Children can play for hours on the outdoor swings. The child is attracted by the feeling of flying. In apartment buildings, swings are installed on children's playgrounds, and in private areas they are installed by caring parents.
The simple design makes it possible to make a hanging swing with your own hands. Moreover, children can be involved in the design, construction or decorating process.
Do-it-yourself baby swing made of wood
Options for children's toys
It is almost impossible to list the types of swings. They are made from any materials that can be found around the house. Conventionally, three options can be distinguished:
- portable;
- domestic;
- for the street.
Each of the above types has its own design features.
The simplest swing
The bungee is used by children of kindergarten age. You can swing on it while sitting on the bar or standing on it with your feet. Such hanging children's swings are attached with reliable ropes or rope to thick tree branches.
The board on which children swing should not exceed one and a half meters, since a fall from a 2-3 meter height is considered dangerous.
Preparing for work
We advise you to think through everything in advance down to the smallest detail. Our advice will help.
Material selection
When choosing a material, be guided by the installation methods of the product and the purpose of its operation. If you are making a design exclusively for a child, it can be made of light wood or thick fabric. If adults will also use it, then it is better to make the frame metal.
However, here you need to correctly assess your capabilities, since an iron structure requires a solid foundation where welding will have to be used. If you do not have such skills, then create a project of a wooden product with chain or rope fasteners. Pay attention to oak, cedar, pine or birch. When properly processed, such wood will not crack, burst or turn into dust.
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If you don’t have wood or metal at hand, you can use another convenient and unpretentious material - a rubber tire. It is enough to secure it on a strong rope and tie it to a strong tree branch.
Preparing tools
You will need:
- Hammer
- Sandpaper
- Strong rope or several chains
- Large Diameter Heat Shrink Tubing
- Screwdriver
- Pencil
- Saw
- Carbines
- Blueprints
Country attraction
Making a swing for a summer house with your own hands, even for an inexperienced “builder”, will not be difficult.
The material can be racks made of wood or metal. The racks are connected by a jumper, and the resulting U-shaped structure is buried in the ground to a depth of one meter and properly strengthened.
The disadvantage of this design is its poor stability and rapid loosening when swinging. The structure will gain greater stability if both side posts consist of two pillars.
Types of swings
Based on materials
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In hypermarkets you can now find several types of products. They are divided into metal, wood and plastic. Let's consider each type separately.
- Metal ones are the most durable of all types. They can be made to order according to your own sketch, add forged elements, additional railings and crossbars. In addition, according to the method of fastening, they can be floor-mounted - the seat is suspended from above on a steel leg, which is firmly held on the ground.
- A wooden swing for a summer house, if properly processed and maintained, will also last for quite a long time. In addition to their durability and strength, they are also safe, as they are made from natural material.
- Plastic ones are suitable for small children because they are made of lightweight material. It should be borne in mind that they are afraid of frost, and their bright color fades over time.
By design
- Frame ones are very stable and easy to use. They are good because they can be transported to any place in the summer cottage so that the child is always under supervision.
- Suspended ones consist of three main elements: a supporting bar, a seat, chains or ropes of your choice. They are attached to something durable, and the seat should preferably have a back. To provide additional comfort and safety.
- Spring ones delight children like carousels in parks. They are made in the shape of various animals and machines, and the advantage is that for a small child they are almost harmless.
- Sun loungers are suitable for both children and the whole family. They are spacious and soft, so it will be nice to lie on them in the shade of trees, read a book or watch a movie.
- Landscape
Making a swing-nest with your own hands: simple instructions in 5 steps
Options L, A and X
In addition to the U-shaped design, it is possible to install hanging children's swings, when the posts on both sides are reinforced with two pillars at an angle. The sharp corners of the posts take the shape of the letters L or A (depending on the degree of inclination of the pillars to each other).
X-shaped swings are also popular. In this case, the posts on each side intersect in the middle and are secured on top with a wide bar.
Based on the fact that the wooden structure is unstable, it is better to make the seat single. If the width of the frame allows, then you can strengthen two benches to entertain two children at the same time.
Having finished installing the structure, you should take care of its design - paint it with bright colors. The ground under the benches must be sprinkled with sand - it will be convenient for children to jump off the swing.
Tool
When making swings for children, you need to stock up on the following tools:
- Welding machine and the required number of electrodes;
- Emery;
- Bulgarian;
- Hammer;
- Roulette;
- Concrete mixer;
- Cement;
- Sand;
- Crushed stone;
- Wrench for tightening nuts;
- Shovel or garden auger;
- Paint brushes;
- Machine oil.
Advice: it is advisable to carry out all work wearing protective gloves, since metal cuts can injure the skin of your hands.
Metal swing
In almost the same way as a wooden attraction, a swing is assembled from metal pipes.
