If you are trying to build a kiddie playground for your preschool or child care centre, consider creating it out of recycled tyres. Multiple studies indicate old tyres are safe for children to play near, and building a playground out of free discarded tyres can be both fun and affordable.
Contact all of the supporters of your preschool or child care centre, urge them to donate old tyres and then, create these fun ideas:
1. Climbing Frame
What kid doesn't like to climb? Luckily, you can satisfy that urge with a pile of old tyres. Grab some fun spray paint colours, and paint your tyres a range of bright colours. Then, stack them into a pyramid shape.
Secure your mountain with a strong epoxy designed for use with rubber. If you like, create "paths" up the mountain using monochromatic car tyres, or alternate different colours to entice the kids into creating their own games.
2. Rubber Mulch
Rubber tyre mulch has been a popular feature of modern playgrounds for years, and with the right equipment, you can make your own rubber tyre mulch. To mulch the tyres, you need to hire an industrial strength mulcher or chipper. Make sure the machine is capable of working with rubber before you hire it.
Once you have the mulcher, simply feed the tyres into the machine, and wait for the mulch to be created. If you want coloured mulch, paint the tyres before feeding them into the machine. Then, coat the ground with tyre mulch – this soft substance is ideal to put beneath your climbing frame to cushion falls and tumbles.
3. Caterpillar Crawling Tubes
Just as kids love to climb, they also like to crouch and crawl. Creating a caterpillar crawling tube is simple with tyres. Simply, line the tyres up so they create a tube along the ground. Then, paint them to look like a caterpillar. Add eyes and antennas to the front tube, and your creation is ready to enjoy.
4. Tiny Teeter-Totters
Teeter-totters provide kids with old fashioned fun, but unfortunately, the drawback of the conventional teeter-totter or see-saw is that it requires two people to use. With a tiny teeter-totter, however, only one kid is required.
To create a small see-saw for solo play, cut a tyre in half along its diameter. Create a seat with a thin plank cut slightly longer than the diameter of the tyre. Then, attach two small pieces of wood along the bottom side of each edge of your seat – these small pieces of wood should run parallel to the edges of the plank you are using for your seat.
Ideally, you should use 19mm x 19mm pieces of wood for your sides, and they should be positioned so that when you set the seat on the cut side of the tyre that these small pieces of wood fit snugly inside of the tyre.
Once the wood is in the tyre, run a bolt through the tyre and into the side pieces of wood. That should secure your seat. Then, paint everything and enjoy.
5. Individual Gardening Plots
Young children love to garden, and getting them involved in this healthy hobby when they are young is a great way to get them interested for the rest of their lives. To make it fun, use tyres to give kids their own individual plots.
If you have ground space, simply pop a bunch of tyres on the ground, pour some potting soil in them, and assign a tyre to each kid. If you don't have lots of extra ground space, take this project vertical.
Install a fence or use the side of your building. If you like, you can even do this project inside. Then, hang the tyres on the wall or fence. Use hooks or long nails to secure them. Fill the bottom of the tyres with a bit of soil, and let your students plant what they wish in these hanging planters.
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6 May 2015
Hello and welcome to my blog. My name is Holden, and I have been a lover of driving for as long as I can remember. I have taken driving trips across deserts and icy tundras. I have also raced on pristine roadways, and I have explored small dirt tracks through the mountains. The key to success, I have learned, is choosing the right tyres, making sure your wheels are in top shape and fixing your suspension. I love to write so I decided to create a blog on these topics. If you have questions, I hope you can find the answers you need here.
