The greatest show on earth is about to hit London.

The city has been busy preparing for the Olympics since 2005. The Games serve as a constant reminder of how important it is to exercise regularly and maintain healthy lifestyle. However, the biggest irony of all is that the 2012 Olympics are being sponsored by a handful of junk food companies.

While governments and health professionals are struggling to encourage the food industry to reduce calories and parents to educate their children on better eating, the Olympics may be sending out an different message. Organisations representing nearly every doctor over in the UK have united in a single campaign to combat rising obesity levels. A spokesman for the campaign, Professor Terence Stephenson, explains that ‘millions of people are going to see an association between these brands and highly successful athletes. Companies wouldn’t spend all this money on adverts if they didn’t think it would increase their sales.’

McDonalds, Coca-Cola and Cadbury’s are all sponsoring the London Games so we can expect to see their logos plastered over the sports kit of the most elite athletes in the world. Researchers have claimed that this may lead children to believe that these brands are actually healthier than they really are. The brands in question have retaliated by promising to promote products with lower calorie and sugar levels as well as promising to make vouchers for sport sessions available.

But will this make any difference? Almost a quarter of adults and a quarter of children in Ireland are obese. Should we be tackling obesity in the same way we have smoking? Should we restrict the advertising of fatty and calorific junk food, print warnings on packaging and introduce a tax to discourage people to buy it?

Of course exercise and keeping children active will make a significant difference. Wooden swing sets and climbing frames in your own back garden are great at encouraging little ones to keep moving but this may not be enough. The focus must also be on eating well and avoiding foods high in sugar and high in fat.

What are your thoughts on the Olympic sponsors? Do you think it will encourage children and even adults to eat junk food? Whose responsibility is it to make sure children eat healthily? What do you think of a junk food tax?

Expensive days out, DVDs, XBOX games – they all add up. What about a play park in your own garden for just 18p a day? A recent survey carried out for food manufacturer Arla’s Kids Closer to Nature campaign revealed that 44% more children are now playing outdoors than they were years ago. This makes sense when you think of the expense of the endless stream of electronic games, games consoles, DVD’s and electronic toys which have a very short shelf life.

Investing in a climbing frame is the best way to ensure your children are kept entertained and active without breaking the bank. One of our best-selling climbing frames, the Woodchester, is currently 649 €. If you buy the frame when your children are 2 and have it until they are 10, it will be used for 8 years. So…

365 (days in a year) x 8 (Amount of years) = 2920 (days in total)
(cost of climbing frame) 649 € / (days) 2920 = 0.22 € per day
If you have 2 children that is just 11 cents per child, per day!

What else can you get for 22 cents per day? A DVD like the new Puss in Boots film is 15.98 € and might get watched once, maybe twice. If you were to play a new DVD every day, you would be spending a whopping 4666.16 € a year! Even if you played a new DVD every weekend that would still cost 830 € a year for just a couple of hours entertainment at a time.
How about a trip to the local soft play centre? That’s about 5 € per child. If you have 2 children that would cost 10 €, plus lunch which is another 4 € per child. A total of 18 € minimum (without the petrol money or any treats for Mum and Dad). 18 € every weekend is 936 € a year!

A climbing frame in your garden means no petrol, no expensive lunches out and lots of money saved. Our climbing frames are guaranteed against rot and decay for 10 years so can be used by several siblings over a large period of time – reducing the cost even further. Even after 8 years the climbing frame may well still have a decent second-hand value.
Of course the fact that they are exercising and enjoying the fresh air is priceless.

Our climbing frames come with fully illustrated manuals making the build as easy as possible. We never pretend our frames are a complete breeze but we promise that they are completely do-able, by professionals and novices alike. All Selwood climbing frames are designed for home build.

As with most things in life preparation is key. Make sure you have all the tools you need before you start. We can promise you there is nothing worse than getting a piece exactly in place to turn around and realise you don’t have a hammer or a spirit level.

The Assembly Manual does inform you on the tools needed but we have done our own easy-to-read picture version. We cannot stress enough how import an electric drill is. We have had customers tell us horror stories of them trying to build their frames with screwdrivers and we would not recommend it. Our climbing frames are large structures and require the appropriate tools. From first hand experience of building the frames ourselves we can tell you an electric drill is nothing short of a God send.

The below image shows you some essentials that you will need before you get started:

One of our major climbing frame manufacturers, Selwood Products, have done a fantastic blog over on their website. We often get asked why the climbing frames parts aren’t labelled and the post explains exactly why. It also gives some really helpful hints and tips on how to sort the parts and how to save yourself a lot of time and effort.

Click here to read their blog.

We all know that children can benefit hugely from getting outside into the fresh air and getting stuck into some messy, free and uninhibited play. As climbing frames sellers we know more than most that outdoor play is hugely beneficial to our little ones but as parents we also know the ongoing battle that we face trying to prize them away from their various electronic toys. Technology is not going to go away in fact it is going to become a bigger part of our lives year by year. With the Be Out There movement introduced by the National Wildlife Federation we can begin to encourage children to get outside more often.

They suggest joining them in their outdoor play. It can be tempting to ship them out the back door and close it behind them for a few minutes peace (trust us we know), but showing them that it’s something that can be done as a family may encourage them to keep doing it. This relates to their next tip which is to lead by example. We spend the majority of our time on technology devices like our phones, computer games, in front of computer screens, television screens amongst other things so it’s not surprising that our children lead a technology based life too.

It is also a great idea to limit screen time each day. Or exchange time spent on electrical toys with time spent outdoors. They can earn time on their Xbox or Nintendo DS through time spent in the garden. This way more of a balance can be met. Outdoor play equipment like climbing frames can encourage unwilling children out into the garden come rain or shine.

