What’s the best material to build children’s playgrounds from? The short answer is…it depends. It depends on what you can find locally, the prices of local materials, environmental factors (Is there flooding in your area? Termites? Strong wind?), and above all on the advice from local builders. The best materials for a playground in your community should be determined by what can be easily sourced, built, and maintained locally, which will enable your playground to be enjoyed for years to come.
Over the years, we’ve supported over 1,400 communities around the world to build playgrounds and many of them have utilized used tires as their primary building material. While tires may not work in every context, they are commonly used on playgrounds around the world because of their versatility. In this article, we’ll be exploring the benefits of building children’s playgrounds from used car tires as well as a few tips & tricks on tire playground building.
Let’s get started!
So why are used car tires a great material for building children’s playgrounds around the world?
1. Availability – Tires are found in nearly every community in the world. They’re easier to find in some places than others, but we’ve been hard pressed to find a location that isn’t able to scrounge up at least a couple dozen used tires. (And we’ve been to some really, really remote places.)
2. Easy to build with – Building with car tires doesn’t take any special skills. If you’ve got a few tires, an electric drill, a knife, a handful of bolts, and a shovel, there are a nearly unlimited number possibilities of designs you can build.
3. Safety – The majority of children’s playgrounds around the world are built from steel, which can pose safety hazards. In hot climates, steel elements in direct sunlight can get extremely hot and even burn children. Steel is also very hard and can hurt kids if they slip and fall or accidentally run in front of a kid swinging on a metal swing seat (a common problem.
) Tires, on the other hand, do not get nearly as hot in sunlight (especially when painted) and are forgiving if you fall down and bonk your head on them.
5. Durability – Tires are made to hurl thousands of pounds of machinery down bumpy roads. They’re made to last. And they do. They’re also not susceptible to common environmental risks – like termites eating wood or weather rusting metal. Truck tires are especially durable and are preferable in many of our designs although then can be much heavier.
6. Affordability – Most communities can source tires for free or very cheap. We’ve built children’s playgrounds in some places where used tires are such a waste problem that they are often burned to dispose of them, releasing toxic fumes. In these areas, people are happy for you to take their used tires off their hands! In other areas of the world, old tires are used to make sandals, or other products, so they have a “value” in the local economy. In areas like this, we’ve sometimes had to pay a small price for tires and have factored this into the budget.
Designs
Playground Ideas has over a hundred children’s playground equipment designs that can be built from used car tires. Each design comes with free step-by-step DIY instructions and most require nothing more than a few bolts and an electric drill. Access all our used car tire designs in our Design Library.
Tire quality
Prior to using any tires, carefully examine the entire surface of the tire to ensure there are no steel wires sticking out. If there is a small patch of exposed wires, you can still use this tire if it is half buried in the ground with the exposed section in the ground. However, if the rubber has worn thin and there are exposed wires on half or more of the tire you cannot use it. Do not try to clip down or grind down these exposed wires – it just won’t work and can pose a serious hazard to children.
Drainage
One of the potential safety hazards in building tire playground is that if you do not take precautions, tires can collect water which can be a breeding ground for mosquitos.
In areas of malaria prevalence, this can be a be a dangerous problem.
Luckily, it’s also an easy problem to avoid! Here’s how: on each element, cut or drill a hole at the lowest point of each tire. This will allow any rainwater to freely drain. After you complete the playground, double check each element to ensure that there is a drainage hole for every tire that could collect water.
Painting
To ensure that paint sticks to tires well, use high quality oil based paint. Used tires generally have a lot of oil and dirt on them which can prevent paint from sticking. You also don’t want kids getting leftover motor oil on their hands, so scrub down any tires you’ll use on the playground with soap and water and allow them to dry before painting and before children play on them. Generally it is easiest to do this all at once at the beginning of the build instead of trying to wash elements that have already been built. Prior to painting, you may need to do another quick wipe down to remove any dirt from constructed elements.
Further resources
For more info on building children’s playgrounds from used tires, be sure to check out our Playground Builder’s Handbook. It’s packed with more details and advice on building with tires, including ideas for sourcing tires, how to read sidewall numbers to differentiate different sizes of tires, and tips on how to easily and efficiently cut a tire. In addition, you’ll find guidance on planning, designing, building, and maintaining locally built playgrounds, regardless of what materials you choose to build from.
