Contents
Having barely learned to walk, children constantly strive to climb higher – on the stairs to the second floor, on a closet, bookshelves, in extreme cases – on a chair or table. They can climb in, but getting off without outside help is a problem. In order not to put them at risk, it is better to buy or build a children’s sports corner right in the apartment or in the house. You need a little space for it – a couple of squares, for those who have a very tight area, they fit the shells just in the doorway or on the walls.
Equipment
A children’s sports complex most often consists of a Swedish wall, a horizontal bar, a climbing rope and rings. This is the minimum of shells that can be placed on an area of 1 sq.m.
If the area allows and the development of a “sports base” is required, a few more shells are added:
- rope-ladder;
- hand walker;
- climbing wall
- rope wall.
There may also be a separate board with hooks – for the press. Also a useful thing, but more for parents.
In models for kids, there may also be a slide and a swing. A slide to save space can be attached – it can be hooked and removed. This is convenient in a space-saving pane, but since in such options there is usually no platform in front of the slide, it is difficult to ride it. At least for kids. If desired, you can find a children’s sports area with a slide and a playground, and the slide can also be removable.
There may also be children’s abacus and a slate board. These are already kits with developing elements. There may also be increased interest in them, and abacus, in addition to its direct purpose, is also used as a ladder with a massage effect.
All these elements are combined in different combinations and variations, the model range is very wide, so if you wish, you can find whatever you want.
Design
There are two options for children’s sports corners – free-standing (with or without a platform) and those that are attached to the wall. Usually free-standing – these are sports complexes for kids – they have a small height, gently located walls, ladders. So it is easier for young children to master sports equipment.
For older children, shells are made to the very ceiling: they already have enough strength to climb there. In this case, it is important to ensure high-quality fastening.
For small rooms there are folding models. With a slight movement of the hand, they move apart. When choosing such a sports corner, pay attention to the reliability of fixing movable or prefabricated units. The loads are considerable and the margin of safety must be appropriate.
Another option is stationary, but saving space – the main sports equipment – a Swedish ladder and a rope wall or mini-climbing wall, are located on the adjacent walls of the corner. At the top, they are connected by a small handle, which can also be used as a horizontal bar at the same time.
This design is convenient – it occupies the most difficult area for decoration – the corner. Moreover, you can highlight the corner behind the door, where you definitely can’t put anything.
How to make a playhouse for children in an apartment, read here.
From what age
Pediatricians advise to purchase a sports corner for children by the end of the second year of life. But those families in which the shells were bought for the elders often note that the younger ones learn to climb stairs earlier than to walk. So it’s a matter of preference.
An example is in the video. The sports corner was installed when the girl was only 1,2 years old. The photo was taken a month later. Mom notes that the child has become more coordinated and dexterous. For a month, not a single serious fall was observed (several times they were successfully caught, but this does not count). There are a lot of approaches during the day – every time after sleep, and at intervals when it becomes boring. Conclusion – a sports corner for children in an apartment is not a mandatory thing, but desirable.
If you are already very worried that the child will hit hard when falling, you can lay a sports mat or a soft floor for a children’s large thickness (at least 10 mm) under the sports corner and next to it. A soft floor is preferable – it is designed specifically for children and, with a relatively small thickness, has good shock-absorbing abilities.
Do-it-yourself children’s sports corner
Anyone who has held a saw, a hammer and a drill in their hands at least a couple of times can make a sports corner on their own in an apartment. The work is very simple and does not require filigree precision. What you need to pay attention to is the reliability of fastening. In this regard, it is better to play it safe and do it with a large margin of safety.
If you plan to make a sports corner from wood, use dry wood (with a moisture content of no more than 16%). Also pay attention to the grade: there should be no through knots on the racks and supports. Under the loads that may arise, they are dangerous. Here, perhaps, all the basic requirements.
Based on the Swedish wall
If desired, a children’s sports corner can be made with your own hands. No special tools are needed. You definitely need a saw or a jigsaw, a drill with crown-type nozzles, it’s very nice to have a hand mill and a grinder. If not, you will have to do a lot of manual work. You also need a level, more convenient – a laser one, but you can get by with a building one, preferably paired with a plumb line – to check the verticality of the racks.
In addition to boards 150 * 45 mm, you will need cuttings for brooms (they are thinner than for shovels, and more convenient for children). You will also need ropes, a piece of rope, self-tapping screws, bolts, studs, corners, in general, everything that is necessary to attach the structure to the wall and ceiling.
The board was cut to size (taking the distance from the floor to the ceiling, subtracted 10 cm), polished. We fasten the two received racks with clamps, put marks under the steps. In these places, we drill holes of the required depth with a crown (half the thickness of the board). To be able to control the depth of the hole, a strip of electrical tape or colored tape is glued to the crown. Oriented along the bottom edge of the strip.
