A Great Summer Project for Families

How will your kids spend the summer?  Some will take part in enrichment programs, others will go away to sleep away camp, but the majority will stay home and quickly run out of things to do.

Rather than letting them watch TV and play video games all summer, why not get the kids involved in a project that will not only teach them valuable problem solving skills, but pride of ownership as well.  Make this the summer you help them build a backyard playset.  

Karl Jessen of New Jersey decided to do just that nearly ten years ago now when his boys were just 4 and 2-years-old.  "I had read numerous studies that said playgrounds are fundamental to a child's physical and mental development and wanted my kids to have a safe, secure place to play, but when I started shopping around, I was scared off by the hefty price tag, he says, "so I decided to build one myself."

But the task wasn't as he easy as he expected it to be.  He had to go one place for the wood, another for the play equipment, and yet another for the hardware he'd need to put the set together.  "Before long, I realized I had tripped onto a niche that needed to be filled and went into the playground building business," he says.

Jessen's company, Detailed Play Systems, went into business in 1998, and has been so popular, that thousands of playground building kits have been sold to date.  Each one provides parents with the Detailed Plans needed to put a quality set together, along with the hardware, swings, slides and safety equipment.  The only thing parents have to go out and get on their own is the wood - herein lies the savings and opportunity for consumers to control quality.

"Building a play set for your kids instead of buying one not only saves you money, it offers a great opportunity to bond," says Jessen.  When he built the original set, his older son decided what kinds of activities it would have, and learned what a ruler was for by helping to measure the holes for the hardware.  Once he started building, Jessen's younger son pitched in by bringing him the parts he could safely carry.

Eight years have passed since the original play set was built, and it has evolved over the years. Monkey bars have been added, so have tunnels, climbing walls, and a number of other items, all of which are available through Detailed Play Systems.  

To order a catalog, log on to www.detailedplay.com.  Shipping is available in the 48 contiguous United States.

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