Description

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Build your own treehouses, swing sets, skate ramps, Ninja courses, and more!

Kids and families of all ages are rediscovering the great outdoors, including their own backyards. It is more important than ever to be able to entertain our kids at home, teach them about nature, and give them a great time building, exercising, staying in shape, and working together. All of these actions help foster independence, confidence, and growth. In Do-It-Yourself Backyard Playgrounds, authors Jean and David Stiles offer user-friendly plans (all hand-drawn by David) and step-by-step instructions to help you build something great in your own backyard. They offer a range of easy, timeless projects that can be made in an afternoon—trolley ride, treasure chest, circle swing, lemonade stand—alongside more ambitious projects, like the warped wall and treehouse. Learn how to build a complete Ninja adventure course and see how the treehouse can double as a home base for the adventure course that radiates from it!
 
The book includes photos of projects (during construction and completed), and explanatory step-by-step illustrations. 
 

About the Author

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David and Jeanie Stiles have written 25 how-to books on backyard building projects that range from treehouses, playgrounds, and garden sheds, to tiny houses, workshops and cabins—and have sold over one million books. David Stiles is an industrial designer, builder, and illustrator and Jeanie Stiles is a writer, photographer, and actress. Together they have received several awards, among them the ALA’s Notable Children’s Book Award for Treehouses You Can Actually Build, and their articles have appeared in many magazines and newspapers including Architectural Digest, Better Homes and Garden, and The New York Times. They have appeared on numerous television programs, including HGTV, The Discovery Channel, and The Today Show during which they built a treehouse in three hours. David, a graduate of Pratt Institute and the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy, received two awards from the New York Planning Commission for his playground design for children with disabilities. They live in New York, New York.
 

Praise For…

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“America’s first couple of do-it-yourself building projects” —NBC The Today Show

“Joyful drawings and crystal-clear illustrations . . . imaginative, iconic outdoor projects guaranteed to tempt and thrill the adventurous child of any age.” —Don Metz, author of Confessions of a Country Architect

 "Whether for kids or adults, "Backyard Playgrounds" will get your mind churning with its avalanche of cool ideas, inventive budget approaches, and intriguing illustrations. The Stiles duo know their trade- this book is loaded with drool-worthy DIY designs that just about anybody can tackle."  —Derek "Deek" Diedricksen, author of Micro Living,  and Tree House Builder/Designer