New Climbing Frame Features

February 17th, 2012

 

Manufacturing climbing frames takes some imagination coupled with some practicality. We understand that not everyone has rolling acres of land to fill with outdoor play equipment, as lovely as that would be. Therefore whatever we manufacture has to cater to those who may have a limited amount of space.

 

However, a limited amount of space doesn’t necessarily mean a limited amount of features. Monkey bars are such great fun and are firm favourites with kiddies. Everyone remembers the courage it took to swing from bar to bar for the first time. It can be a great way to learn the sense of achievement and ambition that comes with conquering something we initially thought was impossible.

 

Bearing all of this in mind we have used the clever monkey bar swing beam combo on some of our new sets. This is a swing beam which doubles up as a monkey bar therefore saving a huge amount of space without losing out on features and fun.

 

The best way to see just how much space the monkey bar swing beam combo saves is to compare those sets with and without it. Our climbing frames with the combo bar measure 3.92 metres whilst those with separate swing beams and monkey bars measure almost 2metres longer at 5.6 metres.

 

 

 

 

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Half Term Activities

February 9th, 2012

Half term is just around the corner, and may have even started for some children. So that means furious organising and planning being done by parents across the land. We thought we could do a little of the leg work for you and find some quirky days out for restless little ones. Of course outdoor play equipment such as climbing frames are great for keeping them occupied and active but it’s understandable that they may want to venture further afield on at least one day.

 

The Electric Forest.

 

This is a superb opportunity for the whole family to experience the beauty of the great outdoors in a whole new light. Literally. With the help of leading light, sound and visual artists the forest is transformed to a wonderland of magical sights and sounds. There is an illuminated play area as well as a tree top walkway complete with gently spinning mirror balls. P.S. Remember your torch.
More info:
Moors Valley Country Park, Dorset
www.Theelectricforest.co.uk
11th-19th Feb, 6.30-9pm
£15.50 per adult and £10 for children

 

 

Lamb Cam.

 

Seeing new lambs being born is a childhood rite of passage. At Willows Farm Village in Hertfordshire children can learn all about the the lambing process from Tuck the Shepherd. The experience doesn’t stop there, once home children can track the progress of the Lambs they saw being born. Simply log onto the Lamb cam.
More Info:
Willows Farm Village,
www.willowsfarmvillage.com
11th-19th Feb 10am – 5.30pm
£7.95 per adult, £9.95 per child

 

 

Boggle Wish Bonfire.

 

BeWILDerwood is a place filled with family fun and adventure. Along with Treehouses, boat trips and zip wires there is also a hint of the weird and wonderful. As the location for children’s book ‘A Boggle at BeWILDerwood’ the forest is full of colourful characters. The boggle wish bonfire is a magical event allowing children to make their own wishes the ‘boggle’ way.
More Info:
BeWILDERWOOD, Wroxham, Norfolk
www.bewilderwood.co.uk
11th-19th Feb
Prices depend on height. £10-50-£12.50

 

 

Step Back in Time.

 

Blists Hill Victorian Town is a great way to keep children learning over the holidays without them really knowing it. Visitors can stroll down Canal street with its sweet shop, fried fish dealers and photographers or enjoy a ride on the Clay Mine Railway. There is lots to do and see for all ages.
More Info:
Ironside Gorge Museum, Telford, Shropshire
www.ironbridge.org.uk
Open 7 days a week 10am – 4pm
Adults £22.50 Children £14.75

 

 

Nottingham’s City of Caves.

 

This hidden world of tunnels is a complex series of 400 caves. Dating back to the Dark ages these caves are great for little explorers. There is even a recreation of the Drury Hill slums so you can see where entire families lived cooped up in one single cave.
More Info:
City of Caves, Nottingham
www.cityofcaves.com
Open 7 days a week
Adults £6.50
Children £5.50

 

Keeping them occupied the rest of the time may involve investing in a climbing frame.

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Outdoor Play and Outdoor Learning

February 1st, 2012

If you are a regular visitor to our blog you will realise that we love to encourage outdoor play and are strong believers in encouraging children’s development through outdoor play equipment. On doing some research we stumbled across information on Forest Schools.

 

Whilst this was a term we had heard before we weren’t entirely sure of the ins and outs. Climbing frames and outdoor play equipment is one thing but the Forest Schools take it to a whole new level. Forest Schools were originally a Scandinavian idea that placed emphasis on nature and movement as a means of helping children develop.

