Backyard Playground Ideas | 7 Outdoor Play Ideas for Kids (2024)

1. Tall Towers and Fast Slides

This is the area most home playgrounds fall…short. Kids love tall towers as the view lets them feel like the kings and queens of their backyard domains. Plus, the taller the play set tower, the faster the slides. Tall towers and the slides to go with them let your backyard become the rival of the local playground. At Adventure World Play Sets, we build tall towers that pack in the thrills that kids love.

2. Different Swings for Different Ages

If you believe playing together means staying together, you’ll want a playground that lets kids of different ages enjoy the same play set side-by-side. When parents ask us for outdoor play ideas, we always recommend having different swings for different age kids. When you build a play set with us, you can customize everything — and upgrade the swings as your children get older.

Learn more about the right age for a kid’s first swing set.

3. Built-In Toys and Games

The more ways to play, the better. While lots of these outdoor play ideas are all about heart-pumping active fun, sometimes all kids want to do is take a break and play a game. Whether it’s in the park or in your own backyard, the best playgrounds come with built-in games and other quiet activities. Depending on what your kids like, you’ll want to accessorize with built-in sandboxes or big games of tic-tac-toe.

4. Imagination Stations

One of the main appeals for kids playing in their own backyard playground is the freedom to let their imaginations run wild, without kids they don’t know hanging around spoiling their fun. Imagination games are some of the best parts of childhood, so that’s why the best playgrounds have TONS of ways to boost imagination. Some of our imagination accessories include make-believe ice cream and lemonade stands, plus pirate ship wheels and working spotlights and periscopes.

5. Interconnected Towers

The main difference between a really good set and an epic backyard playground: interconnected towers. Having multiple towers connected by tubes, tunnels, wobbly bridges, and more takes your set to the next level. Plus, the more towers on your set, the more awesome slides, rope ladders, and fire poles you can outfit it with!

See the biggest play set we ever built!

6. Your Personal Touch

Ultimately, ALL the best outdoor play ideas are the ones you pick for your child based on what they love. Whether that’s a rock wall to remind them of a great rock-climbing birthday party or it’s a two-person glider so you can swing with them, all the ideas come from you. Adventure World Play Sets and our national network of dealers make it easy to custom-build the perfect set for your backyard and your kids.

7. Mulch for Safety

While all our other backyard playground ideas are about making your yard as fun as possible, this one is all about making it safe, too. You’ll want to make sure that your personal playground is as safe as possible and that means having a way to protect against the unexpected falls. While wooden playground mulch was the norm for a while, safety conscious parents are starting to upgrade to rubber playground mulch. Plus, kids love the fun feel of the rubber mulch too!