We have a fairly small suburban garden but I would really like to get some type of wooden climbing frame for my 3 & 5 year old to play in.  Sort of a small square two-level tower/fort with some type of climbing area off one side.  I'm worried about chemically treated wood and want to make sure we don't get something that will leach onto them or into the soil.

Anyone have anything they like?  Or don't like? 

My dh has built a fort/swing set/tower/slide frame for my children.  He based it on a pattern in a book he bought from Amazon.  It's a Black & Decker book, can't recall the name but if you do a search for woodworking projects and kids toys you'll get it - Backyard Projects rings a bell.

The book is American though so all the measurements are imperial and all the timber you get here is metric so it's a bit of a pain to convert.  Also some of the bolts etc have different names so it's not always easy sorting out what you need to buy.

It's worked out great though.  Much, much more solid than a shop bought one and you can buy whatever type of timber you wish and alter the design to suit your own needs.

D x

Thanks very much for the info.  Not sure if I'm up for that much of a challenge, but I'm going to look up the book and think about it.  I had been thinking about customizing a store bought one so maybe…  Any thoughts on what components have been more or less popular with your children?  Lessons learned sort of things??

At the minute my pair both love the swings best but neither of them can make them go on their own (aged 2 and 4) so need a fair bit of pushing.  The also love the slide but it's getting very muddy round the end so I think I may have to do something about that.

They haven't done much imaginative play around the fort bit yet but I think that's because it's quite new and the swings and slide are more immediately appealing and more of a novelty at the moment.

D x