(ARA) – Now that Spring has arrived, people everywhere are reintroducing themselves to the great outdoors. Whether you’re into sports, gardening or just socializing, there’s something for everyone, even the little ones, to do at this time of year.

After months of being cooped up inside, who wouldn’t enjoy a family bike ride, working together to plant a garden, or starting a project that will pay dividends for years to come – building a playground set for the kids in your backyard.

Over the years, numerous studies have shown that play, particularly on playground equipment, is fundamental to a child’s physical and mental development. It teaches them
fine motor skills and problem solving; and as they swing from the monkey bars and climb up and down the ladders, gives them a workout as well.

Having read all the studies about a playground’s benefits, when his kids were young, Karl Jessen of New Jersey went on a journey a lot of parents find themselves on every year around this time. “I really wanted to get a play set for my boys, but was scared off by the hefty price tag, he says, “so I decided to build one myself.”

But the task wasn’t as he easy as he expected it to be. He had to go one place for the wood, another for the play equipment, and yet another for the hardware he’d need to put the set together. “Before long, I realized I had tripped onto a niche that needed to be filled and went into the playground building business,” he says.

Jessen’s company, Detailed Play Systems, went into business in 1998, and has been so popular, that thousands of playground building kits have been sold to date. Each one provides parents with the Detailed Plans needed to put a quality set together, along with the hardware, swings, slides and safety equipment. The only thing parents have to go out and get on their own is the wood – herein lies the savings and opportunity for consumers to control quality.

“Building a play set for your kids instead of buying one not only saves you money, it offers a great opportunity to bond,” says Jessen. When he built the original set, his older son, who was 4 at the time, decided what kinds of activities it would have, and learned what a ruler was for by helping to measure the holes for the hardware. Once he started building, Jessen’s younger son, who was just a toddler at the time, pitched in by bringing him the parts he could safely carry.

Eight years have passed since that Spring when the original play set was built, and it has evolved over the years. Monkey bars have been added, so have tunnels, climbing walls, and a number of other items, all of which are available through Detailed Play Systems.

To order a catalog, call (800) 398-7565 or log on to www.detailedplay.com. Shipping is available in the 48 contiguous United States.

Courtesy of ARA Content