Backyard Equipment and Winter

[Josiegirl]

Do you put it all away? If we're supposed to have cushioning underneath but you've got hard packed down snow, isn't it safe to assume that wouldn't be safe? I know you could stop them from playing on it but it would seem like a never ending battle keeping them off. I have the LT 8 in 1 and take most of it apart then stick it in my garage for the winter.
What do you all do?
More often than not our snow turns crusty, icy, it's not that nice powdery fluffy stuff, otherwise it'd be no problem.

[Mike]

The community playgrounds around here take down the swings and slides for the winter. The empty frames look kinda strange. As a kid, we used to go play all year round, but I guess they decided it wasn't safe in the winter.

[Josiegirl]

The community playgrounds around here take down the swings and slides for the winter. The empty frames look kinda strange. As a kid, we used to go play all year round, but I guess they decided it wasn't safe in the winter.

I think they've decided a whole lotta things aren't safe anymore, things that most kids have done, played with and played on, for years and years on end, but one kid, at one time, must've landed wrong so the whole system has to change. Just to prevent something from ever possibly happening again. Ever. Let's just wrap up our kids with bubble-wrap and make them sit in 1 spot so they won't get bruised. Kids get hurt. Kids break bones. It happens. Nobody wants it to. Nobody plans it. But please stop making all these ridiculous regulations for that 1 'thing' that may or may not happen in the next 20 years. I know a provider who got rid of her swing set because it would've cost too much for cushioning. Sure, swing sets aren't everything in a program but kids seem to like 'em.

Sorry. Had a whole day of back to back trainings yesterday and it's exasperating figuring out why some of these downright stupid rules are in place.

[Jupadia]

I put my swings away because I know the manufacturer recommend it. (I have a cedar playset with mulch under) I don't have regulations about the play equipment here so the kids do play on it if there not a lot of snow. (So not digging that out).
I leave out the little tike cars and the trikes just no room to store. I put away balls and jump ropes Hola hoops and such the cold will just break those. I keep the patio area shoveled that the kids play on. I put the tunnels away but I have indoor ones that come out more in the winter and small ride on I bring into the playroom each day. I put those away in sing and summer that way the kids almost forget about them till its cold again.

[midaycare]

I think they've decided a whole lotta things aren't safe anymore, things that most kids have done, played with and played on, for years and years on end, but one kid, at one time, must've landed wrong so the whole system has to change. Just to prevent something from ever possibly happening again. Ever. Let's just wrap up our kids with bubble-wrap and make them sit in 1 spot so they won't get bruised. Kids get hurt. Kids break bones. It happens. Nobody wants it to. Nobody plans it. But please stop making all these ridiculous regulations for that 1 'thing' that may or may not happen in the next 20 years. I know a provider who got rid of her swing set because it would've cost too much for cushioning. Sure, swing sets aren't everything in a program but kids seem to like 'em.

Sorry. Had a whole day of back to back trainings yesterday and it's exasperating figuring out why some of these downright stupid rules are in place.

Preach it!

[laundrymom]

I think this year I'm doing a maze through the snow for them and making hills and stuff to climb.
I gather all our stuff into a spot and tarp it for winter.

[e.j.]

We have a shed that we store smaller things like kid-size picnic tables, water tables, small slides, etc. The only thing I l leave out are the large climbing toys. Most of the winter is spent in our front yard (the climbers are in the back yard) where the kids can climb on snow mounds left by the guy who plows our driveway.

[childcaremom]

I think this year I'm doing a maze through the snow for them and making hills and stuff to climb.
I gather all our stuff into a spot and tarp it for winter.

This is what I do, too. More to protect the toys then anything. We get a lot of freeze/thaw cycles.

I leave the climber out and together but they don't play on it during the winter.

[Blackcat31]

I put all the ride on toys and Little Tike cars/trucks away for the winter in a storage shed.

I leave the Little Tike houses, castle and climbing cubes and mountain out all year long. Too big to store and super fun in the winter. I've never had issues with them being ruined by the elements.

I used to leave the sandbox toys out too because the kids used to play with those things in the snow like they would sand but this current bunch of kiddos I have are really hard on stuff and they seem to be breaking things at an alarming rate so the sandbox stuff is stored for the winter this year.

My DH plows a giant pile of snow into the yard so the kids use it as a sliding spot and that works great! We sometimes make paths around the yard they can walk on but if you do that too close to your house you push the frost down and that usually means damage to your foundation so this year if we do paths it will be on the outsides of the yard and not near the house.

I do leave my swings up all year...like the climbers the kids still swing in the winter months.

[Play Care]

So far we don't have any regs saying the kids can't use the equipment in the winter. My kiddos love going down the slide into a snow pile. And since they are well padded between their snow suits and layers underneath, I've never had one kiddo get hurt on the play set in the winter. Now summer...

That said, I have thought about taking down the swings for winter, only because my set is looking kind of tired lately. I think leaving things up all year doesn't help.