Frank Pellow
08-21-2004, 10:48 PM
One of my projects at Pellow's Camp this summer was to make a play-yard for visiting children. I was under some pressure because my daughter, her husband, and their two children were due to arrive for a one week visit only 8 days after Margaret and I got there.
Our camp is a 2 acre island on a remote chain of lakes about 40 kilometres in length north of Hearst Ontario which, in turn, is about 1000 kilometres north-west of Toronto. I have posted a little bit about the camp in the past, and because of the interest shown, I will put a "Tout of Pellow's Camp" in the Off-Topic forum in September or October.
For now, I will restrict myself the play-yard project. I decided to place the play yard on a relatively flat section of ground in the middle of the island where it can not be seen from the lake. The area is a 50/50 mixture of bush and cleared area with lots of little trials and hiding places. I placed about 60 metres of fence around the perimeter. This will not keep a determined kid in, but it does serve to denote a boundary which most children will obey and which will slow down all others. The island is surrounded by deep water so we keep a good watch on non-swimmers.
The big feature of the play yard is a slide and platform for same. The slide is the "turbo-tower" made by a company named Highland. I have made some things with their kits in the past and liked both the designs and the quality of the hardware. This time, I purchased only the slide at a "fire sale" and designed the a two-stage platform based on some pictures from Highland and using hardware that I purchased myself.
I did not quite finish in time but, with Kathleen's help, got enough of the platform built and the full slide put together within 36 hours of their arrival.
Five pictures are attached:
(1) Part of the fence and me starting to work on the slide platform
(2) A picture of the completed slide looking through the bush
(3) A closer shot of the slide and platform
Our camp is a 2 acre island on a remote chain of lakes about 40 kilometres in length north of Hearst Ontario which, in turn, is about 1000 kilometres north-west of Toronto. I have posted a little bit about the camp in the past, and because of the interest shown, I will put a "Tout of Pellow's Camp" in the Off-Topic forum in September or October.
For now, I will restrict myself the play-yard project. I decided to place the play yard on a relatively flat section of ground in the middle of the island where it can not be seen from the lake. The area is a 50/50 mixture of bush and cleared area with lots of little trials and hiding places. I placed about 60 metres of fence around the perimeter. This will not keep a determined kid in, but it does serve to denote a boundary which most children will obey and which will slow down all others. The island is surrounded by deep water so we keep a good watch on non-swimmers.
The big feature of the play yard is a slide and platform for same. The slide is the "turbo-tower" made by a company named Highland. I have made some things with their kits in the past and liked both the designs and the quality of the hardware. This time, I purchased only the slide at a "fire sale" and designed the a two-stage platform based on some pictures from Highland and using hardware that I purchased myself.
I did not quite finish in time but, with Kathleen's help, got enough of the platform built and the full slide put together within 36 hours of their arrival.
Five pictures are attached:
(1) Part of the fence and me starting to work on the slide platform
(2) A picture of the completed slide looking through the bush
(3) A closer shot of the slide and platform