They can also be made independently by a person with experience in welding.
Outdoor swings on the site, made of metal, have an undoubted advantage - reliability and stability of the structure.
The downside is that from time to time the support pillars and crossbar become covered in rust, which needs to be cleaned off and then the entire attraction needs to be painted.
Seat installation
It is welded from a metal profile at an angle of 90 degrees. The master calculates the dimensions of the seat according to the baby. But they should not be less than 60 cm wide and 50 cm deep. Back height - from 30 cm or more. You can also provide armrests for the baby. This will make it more convenient to swing.
The process then looks like this:
- Two chain rings are welded to the frame in the armrest area.
- The welded seat is sanded, removing sharp metal burrs. They can injure the baby.
- The next stage is the preparation of wooden slats for the seat and backrest. Their number is calculated by the total depth of the seat and the height of the backrest, divided by the width of the wooden plank. The wood is cut into pieces and sanded well on all sides.
- Holes are made in the seat frame for bolts/screws with a round head. The same ones are formed on planks.
- Then the workpieces are attached to the welded frame, tightening the nuts well from the back.
- The metal should also be treated with an anti-corrosion compound and painted. The wood is coated with varnish or any bright coloring agent.
- The final stage of assembling the structure is the installation of circuits. Their length is measured so that the seat hangs 50-70 cm from the ground. The chain (2 pieces) is attached to the seat rings. And in the upper part they are hung on spring hooks-shock absorbers. They are pre-lubricated with machine oil.
Tip: to prevent the child from injuring his fingers in the links of the chain, you can put pieces of rubber hose or any similar material on it before installing the suspension.
Seat drawing
You might like this: How to build a summer shower for your cottage yourself
Soft chair
For children under one year old, it is necessary to make soft seats from fabric.
In shape it should be a chair with a front jumper. For greater safety of the child, two pieces of fabric are attached to the chair, with which the baby is “fastened” crosswise. For the little ones, it is better to use a children's swing for home. The baby will be under the constant supervision of his parents. And what is important is that it is protected from bad weather.
Game complex
There should be a children's playground on the plot. For restless kids, the children's play complex will give a lot of positive emotions.
Outdoor games and physical activity are extremely beneficial for children. Coordination of movements, dexterity develops, muscles become stronger.
Such a complex may include the following elements:
- slide;
- swing;
- climbing wall;
- ladder;
- poles;
- sandbox.
The main entertainment for children at the dacha is still the swing for the playground.
Slide
One of the favorite types of children’s games is the descent “on the fifth point” from a small elevation.
There are always kids crowding around this attraction. You should not hope that the child will not be able to turn over the slide. Children's energy has no boundaries, so it is necessary to follow a number of rules when constructing such a structure.
Setting up a ramp for children
It is quite possible to build a children's slide for a private home with your own hands, you just need to take into account a number of points:
- use environmentally friendly materials;
- ensure reliable stability of the structure.
Before painting the slide, make sure that the paint materials do not contain elements harmful to the health of children.
Basic requirements
Before you begin, you need to familiarize yourself with a number of requirements, compliance with which will allow you to create a high-quality product. Since garden swings are considered quite dangerous, it is necessary to take proper care to ensure that no funny situations spoil your vacation. All elements must be reliable. And during operation, there should be no objects nearby that could become an obstacle to the maximum movement of the swing.
As a rule, children love to swing. But sometimes adults don’t mind relaxing after hard working days. When deciding how to make a swing, you should definitely provide for high load capacity and maximum dynamic load. Having a strong swing frame is an important safety feature.
Depending on where the swing will be installed, you choose what to make it from. Most often they are used in the garden, outdoors. Building materials, accordingly, must have weather-resistant characteristics. Then they will last a long time. We should not forget about appearance. In order to give your homemade garden swing a neat look, you need to choose materials that are easy to care for.
After analyzing all the requirements and deciding on the parameters, you can choose the type of product. According to the installation method there are:
- Mobile. If there is no exact place for their installation, then it is better to opt for a portable model for the dacha. Then the swing can be moved to any convenient place.
- Stationary. When creating a swing with your own hands, the installation location is determined once, it remains unchanged throughout its entire service life.
According to the principle of the device, they are distinguished:
- Hanging. The seat is attached to the frame using hangers.
- Frame. They are characterized by a solid frame welded from pipes or made from wooden beams.
As for building materials, the most popular are DIY garden swings made of metal, wood, or a combination of both. All of the above designs meet the requirements to one degree or another. However, if you put safety first, then the best option would be a stationary frame swing made of metal. They have greater stability and load capacity compared to other options.
Metal structure
Compared to a wooden one, a metal slide is more stable and reliable. Since the metal gets very hot, the structure should be installed in a shaded corner.
Careful grinding of metal parts and painting them with special paint is required.
