Season special: Playground equipment for spring, summer, fall and winter

Having your own garden is a little paradise for children - at any time of year. Whether it's the first warm days in spring, sunny summer vacations, rustling autumn leaves or the first snowball fight in winter: With the right play equipment, the garden becomes an adventure playground all year round. In this seasonal special, we show you how to Play equipment in the garden to spring, summer, fall and winter. You can look forward to practical tips on safety, creative design ideas and seasonal play fun - without any advertising copy, but with lots of Inspiration for the family.

1. spring: playfully designing a new start in the garden

Spring is a time of new beginnings - even in the family garden. After a long winter, children can hardly wait to finally get back to to play outside again. Now it's time to get the garden in shape and get the play equipment ready! Start with a thorough check of all equipment: Are swings, play towers and sandpits still stable and safe? Loose screws are tightened, wooden elements are varnished if necessary and the sand in the sandpit is filled up. The lawn is also in need of maintenance so that you can soon play barefoot on it.

Expert tip: Check all anchors and fall protection surfaces in spring. Climbing towers and swings should be firmly anchored in the ground and equipped with a soft base (e.g. bark mulch or fall protection mats). This way, children are well protected when they first try climbing after the winter break.

Now is also a good time to install new garden play equipment to integrate new garden play equipment. Many families plan to expand their play oasis in spring - be it a new playhouse a new playhouse as a cozy retreat or even a large play tower with a slide and climbing wall. The milder temperatures and dry ground make construction easier. There are budget options for DIY fans: For example, how about a self-built mud kitchen from old pallets? In a mud kitchen like this, children can splash around with water and sand to their heart's content in spring - perfect for the first mild days when it's allowed to rain.

Budget tip: Not everything has to be bought new. A simple tire or wooden beam can quickly become a balancing device become a balancing device. Old car tires can be turned into colourful seesaws or boundaries for the sandpit. There are no limits to creativity - and building together is fun for the whole family.

2. summer: water adventures and shady play oases

In summer, family life moves outside into the garden. Now there are water games and existing play equipment is used intensively. A sandpit is transformed into a muddy oasis on hot days with a few buckets of water, where castles are built and cakes are "baked". Swings and nest swings invite you to take breezy flights of fancy - wonderful when a gentle summer breeze is blowing. And a play tower becomes the center of adventure with an attached slide: pirate ship in the morning, jungle tree house in the afternoon. Perhaps you can even attach a garden hose to the slide to create a small water slide? The kids will love it! Also think about mobile paddling pools or sprinklers: even a simple lawn sprinkler will make the little ones scream with delight when they jump through it. With all the fun, it's important to provide cooling and sun protection protection from the sun.

Safety in summer:

• Create shade: If possible, place play equipment in partial shade. An awning over the sandpit or UV-impermeable tarpaulins over the slide prevent surfaces from getting too hot.

• Check temperatures: Straight Slides and climbing frames can become very hot in the blazing sun. In midsummer, touch the surface briefly - if it is too hot, it is better to wait or cool it down with water before the children slide.

• Sun protection for children: Always put plenty of sunscreen on little ones and make sure they wear a hat when playing outside. Don't forget to take regular hydration breaks in the shade!

To ensure that the play area remains a pleasant place even at 30 °C, you can easily transform the garden into a summer oasis with a few simple steps. A small paddling pool next to the slide catches the children after the water slide and provides extra refreshment. Hang a hammock between two trees or put up a teepee tent - so there's a shady place to relax and read in between. Water toys don't have to be expensive: Water pistols, watering cans and buckets provide hours of fun.

Extra tip: Summertime is barefoot time! Place a small barefoot path in the garden. Different materials such as smooth pebbles, sand, grass carpeting and pools of water laid out in a row playfully massage the feet and provide sensory experiences. Kids can run back and forth between the play equipment and explore the ground with bare feet - great fun and healthy too.

