Parents now watching their children cavort on playground swing sets may shake their heads, recalling what used to be. They’ll undoubtedly remember two rather different types of play areas they grew up with. The kids swing set in the backyard might have been more lightweight and perhaps a bit shaky, while the set in the playground was much sturdier and was comprised of a metal slide, swings and perhaps monkey bars. Now, of course, the two types of structures have grown very similar.

These days, even though the metal swing sets of the past haven’t entirely vanished, play structures of wood are generally more popular. Of course, they can’t be made of just any old wood, and the material must be correctly treated for weather and durability. But with that done, playground swing sets of wood are almost as strong as metal ones, and are in many ways much safer. And components that aren’t made of wood, such as swing seats and slides, are now made of strong plastic.

The modern playground swing sets, like their residential counterparts, also tend to be more compact. They don’t always feature separate, freestanding structures as they used to, with the swings in one location, the slide in another, the teeter-totter in another, and so on. These newer sets are more modular, many having a small central tower off of which different elements branch. So the frame for the swings might come off one side of the tower, while the slide extends from another side and a climbing wall might lead off from yet a third side. The swing accessories, in both the playground and home sets, can be added or changed as the local needs dictate.

What seems to have been dictated in recent years for playground swing sets is extra safety, after accidents with other sets became serious. Designers attempted to soften hard edges, and provide structures with more give. For example, now a children’s swing set often stands on a padded surface made from recycled tires. The merry-go-round, which was sometimes a real source of injury with its metal bars, is frequently eliminated altogether. The ultimate goal is to keep children as safe as possible, yet still retain the sheer enjoyment of playing outdoors on swing sets.

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