So you asked about pictures? Of course you can find many of them in the sites of the companies who sell swing sets. But what if you want to see some extraordinary, well planned, or just funny swing set models that are not on sale in your local store? We’ve made a small selection for you. These 15 swing set pictures show the sets in use, in real life. And most of them are quite impresive. Enjoy!

1. In The Winter Evening

Somehow outdoor play structures often look magical in the evening, and especially when it’s winter time. Nice shot!

2. Laying Face Down

In contrast with the previous one this photo is made in sunny weather. Installing wooden swing on gravel by the way is a neat idea.

3. Jungle Fort

This is actually quite ordinary playset, and a really good one. Notice all the tools and the large play area. This could be a great gift for your kids.

4. Empty Swings

These are school swing sets, empty because the school started. Simple metal swing sets can be very efficient and affordable.

5. Rusty Swings

This is what happens without proper treatment and protection. Very good photo however!

6. In The Snow

Yet another cool winter picture. Nice long shadows, freezing look. The steel swing sustains the snow without problem.

7. Recess

This is a plain metal swing set that’s even missing the seats. Very well looking on the tallgrass!

8. Fun On The Beach

Metal swings are perfect for installing on sand as well. They often put them on the beaches because they are cheap, durable and hard to steal.

9. Drawing

That’s it, just a lovely sketch. The swing itself is not special, but the drawing is lovely.

10. Playset At The Meadow

Lovely one on the green grass, and small kid house next to it. It makes you want to be a child again.

11. Abandoned and Rusty

You don’t want this in your backyard. But the picture is great, well done!

12. Swinging In The Field

Yet another nostalgic photo. The sign says it’s taken in 2009 it looks like one from my childhood.

13. Afgan Children

Don’t think only kids in the Western world enjoy play. These Afgan children are having fun on refubrished playground.

14. In Republic of Korea

Kids in Republic of Korea also enjoy swinging. This photo is taken on community relations project.

15. Swinging Birds

Birds also seem to enjoy swing sets. Lovely beach snap!

This is a resource lists of sites and blogs which can help you in choosing, building or just maintenance of your swing set. There are too many sites that sell, and too little sites that explain. I have tried to collect mostly sites of the second type. There are also resources not strictly related to outdoor swings, but also to more general DIY and landscaping topics. They will still be useful for you. This page may be updated with new resources over time. Feel free to send me anything you have found to be valuable!

Guides, Info and Ideas About Swing Sets

I don’t want to start negatively, but most guides about swing sets you can find through Google are of rather mediocre quality. Believe me, I’ve spent a lot of time to find these really good ones! No surprise many of the good unbiased pieces are from forums and discussions. Enjoy:

- Swing Sets on Wikipedia – of course don’t forget the free encyclopaedia. This page needs some improvement however.

- Advice on Swing Sets – forum discussions are often the place to check for unbiased advice. This one is good.

- Backyard Playset Advice – a bunch of decent tips.

- Advice on buying – short but useful discussion

- Building my own swing set… ideas? – valuable isights from Yahoo Answers

- A swing set that generates electricity – Instructables is always a source of some great ideas!

- More may not equal better – a professional advice on saving money when buying a swing set.

- 10 Guidelines for Choosing an Outdoor Playset – a good Squidoo lens on the subject.

Building Swing Sets

If you are interested to build your swing set yourself, here is a bunch of resources that will help you do it. It’s not the easiest DIY project out there, but you don’t have to be a seasoned professional either.

- How To: Building A Custom A-Frame Children’s Swing Set – one of the good free guides out there

- Plans for Building your Own Wooden Swing Set – if you don’t even have an idea where to start, you can start here

- Cleaning A Wooden Swing Set – cleaning is important, read this basic advice

- DIY Endeavor Wood Fort/ Swingset Plans – these are not free but look good.

- How to Build a Tree Swing – out pictorial to building the simplest swing set. Check also our entire building swing sets category.

Swing Set Videos

Youtube has tons of videos on swing sets, but most are just advertising. Here are three that are really useful:

General Woodworking Help

Chances are you are going to build a wooden swing set – at least most people choose so. (Although we have a nice article on building a metal one). So, here are some of the best places to learn basic woodworking skills.

- Some Basic Woodwork Skills – again Instructables comes by with a great tutorial

- Woodworking Basics

- How to Get Started in Woodworking is a set of very decent guides on About.com

- Woodworking basics for building a shed – very applicable for swing sets too.

- Working with Steel Pipe – as already mentioned, maybe you’ll prefer to build a metal swing set instead a wooden one.

- How to Build with Steel Studs – and more for steel fans

Other Related Blogs and Resources

These are not strictly swing set focused. As you already saw, except this site there are very few really informative resources on the topic. The following DIY blogs can complement your knowledge about swing sets, give you ideas for DIY and other related projects, or just inspire you.

- The DIY Blog is one of the good DIY blogs around.

- Woodworkers Blog provides detailed instructions on various DIY projects with many pictures.

- DoItYourself.com is one of the largest communities and resource sites. You can find almost everything about home improvement and repair inside, and a lot about swing sets.

- Insrtuctables – my personal favorite. A community where people post all kind of strange DIY projects (yes, swing sets too), with pictures, videos and very detailed instructions. You may not only learn there but also you can share your projects.

- Makezine is more technological, but so full of great ideas and inspiring, so I decided to include it here.