Sunday, August 22, 2010

Merry-Go-Round?

Remember all those unsafe toys we used to have on the playground?  I remember being in elementary and having this huge "rainbow", which was a wooden arch with pegs out the side.  We would climb up it, turn around on the 4 inch wide beam, and then shimmy down.  I don't see those anywhere anymore.  We always had kids that were falling off of it and getting hurt.

Another piece of playground equipment that we haven't seen in years, is the merry-go-round.  I remember kids pushing people so fast and furiously that they would throw up.  Other kids would try to jump off and I remember more than one broken arm or leg in elementary from this piece of equipment.

I had totally forgotten about the merry-go-round until we went to the park yesterday.  Junior didn't know what it was.
His sisters filled him in, and in no time he was hooked.  He was begging kids to come ride it so that he could push them in circles.
He finally mastered pushing and jumping on for the ride, and was in heaven.

I never liked the merry-go-round because I always felt sick after riding on it.  

What other pieces of playground equipment do you remember as a kid, that they don't usually have now because they are deemed "unsafe"?
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11 comments:

Julie Danielle said...

They have those ALL over Germany. Their playgrounds are awesome...remind me of when I was a kid.

Growing up they had this HUGE slide at a local park. It was like 5 stories high or something like that. They lowered it a lot and now I think it is just gone.

Amber said...

See-saw! I loved those things

Jeannette said...

I love merry go rounds! I told DH that if I ever find one in a junk yard, it it coming to live in our backyard! The kids can have their turn when I'm done. lol

Allison said...

Giant metal slides. I remember having a tan on my butt from going down one in a skirt. Yee-OUCH. They don't have those anymore. Or 4 seater tire swings.

McMGrad89 said...

I loved those, I would hang tightly to the center pole for all my life.

They are slowly getting rid of metal slides in Texas...how many 3rd degree burns did it take before they figured that one out.

Anonymous said...

First...love Junior's yellow boots!

I remember having so many toys that I don't even know how to begin describing. There were those gymnast looking rings that hung down from a beam and you could swing from ring to ring. There were those metal dome shaped structures that had bars that broke the dome into triangles...it was like a geometric jungle gym.

I'm sure all those toys have names, but I have no clue what they're called!

LadyHooAh said...

Jungle gyms. I NEVER see them anymore in the area I live in, and I always got hurt on them.

Battles on the Homefront said...

My dad threw me off of a Merry-go-round when I was three. He pushed it too fast and I made the mistake of letting go. He said I literally skipped across the ground like a rock on water. It never kept me from getting back on though.

My elementary school had a 20 foot tall slide. It was HUGE. You don't see many over 8-10 feet now and they have high sides on them, the one we had only had the 1 inch metal sides on it.

joyce said...

a swinging gate. saw one at a playground on vacation years ago, and my boys had so much fun. I always got in trouble swinging on the actual gates at grandpa's farm.

my sons suffered broken arms from falling off jungle gyms, swings, junior beds and Ronald McDonald. I think that is why you don't see big plastic Ronald McDonalds on McDonald's playgrounds any more.

joyce said...

and zip lines.

Old Cowboy Dan said...

And the swings that we always tried to go so high that you would flip over. Jumping out of a swing in motion.