3/16/2021
Comments
Don't throw those tires out quite yet. Here are some fun ways to use them in your Outdoor Space to support preschool early learning and development.
Little Learners Daycare & Preschool Center
This fun colorful tire playground belongs to Pre-K Printable Fun Member Tara Kochanskyj of Little Learners Daycare & Preschool Center
You can find several tire play structures in the "Design Library" on the Playground Ideas Website
The PlayDome Page
I love this colorful tire Play Structure from The PlayDome Page
Today's Creative Life
Make a tire swing with this tutorial from Today's Creative life.
Exploring Domesticity
Use Tires as a Ladder. Check out this Tutorial by Exploring Domesticity
i heart naptime
Smiling Mama
Make your own Tire Sandbox with this tutorial from I Heart Naptime
Robin Deziel of Dream Big Childcare
This super outdoor space belongs to PKPF Community member Robin Deziel of Dream Big Childcare. Fill the tires with dirt or sand for added construction fun.
This fabulous sandbox from Smiling Mama's Blog has a great DIY cover.
A Life We Built
Aren't these tire seats from A life we built just so adorable?
Flaming Petal
DIY Enthusiasts
These lawn seats from flaming petal are so fun!
A easy Tire seat tutorial from DIY Enthusiasts
Babble
This idea from Curbly would be a great option for outdoor storage
Lemon, Bean and Things
I love this colorful tire garden from Lemon, Bean and Things
Let the Children Play
What a fun space from Let the Children Play.
Puzzles Family Daycare
You can transform tires into an outdoor space for small world play with
this idea from Puzzles Family Daycare
Play Based Learning
Here is another fun space for small world play from Play Based Learning
Louise Holland of Bear Family Child Care
Use tires to border your play area. This fabulous outdoor play area belongs to PKPF Community member Louise Holland of Bear Family Child Care.
1001 Gardens
This fabulous tire Mud Kitchen can be found on 1001 Gardens
Style with Cents
Make your own Tether Ball with this tutorial from Style with Cents.
My Fix it Up Life
DIY your own teeter totter with this tutorial from My Fix it up life
Trail Journals
Build a Vehicle that can be transformed into a Bus, Boat, Plane or car like this one
found on Trail Journals.
Here are some Tutorials on how to Paint Tires:
Tutorial from DIY Show Off
Tutorial from Beauty in the Midst
Fill out the form to get a set of print ready center signs for free!
Looking for an editable set? You can purchase them in our store below!
50+ Free Preschool Lesson Plans
Create an Outdoor Music Wall
30+ Outdoor Learning Spaces
Mud Kitchens Preschoolers will Love
Comments
If you are a modern parent, then the safety of your child is very important to you. Surely, you do not want to let him go for a walk in various places that do not inspire confidence in you. And you don't have to. Indeed, today, from simple materials, you can equip a playground with your own hands, where every child will like to spend their free time and play various games there.
In this publication, we decided to offer you the most interesting tire crafts for the playground. We hope you will be tempted to make one of these and set it up in your child's play area.
Tire swing.
If you have old car tires at home, you should not throw them away. It turns out that you can make a large number of crafts from them that can take their rightful place on the playground. Crafts from tires to the playground can be very diverse. It is worth looking at only the photo and finding the best option for crafts.
The first and easiest craft is a tire swing. To make such a swing is worth a little work. First you must position the tire horizontally. In it you must make 3 or 4 holes. Metal hooks are inserted into these holes. You must fix them with nuts and washers. And in the loops of the hooks you must thread strong threads or chains.
That's all the DIY tire swing is ready for your playground.
And to make the swing look pretty, you can decorate it in a bright color.
Tire chairs.
On the playground that you plan to equip with your own hands, it is worth installing comfortable chairs that you can place around the perimeter of the entire playground. Making these chairs is very easy. And here you can get by with improvised tools. In addition, in this case, you will have to use paints in order to make the chairs beautiful.
Tire frog.
All children like toys. And if your playground lacks some fairy tale, then you can furnish it with cute figurines. If you are a creative person, then you can create extraordinary beauty. We propose to make a beautiful frog, which, for sure, will attract the attention of many children.
Tire sandbox.
