Was your swing set worth the investment?

FutureMrsCaesar

We recently moved to a new house that I know we'll be in for at least 5+ years, so now my husband and I are debating getting a swing set for the kids.  I feel we should definitely get one, but he's not convinced that it will get used enough to justify the ~$1500 we're planning to spend on one plus whatever landscaping/rubber mulch, etc. is necessary.  My SIL was telling me today how all her friends say that their swing sets were a waste of money, and their kids don't use them, but I remember spending hours playing on my little crappy one as a kid.  Maybe times have changed?

What has your experience been?

jessica1080

We recently moved as well so I would love to hear the answer to this.  My mom said that at 3.5 years old, my DD probably won't play on one much longer!  I was shocked.  I want to get her one because she would love it right now, but like you wasn't sure if it was worth the investment.  Right now she is enjoying the next door neighbors! 

KKMMex

Ours has been worth it.  I SAH and during our six months of cooler weather here in Texas, they play with it quite a bit.  It's also been useful to have when we entertain company with kids.  Ours just sits out in the grass - we didn't put in any special landscaping or mulch around it.

sju

We just finished assembling ours but we looked at sets that were closer to $500 (we got a nice wooden one from Toys R us) and did not spend money on mulch. We have grass. Our friends and neighbors who spent over $1k in their sets at Costco complain that their kids never use them but then other friends who spent much less love them so I guess it depends on the kids. My kids like to be outside so I am sure it will get used. :-)

o2bme

DD loves hers.  Ours just sits on grass.

HarrietNJMommy

We spent a lot more than $1500 and it is well worth it for us. My kids LOVE our swingset........our swingset is very large though and it has components that will last until they are much older........ 

shopgirl78

Yes, mine play on it often esp in the Spring & Fall.  They love to swing.  I believe we got it when DD turned 2 (yes, we did...that's when MIL bitched up me when I was 36 weeks pregnant when her H had to help put it together...***!! She made me cry).  

ArcticFox

We have a $1200 one from BJ's wholesale club.  My DH never even finished putting it together (like the monkey bars or the rock wall), but my kids love it.  They go on the swings and the slide almost every day.  Today for about an hour.  There is a playhouse in the top and I think that would help to extend the life of the playset (since she can go up there on her own and take toys with her when she's older.. I dunno.. I picture her taking a little video game thing up there or spending time with friends up there).

I will say I am really irritated with DH for not finishing putting the thing together.  The playhouse at the top doens't have sides on it (like you could have monkey bars there, but our kids aren't old enough), so it is blocked off.  Awesome way of utilizing $1200 spent.

howleyshell

We spent $4,000 to level our yard and to put in the wood chip area for the $600 swing set we got.

Worth every penny and then some.

We don't have a fence between our back yard and the next door neighbor and their 8 yr old is on our swing set and up in the club house all the time so I think we've got plenty of life left in it.

I think it has to do also with the configuration of your house and how closely you watch your kids.  Mine sits right outside my kitchen window so our regular thing is that they go play in the yard while I cook.  I can see them easily.

Just tonight they were playing construction with their trucks and building a sky scraper out of wood chips.  

I can't count the times we've had the next door neighbor kids over to play in our yard and on the swing set.

I WANT our house to be the one that all the kids want to come to so it has been a wise investment IMO.

We just sunk $200 into an inflatable wet/dry bounce house and slide (split the cost with my BFF who we'll share it with) and I'm truly hoping it's the highlight of the neighborhood so all the kids are over in my yard.

GL with your decision! 

jsugrin

My BFF lives around the corner from us and her DD's are 6 and 4.5.  They have a pretty crappy 3rd hand metal swing set and they love,love, love that thing. They were over today playing on the new one we just got (it's from Costco and has a two story playhouse and then triple swing attachment) and were crazy for it.  I know that our boys will be living in the thing for years to come.

I did make sure that we got one with a large playhouse portion because I know that even as they get older that will be a big draw for the boys, I can even see them sleeping out there in the top when they are old enough.

Also summer things are already going on huge sales. No idea where in the country you are but the one we got at Costco (in store, not online) was normally priced at 1K.  It's got a huge double story playhouse, tunnel like twisty slide, swing arm with three swings and the bottom part is half playhouse and half table with little bench (or it could be a tiny sandbox).  It compared to others I found in the 1.5-2K range.  We were able to buy the floor model for $700!  In addition to being a total steal we were able to bring it home mostly put together.  So instead of taking 2 people a solid 2-3 days to put it together my husband alone has about 7 hours into it.

So I'd say yes totally worth it, plus look around and I bet you can either go cheaper or stretch that 1.5K really, really far.

Brewtowngrl

My brother's kids still hang out on theirs and they are almost teenagers.  DS plays on his at least once a day.  I have a 1 year old and going to the park just isn't feasible with a toddler that is not steady on his feet.  Worth every penny for me, but we plan on staying in our house forever. 

KL777

Our swingset was a gift from my mom.  DS plays with it often.  I know however that she did not pay $1500 for it.

jellybean529

We have a very basic Step2 swingset and it's one of the best things we've ever gotten for DD. It's just got two swings and a slide with a little clubhouse under the slide, but she loves it...especially in the spring-fall and even on the warmer days in winter (we're in FL so it doesn't get that cold here usually).

PhilsWife07

Yes. We spent roughly $1400 on ours. It's built to last (not made of wood), doesn't need maintenance, and it's big/sturdy enough to hold several school-aged kids. We use it every day and DS2 isn't even really using it too yet.

littlelamb99

Ours is a Rainbow and we love it.  It was expensive but worth the price... those rickety ones from Walmart aren't worth it, they are really bad after a year or so.

hereonceagain

I opted for this:  https://www.amazon.com/Little-Tikes-Shady-Slide-Bouncer/dp/B003NSBMV2/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1311559266&sr=8-6

and it was the best thing ever!  We didn't want a huge swing set for several reasons.  We love to have outtings to parks and I want the kids to really appreciate that.  We didn't want to deal with any upkeep and setup of a big swing set as well as the cost.  We also didn't want to have to worry about getting rid of it if we move.  And personally I don't think they look attractive at all when we are having grown up dinner parties in the back yard.