Two short parts with holes in the photo are a mini-handle for several slats, at the same time you can use it as a horizontal bar. In long racks from the side facing the wall, in the lower part we saw off a piece under the plinth.
Now we connect the racks and the top. Whether the children’s sports corner will be strong depends on the quality of this connection. We use powerful studs, we put wide washers under the screw heads and nuts, instead of a bunch of washers, you can make metal plates. Under the studs, we pre-drill a hole, it must be strictly perpendicular to the plane – so that the mount does not break.
In the finished sidewalls on the glue, we install the rungs-steps. For reliability, we fasten them with confirmations (furniture ties). We drill holes in the end face, install a confirmation, drowning the head in the wood. The holes can then be closed either with putty on wood or with furniture plugs in the color of the wood.
Putting it against the wall, we mark the places where we need to install the fasteners, drill holes there and install the dowels.
As tests have shown, such a fastening is not enough for reliable fixation: if you hang on the extreme crossbar and pull yourself up, over time, the fasteners will pull out of the wall from vibration. Therefore, it was decided to make additional fasteners to the ceiling. Collets (anchors) were installed in it, into which long metal rods with rings at the end were screwed.
The construction of a playground in the country or near the house is described here.
As a temporary option, a rope is threaded into the installed fasteners, then the fastening will be upgraded. In order to avoid difficulties, it is necessary to install the anchor in the ceiling so that the rings are closely adjacent to the boards. Then they can be fixed with bolts and washers. Get a rigid mount. In this case, the load will be distributed between the fasteners in the wall and in the ceiling, which significantly increases the reliability of the entire structure.
The basis of the children’s sports corner is ready. Let’s start assembling additional shells. Let’s start with the rope ladder. Crossbars 35 mm long are cut from a bar 25 * 300 mm. The edges are sawn with a milling cutter to a rounded shape (do not leave sharp corners) and well polished. Holes are drilled in them at a distance of 50 mm from the edge, the diameter of which is slightly larger than the cord. Holes must be drilled at the same distance: the more precisely, the easier it is to assemble the ladder.
We take the cord and make markings on it every 30 cm. This will be the distance between the steps. We mark two cords identically – with the same millimeter to millimeter. We put on the first step, tie a knot at the bottom. In the place of marking we tie the second one, we pass the next step and so on.
We hang additional shells on screwed hooks by making loops from the same rope, or by attaching carbines to the ends, and clinging carbines to hooks or straps – this seems to someone more convenient and reliable.
It looks like a homemade corner for children’s sports activities. It takes up very little space in an apartment.
How to make a loft bed with your own hands is described here, and in this article you can read about the choice of ready-made options.
Sports complex for home
In this design, everything is so simple that there is nothing to explain. The main difficulty is in the manufacture of the Swedish staircase, and it is described in the first photo report. It was decided to make a large children’s sports area in the corridor – the area there allows. So that you can turn it and the ship into a house. It turned out such a design.
We started by making a climbing wall. The board was bought in advance, it was dry, and after the winter spent in the apartment it became even less wet. Board thickness – 50 mm, width – 100-150 mm. From it we collect the frame. We make joints strictly at 90 ° (we use clamps). Before installing long self-tapping screws, we drill holes for them (the diameter of the drill is 1-2 mm less than the diameter of the self-tapping screw). In the assembled frame, we drill holes in increments of 10-15 cm. We pull the cord.
I must say right away that mistakes were made when installing the ropes:
- began to pull from top to bottom;
- did not make knots at the intersection.
As a result, it is very inconvenient to climb – the rope slips. Will have to redo. We must do the opposite. First of all, pull the rope across, and then – from top to bottom (or from bottom to top), tying a knot at each intersection. Then the rope wall will be movable, but it will be possible to climb it.
We attach the corners to the assembled frame, install it to the wall, mark the holes for the fasteners and, after installing the dowels, finally fix it.
Then everything is also simple. We take two boards of the same length. We drill holes in them for the installation of crossbars (from cuttings), to which shells will be attached *we are also planning a swing and a rope ladder.
How to make a play house for an apartment, read here, and in this article, a step-by-step description of building a house in the country or near the house.
Next, we assemble the rest of the frame. We attach one prepared board to the wall adjacent to the already installed rope structure. On the one hand, it rests on the frame, and on the other hand, we attach another support, so that the board is strictly horizontal (we check with the building level).
We build a ladder, put it in the same plane with two already installed racks. We fix everything. To the floor for reliability, you can also attach to the corners and dowels.
After checking everything for strength, we hang shells and put them into operation.
See another version of a homemade sports corner for children in video format