie
Looking to invest in safe, fun playground equipment for your kids? Don’t opt for cheaper playground manufacturers when they use poor quality materials and unsafe manufacturing processes. At Kidbuddie we craft and design playgrounds that last, providing endless fun for kids while keeping them safe to do exactly that. Check out our range of playground equipment to see what exciting designs we have for you, from rockers to swings, climbing frames to obstacle courses, and more.
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