Anonymous wrote:Trigger: is it worth it to buy a backyard playset if we live within walking distance of a playground? I know it’s super-convenient to let 3yo DD loose in the fenced-in backyard while I’m cooking in the kitchen or something, but OTOH, the socialization of a playground is much better, right?

We have a small community playground a block away and a large school playground two blocks away and we just bought a backyard playset last summer (kids 2 and 4). We went with a more simple playset than we might have gotten had we not had other options, but we do find it gets a lot of use.

Anonymous wrote:Trigger: is it worth it to buy a backyard playset if we live within walking distance of a playground? I know it’s super-convenient to let 3yo DD loose in the fenced-in backyard while I’m cooking in the kitchen or something, but OTOH, the socialization of a playground is much better, right?

It’s great for having friends over. If you are oherwise hermits it might not matter but if you like to invite other families over to hang out, the playset makes a big difference.


To the OP:
My friend’s kid got a nasty broken elbow from the monkey bars so they make me nervous. I would at least make sure they are well-padded. Tube slides I dislike because 1) if there are multiple kids playing they can’t easily tell that someone is trying to come down while they climb up, leading to high-speed collisions. They are also harder to keep dry, since. you can just run a towel over it.

Trigger: is it worth it to buy a backyard playset if we live within walking distance of a playground? I know it’s super-convenient to let 3yo DD loose in the fenced-in backyard while I’m cooking in the kitchen or something, but OTOH, the socialization of a playground is much better, right?

Seriously consider a Lifetime playset. They wear so much better than the cedar ones. Both Costco and Sams Club carry a good selection online.

Friends have a tube slide and wish they'd gotten regular. Doesn't dry out as well, I think was their reason.

Anonymous wrote:We love our monkey bars. Had a barrier up to keep kids from getting on them at the play house side for a while, but kids know not to do that now unless they can (8, 3, 5). If we had room I would add the above monkey bar fort and tube slide to ours in a heartbeat - 8 year old is too big for our smaller slide at this point, but would still enjoy the taller tube slide. I also wish we had more climbing stuff (wall or something).

Everything we have gets used regularly. Kids love it all. Play house has had a few spiderwebs, but nothing major.

This is good to know, thank you! The one we are eyeing on Costco.com has a tube slide, regular slide, climbing wall but no monkeybars - which my older kid really wants. Gah. We have a $1500 budget so getting everything is impossible.

We love our monkey bars. Had a barrier up to keep kids from getting on them at the play house side for a while, but kids know not to do that now unless they can (8, 3, 5). If we had room I would add the above monkey bar fort and tube slide to ours in a heartbeat - 8 year old is too big for our smaller slide at this point, but would still enjoy the taller tube slide. I also wish we had more climbing stuff (wall or something).

Everything we have gets used regularly. Kids love it all. Play house has had a few spiderwebs, but nothing major.

Are there any features you would do without or wish you had included? Example, some options have a tube slide and some have monkey bars. I’m wondering if the ones with little play houses built in quickly collect spiderwebs? Are the monkey bars too dangerous? There are just too many options and I’m not quite sure what to choose! I have 3 and 5 year old boys.