Ascend

Take play time above and beyond on the Ascend play system. Made up of vertically focused challenges, children will love the time spent climbing up the different activities. Grab onto the Banister Bars to crawl upwards one hand at a time. At the end of it, hop down and go up the Curly Climber or climb the Inclined Column. As they're getting the hang of the system, they'll move deeper in and try the Log Climbers that lead to and from the Climbing Wall 2. Kids can pull themselves up on the handles or use the strategically placed ropes to help pull themselves up. Once they have finished on the climber, they can go across to the Vertical Curved Net that can be climbed up, down, and over. Or, for even more fun, they can spider their way across the nets. Finally, they'll have worked them back to the Firefighter Climb.

When choosing a playground it is important to consider where the components have come from. Conditioned wood or recycled metal posts are both opportunities to take part in environmental stewardship. Wood was once a staple of playground design, but as time has continued, it has become less common. But, wood and natural materials make for natural learning environments that can be important for children’s development. Several teaching methods use nature and natural tools as ways to reach children. On the other hand, the recycled metal used comes from items that would otherwise rust away in dumps. The recycled plastic comes from specifically milk jugs. As Americans, we tend to drink a large amount of milk every day. This results in millions of used milk contains every year. Even if the play set purchased only uses a few thousand of those milk jugs, its that many more that didn’t end up in a landfill. Your playground purchase can be part of the solution that limits waste.

For a similar system with the obstacle course style, check out the Quadrant, the Criss Cross, the Mauna Loa, and the Rainier play structures.