The slide is a classic mainstay of the children’s playground. Depending on the size and age of the children for whom you are building the playground, consider investing in kiddie slides.
Advantages of Kiddie Slides
Kiddie slides are geared towards toddlers. They are more often than not smaller in size than regular slides. The reason for this is many fold.
The first is simple: safety is a larger concern when smaller children are involved, and corresponding added precautions need to be taken. Larger slides mean that the ladder is at a greater height from the ground than a kiddie slide, and that the slide slopes down for a longer and farther way. With small children, there is always the fear that they may fall, and because they are so young and still in the midst of growing, their bones are weak, so a fall from any height can be damaging, particularly a great height. Keeping toddlers on a smaller kiddie slide, where the height is less and the length of the slide is less as well, minimizes the risk of falling, and prepares you for the worst case scenario that, if the child does fall, he or she will fall at less of a height. The second advantage is practical. Because the slide is smaller, the ladder is also smaller and therefore is easier for the toddler to climb up. Larger slides can be challenging for them to climb up.
You can still achieve the same variety in types of kiddie slides which you would find in slides for older children. The only difference is that they are on a shrunken scale. You can find multilane slides, where two children can slide down together at once, straight curve slides, which are the standard type of slides, curve slides, where the slide follows a curved path rather than a straight down path, a wide slide, where the slide is extra wide, a wave slide, where the slide has many waves or bumps in it rather than sloping straight down, roller slides, where the slide is covered in rollers, double or triple slides, where two or three children can slide down together at a time, crescent shaped slides, and mini tube slides, in which the slide is inside a tube covering. The only slides which are particularly difficult to make as a kiddie slide are the spiral and black hole slides, due to size considerations.