3. autumn: colorful leaves and creative repurposing

Autumn paints the garden colorful and brings new play material straight from the trees: leaves! Now children can play in piles of leaves play with chestnuts and prepare the garden for winter. Existing play equipment can be transformed for autumn with little effort. A playhouse becomes a cozy Halloween hut with pumpkins and fairy lights. On the play tower a pirate's flag may be waving in the autumn wind, or it may be transformed into a castle in a dragon camp - a little seasonal decoration often helps to get children's imaginations going. It is important to regularly remove falling leaves from swing seatsclimbing holds and the slide so that nothing gets slippery.

Even on shorter days, children are drawn outside - wrapped up warm, romping around in the fall weather is really fun. Use this time of year to spend time together DIY projects in the garden: How about a homemade kite (wind chime) made from colorful leaves and branches, which is attached to the swing frame? Or set up a scarecrow together to guard the garden - with old clothes and filled leaf sacks, you can create a funny garden friend. Such activities actively involve the children and give the garden personality.

Budget tip: Use the treasures of the fall as free play material! Leaves, chestnuts, acorns and pine cones are perfect for games and crafts. A simple idea is an obstacle course: a sack filled with leaves becomes a bouncy castle, tree trunks or boards are used to create a balancing path, and pumpkins are used to mark out slalom courses. The existing climbing frames or swings can be incorporated into this course - creating a new adventure playground in the garden with little effort. At the same time, motor skills are trained and the materials are easily compostable after the game.

As the days get colder and wetter, remember to prepare sensitive play equipment: Sandpits should be fitted with a lid or cover by now at the latest so that rain and animals (e.g. the neighbor's cat) cannot harm the sand. Removable plastic swing seats can be brought in on very wet days or stored over the winter to prolong their life. On permanently installed equipment, it is worth lightly oiling metal chains and joints before the onset of winter so that everything remains rust-free and smooth-running in spring.

4. winter: Snow magic and safe rest periods

Even in winter, the garden doesn't have to be a no-go zone. Children love it, romping in the snow - and the familiar play equipment takes on a whole new appeal under a blanket of snow. A snow-covered play tower becomes a conquering castle in the ice palace, a slide becomes a mini sledge run. However, it is important to pay particular attention to safety in winter: Before playing, check whether climbing holds or ladder rungs are icy. Slippery surfaces should be cleared of ice and snow or temporarily closed off to prevent accidents. As a general rule, it is better to play outside a little more carefully and with supervision. In extremely cold or icy conditions, it is better to play indoors - safety first.

Nevertheless, there are many winter adventures to discover in the garden. Use the snow creatively: under the climbing frame, you can use shovels to create a small snow cave with shovels. The children can also build a snowman around the play tower or have a snowball fight using the playhouse as a "base station". Another hit is to make a slide out of snow: Pile up snow on a small slope in the garden and use a flat plastic lid as a toboggan, for example - and you have an improvised bobsleigh run for the little ones. Of course, always keep an eye on them and make sure they run out safely.

But wintertime is also rest time for many pieces of equipment. Don't be afraid to temporarily shut down some play equipment when it is stormy or snowing. Swings can squeak on very cold days, for example - a little grease on the suspensions will help. Wooden elements on the climbing tower will thank you if you treat them again with wood preservative in late fall so that moisture and frost do not harm them. A well-maintained play tower made of robust wood (e.g. larch or Douglas fir) will also withstand the Swiss winter and provide years of enjoyment. If very heavy snowfall is forecast, it may be advisable to remove the heavy wet snow from the roofs of playhouses or towers to reduce the load on the structure.

Make it extra safe for yourself and the children in winter cozy in the garden. Short days can be extended with a little light: a weatherproof string of lights on the play tower or garden fence creates a magical atmosphere at dusk and invites the children to play outside for a short while on winter evenings or at least to gaze at the garden in wonder. And think of the animals: together a bird house or bird feeders (within sight of the swing, for example) combines play with an experience of nature - the children can observe how tits and robins visit in winter. This brings the garden to life even in the cold season.

With a little planning and creativity, your garden can become a year-round play paradise. Every season offers special experiences - you just have to make the most of them! From the first daisies in spring to the snowman in winter, there is always something to discover. How do you design your garden in winter? Do you have any other tips for having fun outside in the cold? Feel free to share your ideas with us - we look forward to hearing about your experiences!