Choosing Safe And Fun Slides For Kids

Slides for kids are a backyard staple, providing years of entertainment for your kids and their neighborhood friends. Choosing a model that is designed for safety as well as fun is a key consideration when shopping for a slide.

Backyard Playground Equipment
High-quality backyard playground equipment can last for up to 10 years, so it is important to consider the ages of the children who will be playing on the equipment. Younger children are often happy with a simple slide that they can climb up and slide down. But as their motor skills develop and they become more adept at play skills like climbing up and down ladders, running across bridges and swinging from ropes, you will want to add more play components. Often the slide is only the foundation of what may become a more elaborate backyard play system.

Popular additions to a backyard slide include swings, climbing ropes, rope bridges, castles with turrets and windows, fort rooms and play platforms. With each year, a new element can be added to match the changes in the child's skills and abilities. If new siblings come along to play on the slide, they too will enjoy the new additions over time.

Construction
Backyard slides are constructed from hard plastic, metal or even fiberglass. The most popular and least expensive slides are made of hard plastic, but they are not the most attractive, particularly after a few years of hard use. However, plastic slides are easy on tender legs on hot summer days, an advantage over metal slides that can burn legs.

Assembly
Before purchasing a slide, take time to think about assembly needs. Many simple backyard slides can be constructed right out of the box and may even include a basic wrench needed to tighten nuts and bolts. Other more complex backyard play systems, however, may require additional tools as well as an entire weekend to put together.

You may also want to consider building a backyard swing set and slide from scratch, and only purchase the slide and swing seats, installing them after completing the structure of the playset out of wood and securing it to the ground so that it can be played on safely.

When selecting a basic slide, consider it the first step in a backyard playset. As children get older, parents should plan on adding to the equipment to match the physical skills and abilities of their kids. Quality playsets can last upwards of 10 years, so it's important to invest in a slide that will endure over the years as new play components are added.