How would I build a kiddies play tunnel?

Good morning all.

Some of you may know I'm building a play area in my back garden for my son.

I've got a number of 'sub-projects' on for that, and got everything in hand, but the tunnel bit is out foxing me at the moment.

I guess I need to buy some sort of very strong, very wide, plastic pipe. Then I'd dig a trench for it, drop it in, and then add a layer of earth around it to make a tunnel. I'm only talking maybe 5 ft long, but about 3ft diameter. Like the sort you see in some parks.

The trouble is I have no idea how to find the appropriate piece of pipe. Obviously it has to be strong enough to ensure that when topped with 6 inches of earth and turf it there's no possibility of it caving in.

I've googled terms like 'kiddies play tunnel', 'wide plastic tubing', 'garden tunnel' etc, to no available.

Does anyone have any ideas where to look or what to search for?

 

Would drainpipes not work? You could probably buy one off a firm that installs them underground and I bet they're 3ft wide and as long as you want it to be!

http://metroconcreteproductsllc.com...images/HDPE_BLACK_PLASTIC_PIPE_2.15895111.jpg

like the one above.

The name of these is 'HDPE Corrugated Pipe'

 

Thanks for that. That's exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for. Now I can put a name to it which will be a big help.

I'll google the 'HDPE corrugated pipe' tomorrow.

 

Might this help? http://www/playtec.co.uk/parts.shtml

 

To join the "gang" when I was about 8 years old, you had to drop down the top hole of a badger sett & scramble out of one of the side holes.

The other kids said it was a disused sett.

As I dropped the 8-10 feet down the vertical hole, feeling roots as I went down & earth falling down the back of my neck, I reached the bottom & found total darkness.

I suddenly thought "How would that lot know if the sett is disused ?"

The thought of being face to face with an angry badger that I couldn't even see brought a whole new feeling of terror that I hadn't previously experienced.

I don't remember anything from that second to being outside again, think I must have gone into overdrive.

Sorry, that doesn't really help your quest for tunneling material Dave:DOH:

 

Thanks for finding this for me. It looks like they have exactly what I'm after, plus more.

Unfortunately the link was bad, but I fixed it, its here:
Other Services

 

Looks like they assume all their customers are corporate. Still, I've dropped them a note to see what happens. I have a feeling they might not want to supply just one or two parts.

 

If you saw Gardeners World on friday you probably noticed the show gardens,if not on iplayer about 22mins in it showed a fabulous garden that won gold and best in show...with a geat TUNNEL !!!! if this is what you're after it will be amazing...Can i come and play...

 

I always fancied building a tunnel for my daughter when she was much younger, but in reality figured that the time span of use and lack of long term interest with it, would outweigh all of the effort, and cost to build it.

If you do go ahead with it, keep it as high off the ground as you can. Firstly it will stop it becoming a water filled mess, secondly it would be less digging and thirdly, it would allow for the later use of becoming a camp. Being higher, it will give you more scope to expand the area into into a real boy friendly den. It would be pretty cool to make a pallet size den to the front or rear of it, and the tube could be used to hide of his bits and bobs in.
Writing this, my mind has changed, and it could be a very good project to do.

As for getting a piece of pipe. Contact you local Civil engineering companies. One of them will be sure to have an off cut of pipe.

 

Good ideas there Eddie, thanks for that.

As for kids growing out of it, I'm not so sure they would really. Ask yourself this, if you had the excuse of entertaining a young kid, or if you were convinced nobody was watching, wouldn't you still want to explore a tunnel in the garden? Even if you already knew exactly where it went because you built it

As I get older, I become more and more convinced that we don't really grow up. Maybe we learn some of life's lessons, and use what we've learned, but deep down inside, I reckon we're all just big kids

 

What do you mean "nobody watching" I'm always the first to jump up and play with children. As your lad grows up, if you get the chance, become a parent helper at his school. It is very addictive and great fun on art days etc. If I could do my time again, I reckon that becoming a junior school teacher would be one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. The only down fall being grumpy parents and bureaucracy.

As for children and gardens, to many people overlook the fact that a garden without the noise of children playing, isn't a garden at all. I have two goals with the garden that I am trying to create. One is to make sure that the garden is totally accessible to disabled users, and second, that is has as much hidden fun for children to explore as possible. A happy child, makes for a happy parent.

BTW.. Make the most of your time with you lad, time goes way too quickly. When it comes to building the camp, let him design and help build it.

 

That's a good idea, and much easier to source than bits of giant pipe. Good thinking

Thanks for that