 

As the name would suggest, Forest Schools take place in a woodland area and they take place all year round. It may seem like something restricted to the confines of summertime yet getting out of stuffy, overheated classrooms during winter can also be hugely beneficial. In fact we regularly tell our customers that children love getting outdoors in winter as well as summer. As long as they are wrapped up warm there shouldn’t be a problem.

 

Learning outdoors may seem counterproductive to some, too many distractions and not enough pen to paper. However, those who support Forest Schools think quite the opposite. Being in the outdoors and learning using tangible objects helps put things in to meaningful context, making them easier to understand.

 

The information we spotted on mumsnet also stated learning outdoors encourages higher levels of conversational language, greater independence, improved health and sleeping patterns, greater physical competence, improved concentration, improved social skills and initiative. Risk is a main feature of Forest Schools. They introduce the idea of risk through things such as climbing trees. Risk helps deliver a real sense of achievement once the task is complete leading to growth in confidence, self-motivation and positivity.

Do your children go to a Forest School? What are your thoughts on Forest Schools?

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Selwood Products Potty List

January 20th, 2012

 

As manufacturers of outdoor play equipment such as climbing frames we are huge advocates of children having as much fun as possible. Preferably the old fashioned type which involves muddy knees, jumping in puddles and generally a lot of monkeying around.

 

We are pleased to see that the majority of people agree with us. Having seen the various ‘potty lists’ that have popped up on the internet in the last few days most of them include traditional types of suggestions which on the whole don’t include anything technology or electronic related. By ‘potty list’ we mean a list of things that children should have done by the time they have reached 3 years old.

 

Having given it some thought we decided some essential milestones were missing. This inspired us to do a ‘potty list ‘ all of our own. As the climbing frames we manufacture are designed for children aged between 3 and 10 years old we thought we would broaden our ‘potty list’ to include things you should do before the age of 10.

 

 

No.1: Learn to swing solo.
No.2: Master the monkey bars from beginning to end.
No.3: Get told off for attempting the slide head first.
No 4: Build a no boys/girls allowed den.
No.5: Hang upside down on a trapeze bar.
No.6: Transform your climbing frame into your very own castle.

No.7: Race your friend/brother/sister to the swings.
No.8: Find the perfect hiding place.
No.9: Play outside in the rain.
No.10: Swing so high you feel you might go right over the top.

 

What would you add to our potty list?

 

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Outdoor play equipment could lead to a better night’s sleep.

January 13th, 2012

Here at Selwood we are huge advocates of outdoor play. Being manufacturers of climbing frames, we more than most, know that encouraging children to play outside has a whole host of benefits. The National Wildlife Federation appears to agree with us and have written new parent guidelines which link outdoor play to better sleep.

 

As well as the obvious benefits of getting children out and about, NWF believe it could help children get the right amount of sleep. The guidelines state that children lose up to 10 hours a sleep a week and this could be due to their choice of electronic toys. Children in the U.S spend an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes a day staring at a screen. This figure is most certainly similar to the time children here in the UK spend plugged in. This can mean they then find it hard to unwind and go to sleep.

 

In comparison playing outdoors, perhaps encouraged by outdoor play equipment such as climbing frames and swing sets can help children fall asleep. For starters exposure to natural light has the magical effect of setting our body clock so when it’s bedtime our bodies know, which is a stark difference from spending time indoors not quite knowing what time of day it is. This perhaps goes without saying but natural light also has the ability to make us feel refreshed and alert all day.

 

NWF also refer to nature as having a soothing effect on children. They have stresses and worries just as adults too but time spent amongst nature, exposed to the different colours, textures and sights can go some way to relaxing them.

 

Whilst indoor exercise is essential to keeping children fit and healthy it doesn’t quite compare to outdoor exercise which tends to be more child led. In a place with far less boundaries children can go wild and let go running, sliding and jumping. It also makes sense that when exercise is child led and not labelled as ‘exercise’ children are far more likely to carry on for a longer time as it is simply fun.

 

Here is the recommended amount of sleep children should be getting according to NWF.

 

 

Do you think your children could do with more sleep? Or do you think it varies from child to child.

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Amazing outdoor play equipment from around the globe.

January 3rd, 2012

 

As climbing frame manufacturers we pride ourselves on making some extraordinary outdoor play equipment. However, whilst scanning the world wide web we discovered some amazing playgrounds that even we have to take our hats off to. From Denmark to Kuala Lumpur these playgrounds are truly inspirational.

Denmark

Japan

Kuala Lumpur

Australia

France

America

If you are interested in creating your own adventure playground check out our climbing frames and outdoor play equipment.