A child's favorite pastime is playing in the sand. And so on the playground you must have a sandbox. And it will be very easy to build.
Look at several options, we hope that you will be able to find the perfect option that will also please your child.
Bike from old tires.
In this article, we list all car tire crafts for the playground. No playground can exist without a car. Therefore, we will talk about how to make a motorbike from unnecessary tires. It's worth the effort here. You should prepare:
This craft is very easy to make. Examine the photo in order not to make mistakes.
Tire snail.
To create such a snail, you should take:
And if you work a little, you can get a unique craft that will enchant you with its attractiveness.
In conclusion
Now you know what crafts you can make from old playground tires. We, in turn, do not advise you to throw away such products. And all because you can get real works of art, which in any case will not be left without attention.
Tire playground and other ideas from old tires came to us from the Soviet Union. The first sleet has already passed and the thermometers are at zero degrees almost every morning. The season for replacing summer tires with winter tires can be considered open. So let's figure out where to put used tires, except how to fill a landfill with them? For example, let's get inspired by the ideas of creating a playground from tires.
But what to do with "unnecessary" rubber? Leave it at the tire shop or take it to a landfill? Or give her a second life?
There is an alternative way to solve tire recycling. Perhaps you are well aware of them.
We just remind.
And maybe our pictures and comments to them will inspire you to act for the sake of your children and improve the environmental situation.
All playground wheel structures are recommended to be placed in the shade, due to possible unwanted fumes from heated rubber. And also, a burn from a wheel heated under the scorching sun is possible.
Some parents may consider this minus not significant due to short-term or indirect contact of children with wheeled structures. Anyway, be vigilant!
So. Tires in action!
1) Flowerbeds, sandboxes, slides, sculptures, sports elements, swings can be created from tires on any playground: in the city and in the country.
Your idea can be a joy and benefit not only for children, but for all family members.
2) The tires along the perimeter of the future sandbox will not replace the plank sides, but will become a convenient support and protection for children's knees.
If the wheel is large enough, it can serve as a sandbox by itself.
3) You can also build a playground fence out of summer rubber by burying tires to a depth of 25-30 cm. You benefit doubly from this - you get the necessary “fence” and allow children to jump from one tire to another. In the people, such a structure from used wheels is called “walkers”.
Subject to the distance between the wheels of 20-30 cm, your "walker" will be relevant for kids aged 2-3 and children 5-7 years old, striving for thrills and records.
4) But older children and even adults are interested in more serious obstacles. Tires dug into the ground to the same depth of 25-30 cm, but lined up in a “tunnel”, i.e. side by side and at a distance of half a wheel from each other.
By giving the “attraction” an interesting shape, for example, a semicircle, or in the form of some kind of figure or digging tires at different heights, you can make this part of the playground the most popular and inspiring for various sports games.
5) “Army simulator” or tires dug into the ground horizontally. You can dig in one or two rows. It has not received much distribution in our playgrounds. Perhaps because the number of tires is less than 10 makes this “simulator” too laborious and monotonous. And the area of our playgrounds does not always have enough space. But what do you say about such steps?
... or about such a vertical structure?
6) If your used wheels have already lost their former rigidity and you do not intend to use them for flower beds, then soft tires can turn into various decorative figures and fairy-tale characters.
7) Pyramid - a house or a dragon. We put several tires of different sizes on top of each other. You can fasten them with bolts for rigidity.
The pyramid is more interesting for little children who can climb it, climb inside and hide. But it is necessary to provide for the drainage of rainwater or place the structure on a hill. And remember the shadow.
8) The swing chair with seat cover is my favorite from my childhood: it is always comfortable and spacious in them. You can swing in any position and with any company. Having become a parent, I understand that in this option it is necessary to provide for the issue of safety more carefully than in previous options for using tires on the playground.
Tire swing configurations can be many. Another example is swing horses.
9) The idea of extending the life of used tires will first of all come to the mind of the fathers of boys. The covers can become "real" wheels for a children's play car.
10) Not a playful, but very practical idea worthy of our attention, is reflected in the only photo below - this is a tire sole. In the photo of such a sole, summer “slaps” or “flip flops” are reinforced. Apparently the owner of these slippers with a reinforced tread is a professional climber who is too lazy to put on shoes in the heat.
In continuation of this idea, based on St.