We know all too well the hectic schedules five year olds have nowadays and fitting in some free time can seem impossible. The NWF suggest starting small with 15 minutes every few days and building up to the recommended hour a day.

The benefits of getting children outdoors are endless. Their imagination grows, their attention span improves they become less aggressive and their classroom performance is given a boost. All in all children are happier and healthier.

The Blaise is a new addition to the Climbing Frames website. It is part of the new Selwood 2012 range which is bigger and better than ever before. One of the main changes is the size of the uprights (legs). They are now engineered to be 8cm by 8cm making them sturdier and stronger. They have been especially developed to have less cracking, twisting and checking than pine or spruce.

The Blaise is one of those climbing frames that ticks all the boxes. It has monkey bars, swings, a 2-child glider, straight wavy slide, upper playhouse, lower playhouse and even 2 stools attached. It has a huge multitude of features but won’t take up your entire garden. This is mainly due to the clever monkey bar swing combo beam. Simply unclip the swings and glider when the children want to monkey around and clip them back on when they want to use the swings.

Another fab feature on this playset is the lower playhouse. It has a large open serving hatch style window and 2 stools attached. There is even a cute sun awning. The lower playhouse is a great place to rest weary legs and recover from all the running around. With a little imagination it can be a café, restaurant or grocers. After all the playing is done it even provides the perfect place to hide all the outdoor toys.

The upper deck also offers plenty opportunities for play with the vinyl chalk board and protective tarpaulin roof. Children can climb up the rock wall ladder to the rear of the climbing frame and whizz down the straight wavy slide to the front.

The Blaise is a fantastic playset that will bring hours of joy and fun to your garden. This is the perfect time to buy your climbing frame. Spring is just starting to show itself and the summer is imminent.

There is something very relaxing and freeing about jumping on a swing. Climbing frames are action packed and full of adventure where as swinging is a time for reflection. On scouring the internet for great climbing frame and swing set images we came across some really fun ones that captured exactly that feeling.

Our climbing frames feature swings designed specifically for little ones. They are made of a soft flexible plastic that grip children’s hips and keep them in place. Swings are a childhood essential and as the images show they bring a lot of joy.

Of course we think our climbing frames are beyond super dooper. We could talk until the cows come home about our gorgeous wooden playhouses, our huge range of playset features and our fantastic prices. But the real proof is in the pudding and in the feedback we get from our customers. Often we have customers send us in pictures of their children having a huge amount of fun on their brand new climbing frames and we thought it would be great to share these with all of you so you can get a real idea of how our playsets look in their natural habitat.

We love the last image. Made us smile.

Climbing frames are a great way to keep children active and healthy as well as occupied. Visit our climbing frame page here

Health and Safety is a main priority for us when selling our climbing frames, trampolines and outdoor play equipment. We know that as parents keeping your children safe and sound is the most important thing. However, has the world gone a little bit health and safety mad in recent years?

We ensure that our climbing frames comply with all EN-71 regulations, that goes without saying. But we are also huge fans of having fun and living a life filled with adventure. It’s tempting to want to wrap our little ones in cotton wool and keep them by our side but that’s not really an option. We have heard of something called measured risk which can be great for children. It helps their development and helps them grow as a person. With risk comes a sense of achievement and ambition. Going that extra rung along the monkey bar or swinging that bit higher.

What triggered this blog post was something we spotted on a parenting blog. The rather frustrated Dad of three recounted his run in with an over enthusiastic health and safety officer. Despite his youngest not using the play equipment, aimed at older children, they still had to leave. Health and Safety 1 – Fun 0.

Our climbing frames are designed for children aged between 3-10 years old and there is even the opportunity to add a baby bucket, widening the age range even further. Once more they are in the safety of their own home. The fun factor is still there but the risk element is very low. Of course the first climb up the rockwall or the first zip down the slide may be a bit scary but that’s the whole point of adventure.

Do you think health and safety sometimes defies common sense?

Do you have any health and safety related tales?

As experts in all things outdoor play equipment shaped, particularly climbing frames, we see free play as an important part of children’s development. However there seems to be a growing trend for helicopter style parenting. Where children are pushed to work and study more, and play less all under their parents’ watchful eye. This is all in the hope they will go on to do great things in the future. We have all become increasingly more protective over our children. Things we did as children, like walk to school on our own and play out in the streets until night fell, are things of the past to many. All this made us wonder are we actually doing more harm than good?

Anyone with children will know parenting is a minefield and at times it’s like we can’t do right for doing wrong. But perhaps letting them off the reins a little can be hugely beneficial.  A recent study claimed that one in five children never go out to play, one third have never climbed a tree or built a den and one in ten cannot ride a bike. It was also reported that 6-8 year olds’ free play time dropped 25% since 1981-1997 whilst home work has doubled and we can only assume these figures have got worse again.

The American Academy of Paediatrics warns that reducing the amount of free play children have can have negative effects on their well being. They become more stressed and in extreme circumstances even depressed. All this threw up hundreds of questions, in our minds anyway. How much free play is enough? How much is too much? How should their time be split?

Climbing frames and outdoor play equipment are great ways to ensure they have easy access to free play. They also introduce an element of challenge. Climbing, swinging, sliding may seem scary at first but can be exhilarating once they have overcome the initial wariness. Building a den and scaling trees may seem a little dangerous to some parents so we hope to take the scary element out and replace it with something safe yet still as fun and exciting.

How much outdoor play do your children get? How much independence do you give them?