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Trampoline Sales Soar

December 16th, 2011

 

In the last two weeks we have seen the sales of our trampolines soar a massive 300%. As World renowned climbing frame manufacturers we are known across the globe for our playsets, however, outdoor play equipment is what we do best and we also specialise in great value trampolines. Whilst our Selwood Air trampolines are of a fantastic specification and have always been popular, this sudden increase has caught us somewhat by surprise.

 

Selwood Products Managing Director Andrew Beard commented; ‘We have to attribute some of this meteoric rise in trampoline sales to the unfortunate going into Administration of TP Toys and their extensive Trampoline Range. The trampoline sales figures we have seen in the last two weeks are higher than in any other two week period in the history of Selwood Products. We fully expected a rise due to the Christmas period but this has gone above and beyond all our expectations.’

 

Looking to the future, we plan on increasing our already extensive range of trampolines in 2012 and are extremely excited to be launching trampoline ranges into some of the world’s largest retailers.

The Selwood team forget about climbing frames for an evening.

December 15th, 2011

 

This Tuesday evening the Selwood team managed to escape the world of climbing frames and swingsets for a fantastic evening of sausage making and sausage eating at Jimmy’s Farm. As corporate sponsors of Ipswich Town Football club we were lucky enough to be invited along to their annual Christmas event. We were incredibly excited about our little adventure out and the prospect of meeting Jimmy himself was almost too much to handle.

 

For those who haven’t heard of Jimmy’s Farm before we highly recommend you pay it a visit. It is a great family day out with an adventure playground, various nature walks and trails and a working farm. It also has a beautiful farm shop (which we made the most of) and a really yummy restaurant.

 

Unfortunately we didn’t get to meet Jimmy, of Channel 4 fame, but we did have a good time. Never having visited Jimmy’s farm before, we were pleasantly surprised by the rustic yet gorgeous interior. After a quick drink at the bar we were introduced to Peter who talked us through sausages. We learnt; the 5 main ingredients of all sausages (meat, rusk, water, flavourings, skins – in case you were wondering), that a pig’s intestine is 9 metres long and that the sausages made at Jimmy’s contain 93% meat. You don’t want to know what that percentage is for most other sausages.

 

 

We then rolled up our sleeves, whipped our jewellery off and got stuck in. Luckily they weren’t the sausages we were planning to eat later on it. We did however sample the Ipswich Town Super Blue in honour of our Tractor boys, the classic Essex, the cider and apple and our personal favourite – the Xmas chipolata. A big thank you to all those at Jimmy’s Farm and Ipswich Town FC who fed and watered us for the evening.

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Lack of outdoor play linked to short-sightedness

December 12th, 2011

As a global climbing frame manufacturer we like to think of ourselves as outdoor play experts. We frequently extol the benefits of outdoor play. Of course there is the obvious increase in exercise, more time spent in the fresh air and the sense of freedom whilst being safe in their own back garden.

 

 

Motor skills and co-ordination can also vastly improve with the use of climbing frames and outdoor play equipment. However, a recent study conducted by Cambridge University caught us a little off guard. The study revealed that children who spent more of their time playing outdoors were less likely to be short-sighted.

 

The exposure to natural daylight and more time spent looking at far away objects were quoted as main factors for improving eyesight. Over 10,000 children and teenagers took part in the study led by Dr Justin Sherwin. It was discovered that those children who were short-sighted were found to spend on average 3.7 hours less outdoors than those who had normal vision or were long-sighted.

 

Yet another reason to invest in a Selwood climbing frame.

 

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TP Outdoor Toys goes into Administration

December 6th, 2011

It has been reported on local radio and online that TP Toys, one of the UK’s most established outdoor toy manufacturers has gone into administration.
tp toys logo
TP Activity Toys has been supplying trampolines and climbing frames to retailers including Tesco, John Lewis and Early Learning Centre, but the Kidderminster based company has called in business recovery firm Geoffrey Martin to attempt to sell the business as a going concern.


Managing director Christopher Martyn-Smith said “It is a very sad day and the directors want to thank the many employees who have been such an important part of building the business over the last 50 years.” A spokesman for Geoffrey Martin said the company’s financial difficulties stemmed from increasing overheads and its inability to carry out a refinancing.


TP Activity Toys have urged any customers awaiting deliveries to get in contact, and said “every effort” will be made to fulfil orders for Christmas!


Selwood Products Managing Director Andrew Beard commented “It’s a sad day for such a historic company to run into financial troubles, especially for the employees at this time of year. It is also very sad and worrying for the customers expecting deliveries for Christmas, and surely a concern for those with long warranties”.


Sources:
UKPA (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jQB961BsaGXfnzcXeQSCebzi59Mg?docId=N0296761323194225382A)

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